Lighting

What you need to know

What is lighting used for?

• Lighting is used to create atmosphere

• To focus our attention to a particular actor, event, or area on the stage.

REMEMBER: too much light is better than too little, so when in doubt, add more light!

Fading in and out

• Fading is used as a transition.

• You can fade out slowly at the end of a performance to leave the audience thinking about it.

Lighting without lanterns

Lighting with candles…

Lighting with candles

• Give atmosphere

• There is always a fire hazard

• Extra light is needed because candles are not strong enough

• Shining a flashlight on the actors face always gives an interesting effect

Finding your light

• Certain parts of the stage will be more lit that others

• It is important to go to these parts

• They may be marked on the stage

House lights

• Houselights are the lights in the auditorium, both on and off the stage

• Turn them off when you start your production

• If they are not on a dimmer, turn of the lights that are farthest away from the stage first

The Lanterns

• There are three main types of lanterns:

• The profile spotlight• The fresnel spotlight• And the floodlight

The profile light

• It creates a focused beam of light

• It has a hard, clearly defined circumference

The Fresnel spotlight

• Lights an area with a soft edge

The Floodlight

• The floodlight is used to give general lighting, by flooding the stage with light

Safety chain and ‘g’ clamp

• Used to keep the lanterns from falling

• Never hang a lantern without them

Barn Doors

• Four metal hinged flaps

• Used to focus light by not letting the light spill out of a certain area

Gels and Color

• You can use gels to give the light a certain color and change the atmosphere of the play

• It is inserted into a bracket at the front of the lantern

• If there are a lot of trees, you could use a green gel.

Gobos

• Gobos are metal cutouts used to create effects.

• If you add bars to a gobo, it will make it look like a jail.

Special Effects

• Strobe lighting• Cyclorama• Lasers

Strobe lighting

• Gives the effect of slowing down the action

• Very effective in fight scenes, or action packed sequences

• You should always warn the audience if you will use strobe lighting, as it can induce epileptic fits

Cyclorama

• A large screen placed upstage where you can shine a light on.

• It is used to represent a feeling or a place

laser

• Used to distract the audience

• Do not let it get into someone's eyes

The control desk

• Can be computerized or manual

• The sliding switches are used to control the strength and actions of a certain light

Upper deck

Lower deck

CROSS OVER• When you have two decks – upper and lower deck,

this allows you to set the lower deck and then CROSS FADE using the MASTER control

• PRESET – You can preset lights to a master preset desk – this allows you to cross fade with ease.

• FLASH LIGHTS – This gives you instant light as long as you keep your finger on the button

let the PATCHING

• A patching board (Dimmer rack) connects the lighting board with the lanterns • There is a on/off switch which helps prevents fuses blowing because they are too hot.•There are two plugs for each channel•Each channel on the lighting board is linked to 2 plugs on the patching board.•These plugs are linked to sockets where the lanterns are plugged in.•This allows the lighting designer to change the combination of paired lighting.

The Cue sheet

• This tells you what lights need to be used and when

Cue # Cue Channels/levels deck

1 Jack: I never thought it was possible. (laughs)

1,3,4,5,7

1,3,7 at half/ 4,5 fullupper

2 Exit Jack All fade to black lower

bibliography

• McGuire, Brian. Technical Companion to Drama. Cambridge: Pearson Publishing, 2000.

• Images.Google.com search

• By Sam Cohen

• SRC productions limited