1. Lighting Design (Introduction)
The qualities of light a lighting designer can control are divided into four categories:
Distribution – the direction from which light approaches a subject; the shape and size of the area the light is covering; the quality of the light (diffusion or clarity).
Intensity – the actual amount, or level of brightness, of light that strikes a subject; ranges from total darkness to painfully bright white light.
Movement – the timed duration of the light cues; the movement of onstage lights such as a lantern or candle held by an actor; the movement of an offstage light source (followspots or intelligent lights).
Color – judicious use of apprpriately tinted light can greatly assist the audience’s understanding of, and reaction to, a play.
READING A LIGHTING PLOT: 1

2. Lighting Design (Functions of Stage Light)
To increase the audience’s understanding and appreciation of a play, stage lighting needs to perform some basic functions:
Visibility – stage lighting must make everything on stage clearly visible to the audience, according to the director/designer’s wishes. The number of instruments used, their color, and their direction and intensity all affect visibility.
Selective Focus – stage lighting can direct the audience’s attention to a specific place. The primary method is to take advantage of humans’ instinctive response to light: we automatically look toward brightness or movement in an otherwise neutral scene.
Images: 2

3. Lighting Design (Functions of Stage Light)
To increase the audience’s understanding and appreciation of a play, stage lighting needs to perform some basic functions:
Modeling – stage lighting can reveal the form of an object through the pattern of highlight and shadow. The distribution and intensity of the light determines the audiences’ visual understanding of objects.
Mood – stage lighting evokes mood primarily through the use of color and intensity. It should be subtle and rarely noticed in order to be effective.
This image shows the effects of modeling with light. Notice how different the woman looks based on where the light comes from!
Image: 3

4. Lighting Design (Designing with Light)
A front light tends to flatten an actor’s face and is considered unflattering.
Side lights and top lights create highlights along the edges of the head and body, but cause deep shadows across the face and front of the body.
The greatest potential for modeling is achieved when an actor is surrounded with light!
We use key light and fill light to achieve this.
Key light – the brightest light on the scene
Fill light – lights used to fill shadows created by the key light. 4
Image:

5. Lighting Design (Psychological Effects of Light)
Just like in literature, in lighting the concepts of good an evil are often associated with light and darkness.
Dark, murky shadows give the audience a sense of foreboding and suspense.
Brightly lit scenes allow the audience to relax, because nothing can sneak up unseen.
Any light that places an actor in heavy shadow, such as back light, causes an uneasy feeling in the audience because they cannot clearly see the actor’s facial expressions (and thereby read his or her intentions).
Color, and the psychological associations with each hue, also play a major factor in audience reactions. 5
Images: