What is it?
• Stage lighting is no
longer a matter of
simple illumination.
• A director who asks for
“more light” is really just
asking to see the actor
better. This is a problem
that can be solved in
several ways, without
simply adding “more
light.”
Evolution of Stage Lighting
The early Greeks built their theatres as open-air
spaces and oriented them in relation to the sun,
so as to use natural light for stage lighting.
Modern Stage Lighting
• What we recognize as
modern lighting design
began with the
incandescent lamp in the
late 1800s.
• This offered a safer
alternative to gas light.
• The development of lighting
design software allows for
increased flexibility and
creativity. Light movements
are programmable, some
software uses voicerecognition.
Objectives of Stage Lighting
1. Visibility: This is considered to be the most
basic and fundamental function of stage lighting.
What the audience doesn’t see, they can’t
understand.
Objectives of Stage Lighting Cont.
2. Naturalism: Provides a sense of TIME and
PLACE. Stage settings may be highly realistic or
completely abstract, absurd, or stylized.
Objectives of Stage Lighting Cont.
. Composition: This refers
to the overall appearance
of the stage, as influenced
by the lighting.
Composition also deals
with the FORM of an
object.
3
Composition must reveal
actors, objects, and
scenery in proportion to
their importance, by
building a visual picture .
Objectives of Stage Lighting Cont.
4. Mood and Atmosphere: Mood considers the basic psychological reactions
of the audience.
Lighting can cause an audience to feel a wide range of different emotions.
Atmosphere: sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.
Types of Stage Lights
Ellipsoidal or Leko (pronounced lee-ko)
is the workhorse of the professional
stage. The instrument produces a hard
edged, highly controlled pool of light.
Gobos
A gobo pattern can be used with an
ellipsoidal to project a pattern on the stage
or the scenery.
Fresnel
This beam of light is wide and softedged, creating soft shadows, and is
commonly used for back light, top light,
and side light.
Another method of controlling the
spread of light is to use either a top hat
(also referred to as a snoot), which
generally limits the light coming out, or
a barn door, whose flaps work as though
they were shutters.
These methods limit light output and
keep excess light from spilling into the
eyes of audience members or where it is
not desired.
Spot Light
Qualities of Light
Any study of lighting design must include an understanding of both
the PHYSICAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL qualities of light.
Intensity
Form
Color
Direction
Movement
Color Theory
All light is colored.
Color is usually discussed in terms of HUE,
VALUE, and CHROMA.
HUE: The classification of a color as
perceived by the eye.
VALUE: The lightness or darkness of a color.
CHROMA: The purity or saturation of a
color.
Color Theory Cont.
Primary Colors
Color Theory Cont.
Secondary Colors
Additive & Subtractive Mixing
When white light is passed through a filter (gel), only the
wavelengths that correspond to the color are transmitted.
All other wavelengths are absorbed. This is SUBTRACTIVE
filtering.
When two or more colored beams of light combine to
illuminate a surface, they mix together through additive
mixing. (Warms and Cools)
Your Assignment
As part of your final, you need to
construct a light plot for your
specific script.
You will receive points according to
the creativity and appropriateness
of your work.
What is a light plot
A light plot is a list that details what lights
come on and go off at a specific point in the
show.
Your show should begin with a “Preset” and
end with a “Blackout”
Cue # Lights
Cue Line
1
1. Preset (blue,
green, purple)
2. House at Full
House Open
2
1. Preset (blue,
green, purple)
2. House at Half
*S.M.
Announcements
3
All Out
End of Overture
4
Prison Interior
Actors at places
(Yellows, Ambers)
Window gobo