How "The Show Went On" For Our 2020 Christmas Play

Overcoming The Obstacle of COVID-19 With Film, Lights, and Green Screens!

Each December I write and direct an hour long play for my church. In this case, I had the story idea even before our cast finished 2019's play. I was so passionate about new story's structure, that I finished writing "Mary & The Lamb of God" by March! BUT, as 2020's COVID-19 epidemic progressed, I wondered whether I would be able to tell it.

The Situation: One of the major themes in the discussion of preventing and reducing COVID is social distancing. That can be very difficult with a play, where the cast is so close together for several months and behind a curtain. My own productions typically feature a cast list between 20 to 30 adults. By holding a play, we would easily bring 100+ people into a singular space.

With the play being in late December — when more families gather — a single sickness could easily dismantle the production. I wanted everyone to be safe, and yet be sure the show would go on. I could not do that with a traditional play strategy.

The Solution: Fortunately, with the encouragement of some friends, I decided to move forward. We would film the Christmas play. Using this approach, I would be able to record smaller groups over a longer course of time, reducing COVID exposure.

Best of all, this production could go beyond just our church and be for the community as well.

Green Screen: Since we were filming anyway, I decided to try a new approach — using a green screen. Our previous live productions were filmed against the backdrops of a single color curtain. But with the magic of film, we could add in dynamic backdrops to make each scene more engaging. There were some new obstacles:

Some of my scenes were big, featuring a large cross or a long dinner table. I ended up purchasing two separate 10 foot wide green screens and combining them together.

The more people in a scene, the more shadows behind them. I knew that if there were too many shadows on the green screen, the digitalized background will not completely appear. Therefore, I ended up purchasing six tripod lights to strategically place during the recording of each scene.

I also made sure no one wore green — otherwise their torsos would disappear in the editing room, leaving behind a head. (Too bad we were not doing a play about John The Baptist!)

The Result: This is the biggest project I have ever been a part of — writing, directing, filming, lighting and editing —with an amazing cast of actors and singers. Our core audience watched on Facebook with an end result of 1.3K views (view here). This is dramatically more than we would have had in-person.

The film is not perfect, but is even stronger than my previous projects. I have learned that if I am obsessed with perfection, I'll never finish a project. But, with every completed project, I learn more and get a little better — making fewer mistakes and finding more efficient strategies. I cannot wait to use what I learned for future productions.