World Youth Day 2002

"You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world."  Thus was the message from Pope John Paul II at the World Youth Day celebration held in Toronto this past summer.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholic worshipers from over 150 countries gathered in July for the 17th World Youth Day celebrations. Organized by the Catholic Church, World Youth Day began in the mid-1980s when Pope John Paul II invited youth from around the world to gather in prayer for peace and reconciliation.

Christie Lites of Canada supplied an abundance of MACs for the two-week celebration, which culminated in a huge Papal Mass held at Downsview Lands on July 28th. The Papal Mass attracted a crowd of some 800,000 and was broadcast live to a worldwide television audience of millions. Over 300 Martin fixtures were used on the main stage with all lighting supplied through Martin Professional’s Canadian distributor Erikson Pro/Martin Canada.

Lighting design requires careful consideration
Lighting an event like a Papal Mass is a unique opportunity that requires careful consideration. After all, if there is one man in the world you don’t want to upstage with fancy lighting effects, it would be the Pope. Lighting Designer for the event was Kelly Jones, a long time user of Martin lighting. “The lighting was designed to not overwhelm,” Kelly explains. “We wanted to keep the focus on the religious icons such as the huge cross, as well as the Pope himself.”

Even the trussing design above the stage had its own religious association in the form of concentric circles representative of a halo. A pair of curved trusses in the form of a cross graced the sides of the stage, embracing the set. 

Versatile MAC 2000
Kelly incorporated 74 MAC 600 NT wash lights, 54 MAC 500 profile spots, 24 Pal framing spots and his favorite automated fixture, 74 MAC 2000 profile spots, into the lighting design. “The idea was to cut down on focus time so I went with automated fixtures, and I wanted a fixture with an HMI bulb so I chose the MAC 2000. In fact, the MAC 2000 is my favorite light due to the HMI source. The color temperature correction system was key as well. The mass began at 7:00 when it was still light and finished at 10:30 in darkness so it was important to maintain consistent color temperature throughout the event. The three to one zoom is impressive as well and the gobo selection is also good. At times I even used the MAC 2000 as a wash.”

Illuminating Pope John Paul II and more
Projection surfaces for color washes were provided by the dominating cross and towers along with scrim on the back of the stage. “I like the nice, smooth color mixing of the MAC 600 NT, and the beam projection of the MAC 500 is excellent,” Kelly states. “I also used 12 Pals on the front tower to dress up the stairways and front set without spilling onto faces. I illuminated the Pope himself with a combination of MAC 2000s and fresnels and used MAC 500s, 600s and Pals for audience lighting.”

“The MACs are compact fixtures, not ostentatious, which is important for this type of event,” Kelly continues. “Of the 300 moving heads we used I only had to swap out one fixture. The lights were even rained on before the mass but once they dried out they all fired up.”

Several other rental companies were also involved in the two weeks of events, many also using Martin fixtures.

CREW
LD – Kelly Jones
Crew Chief – Mike Aldcroft
Head Electrician – Jason Bolger
Head Electrician – Pete Siller
Rigger – Ted O’Dell
Board Operator - Geoff Frood
Board Operator – Kelly Jones