In the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, Chris Brodman and Cody Lisle of LIT Lighting knew they couldn’t “just sit around and wait” for the lockdown on live events to pass. “We didn’t want to allow all of our creative passion sit idle or burn out,” said Brodman. “So, we launched LIT Live for livestreaming.”
Prior to the lockdown, most of LIT’s work involved lighting festivals and corporate events. Brodman and Lisle had no experience streaming live music. Undeterred, they brought together a team of experienced volunteers; and adhering strictly to social distance protocols, (set up times were staggered to avoid crowding and all equipment was consistently disinfected), they began streaming live music shows on Twitch.TV and Facebook.
Their first show featured Hollywood Slasher and was lit by Casey Jones, who ran his rig on a ChamSys Magic Q Maxi wing PC system; while the second, featuring DJ Yellow, was run by James Simpson. Both performances were given dynamic, colorful looks with the help of 16 Maverick MK2 Spot, 22 Rogue R2 Wash and 12 Rogue R1 Wash fixtures from CHAUVET Professional, which were drawn from LIT Lighting’s inventory.
“The devices people are watching from are completely different from their own eyeballs, so we had to adjust the lighting accordingly,” said Brodman. “Since the audience is interfacing with this show on screens that are sometimes tiny, we wanted to make the setup intimate so everyone feels like they are there at the show. We also wanted the design to be full of eye candy for the camera. Our camera angles were chosen to show depth and give different perspectives to the digital audience.”
Brodman and Lisle had a long list of local artists lined up for LIT Live after their second show, but these plans had to be put on hold after the governor of Arizona issued a stay-at-home order. “We know it’s important to put safety first, so things are on hold now,” said Brodman. “Our future livestreams have been pushed back to May. We are eager to pick this back up then, safety permitting.”
When LIT Live does return, Brodman and Lisle are confident their shows will be better than ever. In addition to learning more about the nuances of livestreaming, they acquired a renewed appreciation for the quality of their team.
“We pooled all of the resources together in a matter of days to get everything necessary to be off and streaming,” said Brodman. “The team was great. In addition to Cody and me, who served as PMs and our LDs, we owe a lot to Bobby Drew, our LIT streaming engineer, Rodger Pugh of Dveus Designs, our LIT L2: Jared Garvin, social media tech Caleb Horschemeyer of Dveus Designs, and social media art director Tia Purcell of LIT as well as our friends Chris White of Sound Image AZ, Guillermo of Hardwired Productions, and Bobby Garcia of Bobby G Entertainment.”
Speaking of his team, Brodman expressed confidence that they will all be back in force once the stay-at-home order is lifted. “The experience was an adrenalin rush for us, and chance to connect to the community,” he said. “We’re eager to do this again. Production is our life and this virus won’t beat us.”