EGWolfe

Showing all posts tagged #creativity:

Thoughts to Remember When Creating a Space for Worship

Posted on September 30th, 2014

I rattled off a stream of thought in response to my friend asking me what things I think about when designing. He took that email and compiled it into this list; which his organization now uses this as part of their planing meetings. Perhaps it is a helpful guide for you to consider as well...


Thoughts to Remember When Creating a Space for Worship

  • The end goal of the services that happens in the space.
  • The vibe/feeling you want to help communicate.
  • Who is the target demographic?
  • Who in the audience will be reached regardless of the branding, environment, and artistry? These are not people to design for. Do not be influenced by them.
  • Who might only be opened up to the communication by the environment you present? This is who you must go after.
  • How might you use resources you already have available to support your vision?
  • What alternative ideas might convey such themes with increased beauty/power/depth?
  • What ideas might work well because of how clear the symbolism might be?
  • What of those ideas would be so cliché that it would actually turn off the artist in the audience?
  • What metaphors can you weave into the design to add depth of beauty (and meaning) ...even if only for you?
  • How long do you want to live in the look? A series? A season? A weekend? Indefinitely?
  • How will you light the set? How will you light the art and communication? Will the lighting on both feel unified?
  • Make sure to design scenic elements that will be enhanced with the lighting tools available. Also, design scenic with consideration of who is designing/operating lights. Try to play to their strengths.
  • It needs to look good in the room, to be certain. Are you broadcasting ever - stream, IMAG, record for later release?
  • Lighting for video requires thinking beyond what looks good to the naked eye; and lighting for both video and still having everything look good in the room requires some real finesse…
  • Think through positioning of each person who will be on stage. Where they stand/sit/dance should feel like it connects with the scenic elements and help visually connect the guests with the communication on stage. Break the 4th wall.
  • What scenic and/or lighting might be considered in the room? In the lobby? Before and after the event with advertising, social media, etc. How does the branding transcend the stage experience?
  • Think through everything that people might see. Certainly do not let anything be a distraction; also push into every opportunity to help enhance the story...

A Challenge to Myself

Posted on July 23rd, 2014

We artists are responsible for being the spark of hope that will change futures.

Eliminate everything that makes you less than the best reflection of your humanity. It is your responsibility is to be a good steward of every opportunity.

Own your contribution. Do not allow cynicism to "protect" you from having to try. Cynicism and hope cannot coexist. Embrace the new present and pursue the future without fear.

If you complain about something (especially more than once) you’re allowing it to continue. Instead, look for how you can solve the "problem" and lead into a new future… Future based language changes present results.

Do not be lulled into accepting the good. Instead, search out the hidden potential for greatness. Greatness is revealed by the discipline of whittling away at the idea and not settling for the first draft.

Tell a story. Be an artisan. Craft the magical.

Give good notes; be a good coach. Do not "play small." Give the gift of honest and constructive criticism - it is a real gift if your team trusts that you are for them.

Strive to do what only you can do. Gather and invest in great teammates. They too are creative and uniquely gifted. Be intentional and mine it out of them.

Being full of hope, bring your full self to any and every situation. Know your unique talents and steward them well.

Use your creative mind as a gift to the team. When at your best, you'll ask helpful, focusing questions that will guide us toward a better future.

Always take a chance on better, even if it seems threatening. Break paradigms - dare to bend the implications of what people think they know.

Ideate where we might go as we consider "hopeful, unknown, future possibilities."

Tomorrow is not rooted in the past unless you are lazy in your vision. May we call each other to the higher standard. Let us reach for the stars.

May we be known by love. May ours be a collective voice of hope. May we realize our potential to create a beautiful future.

Do not hesitate to step up where others shrink in fear. Charge as a warrior in the service of joy. Never cease speaking up and offering your very best work. Be relentless in generously sharing the gift you uniquely can be - to your ecclesial community and the world beyond.

You are designed to imagine and create the future.

You are not your idea. Be openhanded with everything. You are not what you do. Do not forget that the Work of God is to believe in the one who was sent.

As a creative who seeks to live life to the fullest, you must always pay attention to the world. See the big picture. Never cease to to be awestruck at the beauty of nature. Practice gratefulness; recognize gifts even and especially in the midst of chaos. Share in the celtic tradition as you journey.

