What’s The Trick With Haze?

It seems that many of the churches I talk to have had a challenge with trying to use haze machines effectively and similarly to the first time they tried to add acoustic drums, if it wasn’t done perfectly the first time, its basically been banned from use by leadership. For the most part it’s some combination of issues in one of 3 categories: Smoke detectors, Air Flow, and “health concerns”.

So let’s say you’re looking to try haze in their air, whether for the first time or for the first time in a while. Outside of the 3 categories, it would be wise to consider that whenever you’re trying something new (especially if it could be controversial), it’s worth taking the time to experiment with it in an EMPTY ROOM until you’ve been able to dial in the settings and provided proper training to get the desired results. I realize this can be hard sometimes, none of us want to be patient when that new piece of gear arrives and wait to fire it up. We just want to immediately “fix” all the problems we’ve been having without that piece in play right? Sometimes this will even mean having to set it up and tear it down a few times over the course of a few weeks so that it won’t be a distraction for folks until we’re ready to put it into use. I’ve had to fight this a few times myself recently. I’ve acquired things that I know are the right fixes for a given issue but the current application is slightly different than last time I used a given piece of equipment. So I have to take a couple weeks to make adjustments and dial it in before I attempt to use it on a weekend.

Ok, I’ll get off the soap box now and get to the point.

Smoke Detectors.
This can be a really big deal depending on how your facility is setup, but the most important thing is that you figure this out BEFORE you fire up your hazer for the first time. I can tell you from experience, its not fun having the fire department ready to literally break down the front door because you were trying to use a little atmosphere effects to make your lights look cooler. They will not be amused, and it can result in fines depending on the laws in your area. Not to mention what would happen if the fire alarm goes off with a room full of people. So please, do the research about your building and your areas codes before you fire up your hazer.

I have had some facilities where its a non issue, and other where the detectors in the room could be suspended manually so there are options, but please, for your own sake,  explore these first.

Air Flow.
The point of haze is to allow light to be seen in the air. We only want to see the haze as a specific lights beam is traveling through it. Often times when a hazer is just set somewhere and fired up it quickly leads to what I call the “smokey bar” look. This is best described as an uneven distribution of haze particles where some areas are heavy saturated (visible in indirect light or cloudy) whole other areas are left without the effect at all.

The trick is understanding the climate in your room. Every room (even with the HVAC off) has at least a small amount of natural air movement. You’ll want to be aware of what that is and try to avoid placing the hazer in an area where the air is naturally drifting too.

Once the hazer  been placed, you’ll want to set the HVAC blower too “on”. Consistent airflow is key so that the performance of the hazer doesn’t change throughout the event. All of these steps require a little bit of haze to be put in the air so you can observe the effects of the air flow in your space.

In a perfect world this would be the point where everything looks great… but since we don’t live in a perfect world, its pretty typical to have to utilize additional fans to move the flow of the air in a way that stirs up the haze in a natural and subtle way.

Ive been on some stages where it takes 4 box fans on low to mix up the air and other places where using one fan pointed into a curtain helps disperse it enough to where you can’t tell where the source of the haze is. Every room is different and you’ll just have to take some time to try things and see what works best in your space.

The final thing to be aware of with the climate in your room is the humidity level. This can greatly effect air flow and how much output is needed from your hazer to appropriately fill the space and it often changes from one season to the next depending on your geographical location. I live in the midwest where we tend to have very humid summers and very dry winters. This results in having to use more haze in the winter than in the summer to achieve the same look.

“Health Concerns”
I’ve heard it many times: “the smoke makes it hard to breathe”, “I’m choking on the smoke”, “I can’t come to church because that fog will give me an asthma attack”. Now, I’m not a physician, but I have read studies I have read on the effects of atmospheric haze over time and when its properly used as outlined above, people don’t have any actually issue with it. Anecdotally, when people can see the big clouds of it, the coughing starts, when its smooth throughout the room and only seen in the light beams, there isn’t any coughing. I also have to believe that touring acts, concert venues and other performance groups wouldn’t be able to use it as wide spreadably as they are if it posed a health risk to attendees.

I’m not suggesting that you should be rude to people and not take their concerns seriously, but in my experience if you take the time to deploy the haze correctly and smoothly, the complaints about it become virtually non existent.

Wrap-up
So all that to say, haze is a cool effect that can be used effetely to enhance the visual environment in the worship space. You just have to take the time to do your research and test before you attempt to use it during an event for the first time.

If you have any questions about how to properly deploy a hazer in your specific space, Id be happy to talk with you about it.

Happy hazing,
Chris