Encounter 2005

SFL Supply complete production solution for the 2005 Encounter Event in Preston

Background

6th Sense have been working with Encounter on their yearly event for the past 4 years. Encounter is a group of churches in Preston that get together each year to put this event on. This event has grown from 600 people in the Charter Theatre to 2000 people in the Guild Hall, and this year they increased it from a 1 day to a 2 day event.

This year we were contracted to provide the sound, lighting and video solution and to manage it all on the day of the event. We got into the venue on the Saturday morning to do the set up. This included rigging 2 lighting trusses, the whole sound solution including the band on stage and the 2 screen video system. Although there were strict deadlines to meet on the Saturday, with regard to sound checks and rehearsals, we managed to accomplish this with plenty of time to rest before the event went live.

Sound

The stage came out into the venue so the seating was on 3 sides of it. This meant that Mark Payne had a very wide area to cover. The system comprised of d&b C7 flown and ground stacked, with C6 and Q7 for front and side fills. The band comprised of 5 main vocals all on Shure Premier Wireless handhelds, 2 acoustic guitars on wireless, 3 electric guitars, 4 piece brass section, 4 piece wood section, drums, percussion and a 50 piece choir behind the band. The brief we were asked to achieve was clarity in the vocals of the band and even coverage around the venue. We also had to provide them with different style mixes on each day, as well as mic-ing up a 6 piece drama sketch and individual speakers. They wanted to 'Rock out' on the Saturday for a mainly youth congregation and then to tone it down on the Sunday for an all age congregation. Mark's sound design and mix achieved this perfectly. There were 12 monitor mixes on d&b Max's from an Allen & Heath ML5000. FOH was mixed on a stretch with an A&H ML3000 sys linked with a Mix Wiz 3.

Lighting

The lighting had to be very versatile as it needed to cover a very large band with choir, light individual speakers, light drama sketches and to provide effect lighting in the audience. This was plotted out in WYSIWYG beforehand so the client could see through simulation pictures what the venue and stage would look like with the lighting that we had speced. This comprised of 2 lighting trusses upstage and downstage, Mac 250's, Mac 300's, 48k of par cans, Source Four profiles and crowd blinders. The lighting needed to provide an even coverage so that the camera images on screen didn't look patchy. James Baker didn't have much time to do the lighting plot but what he achieved with the time he had was a very professional looking event.

Video

The video system was used to allow the audience of 2000 to capture what was happening on stage. With such a large band it was a tall order for the camera operators, as they had to be constantly on the ball, looking to see what was happening all the time. From a vision mixing point of view I had to mix for an all age congregation, remembering that what they were seeing couldn't be distracting. So I had to maintain a balance between lead vocals and instruments, making sure that the lead vocals weren't off the screen for too long but also making sure that the shot wasn't getting boring. The system comprised of high quality Sony D35 broadcast cameras mixed on a Panasonic MX 50 vision mixer. The projectors were 4500 Lumen Christie digital projectors onto screens flown either side of the stage off the back truss. The system was also used for DVD playback and the whole event was recorded onto DVCam.