Be not prideful; be courageous. Live unhindered. Your life is art.

Continue dying to yourself and live every new day in a posture of surrender.

Keep your integrity bounded and your imagination boundless. May your dreams be big - rooted in not in your past but in the One who was and is and most importantly who is to come.

Love with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.



*The above is curated from my various journal entries, notebooks, and underlined passages from books I've been reading. Along with a few "original" thoughts of my own, much of the above is derived with paraphrasing (and a few direct quotes) from some people who have been inspiring me over the past few months. Thanks in particular to Oswald Chambers, Seth Godin, Erwin McManus, Ann Voscamp, Ed Catmull, Aaron Sorkin, Marcus Buckingham, Michael Dauphinee, Jason Jaggard, Jessica Wolfe, and Jesus of Nazareth.

Minimalism Fuels Creativity

Posted on May 30th, 2014

Simplify and minimize - external order creates internal possibility

Unconscious competency and the gift of sharing in relationship

Posted on March 21st, 2014

A couple years ago I was introduced to a talented young man at a conference. Like a lot of us in this community, Don wears many hats in his responsibilities preparing for and supporting weekend services at his church. He’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and has a particular aptitude and curiosity for creating beauty and helping communicate through the discipline of scenic design. This I’m sure is a big part of why we were connected. Anyway, it has been great to get to know him as we get together for coffee a few times per year. In spite of being in significantly different life stages, our conversation always flows beautifully and is rich in mutual encouragement. Not only does neither of us like to settle for a mediocre cup of coffee; but we segue that thought into dialogue of our passion for preparing a quality storytelling environment for our guests.

During one of our meetings, we were discussing everything that goes into a stage design. The next day, Don emailed to ask me if I wouldn’t mind typing some of the things out so he could chew on them further. I sent him a stream of thoughts that covered what I remembered us musing about along with a few other ideas to consider... The next time we got together, he shared the document that his leadership team uses as a guide every time they plan an event. He had reworked my thoughts into a list and he was excited to share with me stories of the fruit of our coffee meetings.

I was humbled and honored to have been useful. I hadn’t really thought about it since sending the email. For him to have taken the time to separate them into bullet points and create a document from them that was used as it was really struck me. We all want to be helpful. I think that is perhaps the most common trait of production artists. Yes, we’re all a bit geeky, but mostly we want to help people. It was a real gift to me for him to thank me in the way he did.

When I started writing this post, I thought the story about my coffee with Don was simply setting up the list that I’m including. Perhaps the list is a helpful tool. If so, cool; here's the link: egwolfe.com/post/thoughts-to-remember-when-creating-a-space-for-worship
However, I realize the greater challenge comes in at least one of the following:

Realize the genius you have to offer someone else and share it. I think that far too often, we fail to realize the unconscious competency we have in our unique areas of expertise. Especially those among us who have been working in our craft for a long time have wisdom to share in how to we make the most of our situations. It is a crime to not share the ideas we have. These "simple" ideas will likely be a profound blessing.

I encourage you to seek out (or at least seize the opportunity when it presents itself) the person you can meet with to either pour into or draw insight from. We all have busy schedules; and the thought of taking an afternoon to do something that doesn't directly accomplish a task on our todo list is difficult to justify. In the short term, perhaps so; but in the bigger picture, the mutual sharpening from the new friendship will pay off in unseen dividends.

Ask the Lord to show you who you should meet with. Commit to the building the relationship. Share with a posture of open hands and receive with an open mind.


Quote - on debt and creativity

Posted on September 7th, 2013

"The trick is from the business side, to try to be fiscally responsible so you can be creatively reckless."


I like this reminder. It goes along with my tagline:
achieving the greatest intersection of stewardship and creativity

Adapting a University Rep Plot

Posted on February 19th, 2013

Lighting Design

This slide is from my Lighting Training slide deck. It illustrates the importance of accurate, thought-out documents and the iterative process of designing at a university theatre for a theatrical production that I was brought in to be the Lighting Designer for.
The document on the left shows the rep plot they were using. Thanks to some great pre-production meetings (and the trust built with the university’s Lighting Director) I was shown much favor and adapted the plot to fit the ambitious creative direction that the producer and I wanted to pursue. The photo shows me in the final meeting with the house LD as he prepared to follow my plot and Purpose Sheet.
Good paperwork allowed him to lead a few of his students to hang/circuit/focus all lights in a 6hr shift.
The student who programmed used my cue sheet to program the show and adapt during rehearsals. I was given trust early in the process; and it was a privilege to give trust to her for the end of the process: The first time I saw my design outside of my head was at the premier of the show!


The church has given considerable attention to Truth and Goodness, to theology and ethics. But...

Posted on May 24th, 2011

The church has given considerable attention to Truth and Goodness, to theology and ethics. But too often beauty has escaped us, or we have tried to escape from it. This is partly because of its innovative, experimental aspect, its way of reaching for originality or a new way of expressing an old standard…

We need to pay attention. To show indifference to beauty is an insult to its Creator…

In art and creativity we make visible to others the beauty and meaning God has first pictured, or introduced, into our own imaginations. In that sense we are each a small extension of the mind of God…

This is the essence of the sacramental—that material things remind us of and point us to the things we cannot see but which have ultimate and eternal reality…

We were each, in the image of our Creator, created to create, to call others back to beauty, and the truth about God’s nature…when, in something beautiful and meaningful we hear a message from beyond us, and worship in holiness our Creator who in his unlimited grace, calls us to become co-creators of beauty.


Luci Shaw (Beauty and the Creative Impulse)

Set the Table for the Creative Process

Posted on April 30th, 2011

I just read this quote by novelist Orhan Pamuk. I think it’s a great reminder to learn personal tricks of preparing oneself for creativity.

"In the mornings I used to say goodbye to my wife like someone going to work. I’d leave the house, walk around a few blocks, and come back like a person arriving at the office…The domestic rituals and details somehow kill the imagination."

Good Friday 2011 Production Design

Posted on April 25th, 2011

Kensington Good Friday 2011



For Kensington's Good Friday service this year, there was a powerful moment at the end where live poses portraying scenes from the crucifixion were revealed. Until that moment, the audience had been taken on an artistic journey from walking in to simple beauty with a simple stage containing only a decorated table, a piano and string section, some candles, and screen.




The screen was the key to the design. It was the focal point for a powerful video early on in the day. It also supported songs and teaching with graphics with lyrics and scripture projected on it. However if that was all that it was used for, we would've just used a standard video screen.



Our screen was a custom frame for a RoseBrand Gray Sharkstooth Scrim. The *frame was built out of plywood and wrapped in Burgundy Pinched Taffeta for color and texture. The interior dimension was 19' wide and maintained a perfect 16:9 ratio for projection.



Behind the scrim was a 32" high 20'x8' stage with a cross (capable of supporting an actor) that rose 10' above that. Scrim is a magical material. It behaves much like a standard soft good when lit from the front. However, with only a simple lighting cue, actors are revealed in a stunning way.



The trick to achieving a Renaissance inspired scene is less **light, not more...



The Good Friday service is really only the secondary event for the holiday weekend. Easter is trump. I had to design the GF set to work on the same stage as Easter's. Much of Easter's design lived upstage of the closed mid traveler. The rest was hidden behind a temporary curtain made out of strips of RoseBrand Black Duvetyn. The double intent was to create a black void of negative space to allow the story focal points to pop.

They did. It was a powerful service.



*The frames were shipped to each of our five campuses in trailers; and therefore had to be shipped in 4 pieces and assembled at each location. The scrim was then stretched over cardboard and stapled into place.

**Because of the tight timeline (only a few hours!) that our portable campuses had for setting up and programming we rented 4 Martin Mac250s for every campus. This allowed us to fine tune our cues (specifically the nuanced cues for the poses) at Troy Campus' rehearsal and send a cue sheet and photos to the campuses. This let them quickly program in those values and be 95% there.

***We used no haze for this service. That's very rare for us, as haze is a prominent part of our brand. I wanted to create a sense of focus on what was being lit, rather than the beams of light.

“Lamp Friday” is the best! I get so much more done in these mornings when the office isn’t full...

Posted on November 19th, 2010

"Lamp Friday" is the best! I get so much more done in these mornings when the office isn’t full of chaos. #fluorescentlightinginhibitscreativity

Eric G Wolfe

Creative Director | Process Architect. Design Strategist. Leadership Coach.