2. CHOOSE ONE OF THE PICTURES BELOW. IN YOUR JOURNAL, DESCRIBE WHAT THE LIGHTING DOES TO YOUR PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE SHOW AND THE PARTICULAR SCENE

3. LIGHTING DESIGN Illumination, Mood, & Focus

4. ILLUMINATION: FIRST & FOREMOST With all that lighting can do today we often forget… The audience has to be able to see the performers clearly and comfortably or else no one is going to care what they do. Both trying to watch an excessively dark stage or a glaringly bright stage causes uncomfortable eye strain. Many audience members even feel that actors are harder to hear in dim lighting.

5. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But lighting is an art of perception… People see what they think they see. So, why is natural illumination so difficult? Look all around you.

6. THE 45 DEGREE CONCEPT Stanley McCandless – A System of Stage Lighting Pointed out that: Human faces are most attractively illuminated at a 45 degree angle. The face is best Illuminated by two lights on opposite sides, both set at 45 degree angles. motivational side – Whatever side the “real” lighting would be coming from. Colored to suggest the color of the “real” light source. Colors are bright and warm for sun, cool and blue for the moon, yellow for candlelight, etc. Colors on the other side were meant to show reflected light, so they tend to be softer and cooler.

7. RIMLIGHT When performers and scenery are lit only from the front, they will tend to fade together. The performers can seem to melt into the scenery. rimlight – Light that comes from the back or the sides to illuminate the “rim” of the actor. This “halo” of light helps to separate the actor from the background.

8. ACTING AREAS McCandless also suggested breaking the stage into acting areas. To do this, a designer breaks the stage into several small areas and designs a set of lights to illuminate each area. He then replicates that set of lights for each area. What benefits does this technique bring for the designer?

9. ACTING AREAS How is it done? Here are some simple guidelines: Each acting area should be lit from at least three different angles. At least one of those angles should be from downstage of the performer. Lighting only from the back and sides will create a highly stylized look, so it should be used sparingly. At least one of those angles should be upstage of the performer. Either from the back or the side, you’re going to need rim light to set the actor off from the scenery.

10. WASH LIGHT Most often, all this light is still not enough! Lighting instruments are not perfect… The beam of even the best instruments will be uneven with hot and dark spots. All lights are brightest in the center of the beam and dim toward the edges. The designer may have intentionally blocked off some of an instrument’s light with a shutter. shutter – Moveable metal blades inside the lighting instrument that cut off part of the light. This can cause uneven lighting with dim spots and even harsh shadows This can be fixed with wash light wash light – A set of soft-edged instruments, all pointed in the same direction, that provide a smooth, broad wash of color over all the areas.

11. MOTIVATIONAL LIGHT: TIME, PLACE, & SEASON motivational light – The light that would be illuminating a scene if it were in a real place. Examples? Things a designer must consider: Where is the light in the room supposed to be coming from? What time of day is it? What time of year is it? Where is this taking place?

12. MOOD & ATMOSPHERE: ANGLES & COLOR Angles in lighting are divided into five categories. Each type of angle has it’s own uses and meanings. They all have some emotional baggage that come with them

13. ANGLES front light – The best light for illumination; the most “natural light,” best delivered from around 45 degrees up. When delivered from straight ahead, it is “deer-in-the-headlights” light, useful for sudden realizations or the arrival of the police. side light – The best light for illuminating the body and for giving the figures on stage sharp outlines. Side light builds excitement and “show value.” back light – Essential for separating the figures from the scenery. Used alone, it is great for sinister villains and dark shadows in the door. A subset of back light is the silhouette where figures are seen against a brightly lit background without any light on themselves. This seems to have a connotation that is more “dramatic” than “sinister.”

14. ANGLES down light – Makes for awkward rim light, as it not only lights the rim, but also the nose. Better to use it alone for a dramatic opera procession or an unusual dance. Good scene-change light. Will get you a laugh if used alone with a booming, divine voice. up light – Light coming up through a grating gives the “industrial” look. Foot lights can give an olde-time theatrical look or a bizarre, Fellini-esque glare that is distinctly ominous.

15. COLOR Unlike color in costumes and scenery, color in lighting is rarely seen in isolation.

16. COLOR Color is a major part of what makes each lighting moment distinctive. For example… Light changes continuously throughout the day; more pink in the morning, tending toward yellow in the afternoon, a warmer orange in the early evening, falling off toward blue as night falls. and… Light changes color when it reflects off objects as well. Light in a forest is a different color than at the beach.

17. COLOR Since the primary job of a lighting designer is to provide illumination, and what we are illuminating are people, it is very useful to know which colors are best for which skintones. Bastard Amber (so named because it’s not really amber) is a good bet for most skin tones. Very light blues are ok as well, although they will often make actors look a little pale.

18. CREATING FOCUS: SPECIALS & FOLLOW SPOTS special – A single lighting instrument that lights one particular place on the set. Specials are generally a less saturated color than the rest of the lighting. This allows them to “punch through” the rest of the color on stage. Usually ellipsoidals because you will want to have precise control over where the light goes.

19. CREATING FOCUS: SPECIALS & FOLLOW SPOTS follow spot – Any lighting instrument that is capable of being moved by an operator to follow an actor on stage. Come in all shapes and sizes. May be hard-edged and super bright or more subtle and soft-edged. Often have built in filters for changing the color of the beam. Often allows the operator to change the size of the beam (iris in & iris out). To really add emphasis to a moving subject, try a follow spot. Most theatres have a built-in position for a follow spot toward the rear of the theatre, This can sometime create a flattened-out look if it is angled straight-on. Like acting area lighting, the most attractive angle for the follow spot is around 45 degrees. WARNING : Use of a followspot is a bold stylistic move that almost always takes you into the realm of musical theatre.

20. WHERE THE SHOW IS (& ISN’T): HOUSE LIGHTS & ACTORS IN THE AUDIENCE House lights serve two purposes: practical – They help the audience find their seats and read their programs. aesthetic – They tell the audience when the show is starting and ending. The line between house and stage lights also helps the audience know where the show is taking place. It defines the world of the show! Think about this and what it means before ever using house lights to illuminate an actor in the house!

21. MOVING THE SHOW FORWARD: CUES, TIMING, & BLACKOUTS Lighting helps the show move through time by: separating the scenes defining the beginning and end Every time the lighting changes, it is referred to as a cue. Each cue is a list of which lights are on and how bright they are. In addition, each cue has a time. This tells how long (in seconds) it takes for the lights to fade to the levels written in the cue.

22. MOVING THE SHOW FORWARD: CUES, TIMING, & BLACKOUTS Timing of lighting cues is CRITICAL The most important ones are at the ends of scenes, particularly if you are going to a blackout. A long, slow fade at the end of a scene? or A fast blackout or snap-out ? Think about it… What are the different effects of:

23. MOVING THE SHOW FORWARD: CUES, TIMING, & BLACKOUTS When blackouts go WRONG Unfortunately, lighting instruments do not always go to black as quickly as we would like. Who should be aware of this and why? This is called ghosting… As a designer… As a director… As a technician… As an actor…

24. MOVING THE SHOW FORWARD: CUES, TIMING, & BLACKOUTS Lighting the changes… Always go to blackout before and after scene changes. Unless your stage crew has night-vision technology, they are going to need some light during scene changes. This light should be dim enough that the audience recognizes it for what it is and does not believe that there is a scene going on. Scene-change light is typically some blue lights or a dim back light.