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Streaming From Home

Hello Everyone, my name is Jordan Monson and I am the Lighting Director here at Willow Creek Community Church, as well as an avid gamer and photographer. I was speaking with my wife about what I could do to help contribute to churches in this unprecedented time in our nation, and around the world. She […]

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FAQ: What does Willow use for footlights?

We’ve received a lot of questions recently about how Willow does footlight. In this article, we’ll break it down by venue, fixture, and learnings.Main Auditorium:For our main auditorium stage, we use a product from Ketra called the G2 linear, powered by the N3 controller. They are 1’ fixtures with 6 RGB LEDs in each fixture […]

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Lighting Thoughts From GLS 2017

Willow Creek hosted the FILO conference recently and I had the opportunity to share some of our lighting learnings from the Global Leadership Summit 2017. What you are about to read is what I wrote to present from at FILO. This is by no means an article full of specifications, power draw, or DMX channels, […]

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Designing With Scenic LED Pixels

When Jordan Monson joined Willow Creek South Barrington’s staff as Lighting Engineer, our LED game grew significantly stronger. Jordan came from designing, building and programming light suits for the dance company iLuminate, and over 6 years experience working with various forms of LEDs and alternative lighting products. In this article, Jordan outlines his workflow, process, […]

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Preparing for a Lighting Load In

A part of my role here at Willow is designing and installing many large lighting rigs every year. With large-scale production like at Willow, lighting rigs can get very complicated very fast. In order to minimize unnecessary complications and maximize efficiency, I have developed a process to help prepare for and lead lighting load-ins for large […]

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FAQ: How did you make the on-stage LED Grid?

The on-stage LED grid (lovingly dubbed “Homebrew” around Willow Production) was an idea turned into reality for a specific event, which then evolved into a ministry staple. Below, Jordan Monson, our LED guru, explains more of the nitty-gritty details.   12” LED Grid (aka Home Brew) Notes: General Dimensions: 75’w x 24’h with a 12″ […]

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Rigging Made Easy: Crimping Tools and Swages by Glenn Davis

The way I see it the stage world just looks better when you have more options toward supporting or flying scenery. At Willow Creek Church, suspending scenery is very common. At times, we may create over 100- 32’x 1/16” cable drops to suspend a certain weekend look that weighs a few thousand pounds. Even though […]

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Rigging Made Easy: Cable and Glider by Glenn Davis

I’ve been hearing a lot lately from individuals who are working hard at scenic creativity that are disappointed there is very little information toward tips on rigging and rigging hardware. Almost every scenic project requires the suspension of some sort of scenic element that echoes back scary and dangerous. Which leads me to the question […]

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Stage Managers are Super Heroes by Glenn Davis

If you were to ask people attending a weekend service or event, “When or how did a live scene change on stage in the dark?” Most people would not have a clue. Unnoticed and in charge of more things than anyone else in a live production, is one of the most valuable production individuals on […]

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Safety Toward Rigging by Glenn Davis

I read an article recently that said, “Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly all accidents involving fallen objects.” Even though, that is a pretty humorous statement, the fact is it takes a lot of overwhelming work to overcome gravity. When it comes to rigging “probably” or “maybe” safe, is not the most reassuring words […]

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