Lighting for the Stage

1. Lighting for the Stage Key: How is lighting used in the Theatre? Key: Who works with lighting? Key: What are the components of a basic lighting system and how do they work?

2. Lighting Designer • Lighting is necessary in theatre and in every format of the entertainment field. • Lets face it, you need to see the performers, musicians, talk-show hosts, or actors. • The people who make the plan for lighting a performance venue are called Lighting Designers.

3. A lighting designer is able to create a pleasing yet functional ambiance within an interior environment by specifically selecting the appropriate products and strategically placing them to complement the overall interior design scheme. For example, museums must use sophisticated lighting design strategy and technology to ensure that art pieces are viewed at their most favorable without being damaged in the process. Lighting specialists also play important roles in movies, television and theatrical productions where lighting strategy subtly enhances the overall performance. • Lighting Designer Salary Range: $30,000+ • Lighting Designer Career and Job Outlook: • Opportunities for lighting specialists are linked to the entertainment industry and how many plays, TV shows, and movies go into production at a given time. In addition, lighting designers also find employment at lighting manufacturers and showrooms to sell, promote and improve existing lighting products and fixtures. Lighting designers are also called to offer their expertise on various projects on a consulting basis.

4. Lighting Design

5. Lighting in theatres is very special. Usually, the main light in the theater, called house lights, dim when a performance is about to start. Then the stage lights come on, creating a mood of anticipation as the show begins. • There is great satisfaction in designing the lighting for a production that fulfills the needs of the playwright and also meets the objectives of the director and other designers. There is however far greater satisfaction in knowing that you have succeeded in your goals and objectives and that you have emotionally 'moved' an entire audience through the controlled and planned use of light.The_Lighting_Designer.

6.  Stage lighting is no longer a matter of simple illumination as it was less than 100 years ago. Today, the lighting designer is expected to be a master of art, science, history, psychology, communications, politics and sometimes even mind reading. •  The stage designer quickly learns that things are not always what they appear to be. A director who asks for 'more light' on an actor, probably doesn't mean that at all. Instead he really just wants 'to see the actor better'. The designer might chose to reduce the lighting contrast around the actor, or simply ask the actor to tip his head up a bit. Both solutions solve the problem without 'adding more light'. So the lighting designer also has to be a good listener, a careful interpreter and a skilled crafts person.

7.  Ultimately the lighting designer must be an artist! He must understand style, composition, balance, esthetics and human emotions. He must also understand the science of light, optics, vision, the psychology of perception and lighting technology. Using these tools the lighting designer must learn to think, feel and create with his heart. •  When it's good lighting design - you alone will know. • When it's bad lighting design - everyone will tell you

8. MODERN LIGHTING DESIGN •  Modern lighting methods are based, first on the lighting designer having a full and complete understanding of what it is he is tying to accomplish and exactly what he is tying to light. Next, the designer must intimately understand the characteristics of lighting fixtures and be able to chose the appropriate fixture for the appropriate job. The designer must know what he wants to do and how to accomplish it.

9. MODERN LIGHTING DESIGN (cont) • The designer must also have a full understanding of the physics of light and the psychology of human perception and vision. For example a single lighting fixture 'appears' very different when used to illuminate an actor against a 'black' or dark setting, compared to against a 'white' or light setting. The fixture has not changed at all, however the change in visual effect is absolutely enormous, drastic and extreme. Things in theatre are "not what they are, they are what they appear to be".

10. THE LUMINAIRE , or Lighting Instrument •  A STAGE LIGHT is referred to as a 'fixture' an 'instrument' or a 'unit'. This term refers to a complete lighting 'package' - consisting of a housing, lamp (bulb), socket, reflector, electrical cord, connector and sometimes a lens, mounting clamp and color frame.

11. Basic Types of Lighting Instruments •  Luminaires designed for stage, television and film lighting applications fall into two (2) main categories; • SPOTLIGHTS • FLOODLIGHTS. • A third specialized category includes PROJECTORS and special lighting effects.

12. Most lamps can be modified to change the shape, color or quality of their light. • Colored filters called gels can be put in front of the lens to create colored light. • Gobos are sheets of aluminum with holes cut in them, put in front of the lens to make shapes.

13. Virtual Lighting Lab Plot A Light Plot is a map of where lights are placed in a theater. This is the Light Plot of the Virtual Lighting Lab we are about to visit.

14. Responsibilities of the Lighting Designer • Works with director in understanding the concept of the show • Designs the lighting, including setting cues and placing instruments, determining colors of gels, use of gobos, etc. • Appointed by the director • Works with lighting crew to see that design is executed properly • Attends various meetings with the director prior to finalization of design • Attends technical rehearsal and other rehearsals as needed.

15. Responsibilities of the Lighting Crew • Master Electrician & Crew • Works with the Lighting Designer to set lighting instruments according to the lighting design. • Attends technical rehearsal and other rehearsals as needed. • Appointed by the Lighting Designer. • Light Running Crew • Operates the light board during rehearsals and performances according to the lighting design • Appointed by the Lighting Designer.

16. Lighting Instruments can be controlled by computer operated systems (which are very cool. The high school has one) or with manual systems like the one we are going to use.

17. Our Lighting System

18. OUR LIGHTING SYSTEM INCLUDES • ✔ 8 PAR CAN fixtures with quartz 500W lamps. • ✔ 4 360Q ELLIPSOIDAL FIXTURES with HX600 575W lamps • ✔ 3 ND4600 DIMMER PACKS with 4 channels each...600W per channel. • ✔ 1 MC7016 LIGHTING CONTROLLER 16 channel 16 scene programmable. • ✔ 3 50 FOOT SIGNAL CABLES with microphone type XLR connectors.

19. The ELLIPSOIDAL REFLECTOR • The ELLIPSOIDAL REFLECTOR spotlight, is a common fixture for many stage lighting applications. • The ER spotlight provides a narrow, directional beam with a hard edge. The ability to project a metal etched pattern (template or gobo), makes this fixture particularly useful to the stage lighting designer.

20. The PAR CAN • The PAR64 SPOTLIGHT (Parabolic Aluminized Reflector or PAR Can) fixtures, consist of a sealed beam lamp (like an automotive headlight), in a simple metal housing. PAR fixtures are highly efficient. • These fixtures are particularly useful for ACTING AREA and WASH LIGHTING. They are also usually the fixture of choice for COLOR WASH and BACK LIGHTING for entertainment productions.

21. Dimmer Packs • Wires from lamps are first plugged into a dimmer pack. This is a box with special circuits that can alter the flow of power to a lamp to make it brighter or dimmer. • This dimmer pack has 4 dimmer circuits with two sockets each. • Lamps on the same dimmer are ‘paired’ they go on and off together. • The combined power of lamps on one dimmer must not exceed 2,000 Watts.

22. The Lighting Control Board • Each Dimmer is connected to a channel on the control board. This is often in a soundproofed room behind the audience from where the technicians can see the stage. • A sliding knob, or fader, on each channel makes the dimmer brighten or dim the lamps. 10 is bright, 1 is dim and 0 is off.

23. Pre-setting – there are two rows of channels. Technicians set the faders on one row to the levels needed for one scene. The second row is set to levels for the next scene. This is called pre-setting. These are Master Faders. Sliding both knobs in the same direction turns one on and the other off to make cross fades work smoothly. Channel – each channel controls lights from one dimmer circuit. all channels on one row are worked by a master fader. To change from one preset to another, you slide one master fader on and the other off. Done smoothly and slowly, this is called a crossfade. Faders – a sliding knob or fader, on each channel makes the dimmer brighten or dim the lamps. 10 is bright, 1 is dim, 0 is off.

24. On the back of your worksheet, answer these questions while you wait to come touch the equipment: Key: How is lighting used in the Theatre? Key: Who works with lighting? Key: What are the components of a basic lighting system and how do they work?