Hiding the sleeping choir members

I'm sure all of you have experienced distractions in the camera's background behind the pulpit.

Our stake has resorted to placing flowers between the piano and organ to hide choir members from view but we've never been able to get the right height...either the flowers are too high for the choir to see over or to low to effectively hide choir members in the main camera's view.

However, this past conference I was able to devise an adjustable flower stand which has worked out very well. On top of a 44" high box is a piece of wood on hinges with plastic flowers permanently attached. The hinged top can be raised and locked into place. Initially the flowers are left down (about 48"). After the choir has completed their special number, a member of the choir raises the wood and inserts a dowel in the stand to prop it up. Once the flowers are up, a TV is set in place and secured to prevent falling. The TV allows the choir to enjoy the video. Raised, the flower's height is 70".

In these pictures, you'll notice the choir members in the background before the flowers are raised. Afterwards, the choir is hidden from view...
I was surprised at how well it worked and there were more compliments about the flowers than anything else.

You're probably asking how much of a distraction it is to see the flowers going up (or down). Personally, I don't think it was too bad. In the link below, I've provided a video clip from the conference. You'll see that right after the choir's special number, the lady in the red dress raise and secure the flower stand and TV.

Conference Video Clip

I guess i am not seeing the problem. This is clever, I grant you that, but to me it seems to be a bigger distraction to the people in the Chapel. Are you trying to duplicate the General conference look on the video feeds? If a distracting choir is a big problem, why not just excuse the choir to go sit on the front rows that you reserve for them. That would eliminate the box, the flowers, and TV.
Where do you store this thing the rest of the year?

Pretty impressive! I'm not sure if I'm up to trying this yet but this issue has been on my mind for years. This weekend the choir is a youth choir; I've talked to the director and we'll make sure more mature people (i.e not deacons) are sitting in the camera view.

It would be even cooler if it were on struts, and with a tv permanently attached, so it just had to be raised and that was it. Better yet, with a motor and remote control.

What I actually wanted to do was dim the lights on the choir. That would require mounting extra lights focused on the podium, or changing the light/switch relationship, neither of which are likely to happen any time soon.

Very cool, well done

I had a NIGHTMARE! experience with a youth choir and a member of the 1st Quorum of 70 speaking. This would've solved my problem. I like the idea of automation as well, that wouldn't be too hard to setup for those with a skill set for it.

Here's another idea for a temporary flower stand which a neighboring stake did.
A talented craftsman (member) built a 40" long cantilever drawer which hooks on and clamps to the organ (felt prevents scratching). The drawer can easily support 40 lbs and can be slid in and out of place. The depth of the drawer allows flowers to be placed and arranged without falling out.

Their Stake President came up with idea was because choir members needed to get into place and exit the choir seats without obstacles. After the choir's special number, the drawer is pulled out and provides a subtle background for the main camera's view and hides the members of the choir.
The two pieces of black material in the front has weights (heavy washers) sewn into the bottom to smooth out any folds. When closed, one piece of material closes (like a curtain) in front of the other. The black material is attached with Velcro for removal and cleaning.

This is a great idea! better that calling them on their cell and hoping it's on vibrate. Way to go Fish.

For our next stake conference we are placing a camera on the back pew, just a little higher than the head of a seated person, which will completely remove all choir members from view when a speaker is at the pulpit.

A second camera will be mounted 7 feet high in the corner of the overflow area which will provide all wide angle views plus a close-in view of the speaker (no choir members in view because of camera angle-only the organ & stake presy will be in background).

We've got lights in the ceiling that are already focused on the podium. However, I've never seen them used while other lights are dimmed. I think it would make for far better broadcast quality.

TinMan wrote:I guess i am not seeing the problem. This is clever, I grant you that, but to me it seems to be a bigger distraction to the people in the Chapel. Are you trying to duplicate the General conference look on the video feeds? If a distracting choir is a big problem, why not just excuse the choir to go sit on the front rows that you reserve for them. That would eliminate the box, the flowers, and TV.
Where do you store this thing the rest of the year?

I agree this seems like a huge distraction for the members that are actually there. I think the option to just keep those seats vacant is a much easier solution.

For our last stake conference we lowered the cameras (just 53" above the floor) and placed the left & right cameras on the back pews, and the center camera 4 rows from the front. No more distractions behind the speaker !

while I love the enterprise, and awesomeness of the solution, I dont actually like it in action. Very distracting. Perhaps a better solution is to leave the seats behind the speaker empty. When time to sing, everone stands, and as a group steps left, or right to fill in the center section, and they sing. That would solve the problem.