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Home , Cyclorama (theater), Lantern, Stage lighting, Striplight

102 Basic Principles and Techniques of Lighting

by John J. Rankin VINCENTLIGHTING.COM 1 /" -Ê"Ê-/ Ê/  The following criteria should be used to determine if lighting is necessary and effective.

£°Ê 6- /9 Visibility is a very important function of . The audience should be able to see exactly what you want them to see, or not see those things that should remain hidden. Therefore, we might rename this function as “selective visibility.” An example of selective visibility can be found in the play, Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott. A blind woman is terrorized by a murderer hiding in her apartment. To even her odds against him, she smashes all of the bulbs thus plunging him - and the audience - into darkness. The action is revealed verbally and occasionally visually with , matches, and a very surprising source of light at the climax of the play.

Ó°Ê , 6 /" Ê"Ê", Similar to selective visibility, revealing the form of the actor, dancer, or speaker will make them stand out from their background. Using techniques described later in this article, you will be able to make the subject appear natural and be the focus of attention for the viewers. For example, when lighting a ballet it is important for the stage lighting to reveal the form of the dancers. The audience wishes to see the dancers move through the space and stand apart from the background. Lighting ballet has been described as “lighting fish in an aquarium.” Light is the same as water in this metaphor. The creates an “environment” for the dancer to move through.

Î°Ê *  Ê/ Ê /" The stage lighting can be effectively used to represent the location of your presentation. Does the action take place inside or outside? At day or night? At dusk in a garden or at dawn in Manhattan? The lighting can be instrumental in establishing time and place.

{°Ê "" Are you staging a “light” comedy or a “dark” drama? These metaphors are used on purpose to make the point that stage lighting can help provide the mood for your event. Comedies are often bright and cheery. Dramas may be darker with shadows.

x°Ê " *"-/" Perhaps today more than ever before, stage lighting can be used to compose a picture. Some events contain little or no scenery and use lighting to create the overall picture of the scene. Musical concerts can be an example of this function.

{ È°Ê ,  ",  Ê/ Ê-/",9 Two examples follow of how lighting can reinforce the story being told: Late at night after partying with friends, an infatuated Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s garden, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Juliet enters from above, on her garden balcony. Romeo says, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun!” Scene 9 of Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire: An angry Mitch confronts Blanche about her lies and questionable past. Mitch says, “I don't think I ever seen you in the light… You never want to go out till after six and then it’s always some place that’s not lighted much… I’ve never had a real good look at you Blanche. Let’s turn the light on here.” Blanche says fearfully, “Light? Which light? What for?” Mitch: “This one with the paper [] on it.” He tears the paper lantern off the bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. He then switches on the light bulb. Blanche utters a frightened gasp… Certainly these classic works of literature would still be excellent if performed in a hangar under fluorescent . But, in a controlled stage production, the lighting can help reinforce the story. We can likely come up with other functions or dissect those listed above. If you use these functions in the proper proportion for your needs, you will have a successful lighting design.

/ Ê+1/ -Ê"Ê/ We have described six functions of stage lighting. Next, we need to define some of the qualities used to describe light.

£°Ê  / -/9 Light has intensity and can be described as bright or dim. The intensity can be adjusted using equipment which will be described later.

Ó°Ê "", Light also has . How many are evident in a sunset? Many to be sure. What color is light from with no electric lighting? What color is sunlight at dawn? Answers to these questions and your decisions about color are often very personal and subjective. If you are designing Romeo and Juliet, what color is the sunlight coming through their bedroom window on the morning after their secret wedding? Or, what color does the “envious moon” in Juliet’s garden cast? A discussion on tools for coloring light, and suggestions for the beginner will follow.

Î°Ê -/, 1/" Distribution describes the direction of the light (or lack of direction if it is soft and diffused). The distribution of stage lighting is represented differently on stage whether it is direct sun- light, a living room or a castle’s dungeon. x {°Ê "6 / Does light have movement? Sure, and we’re not talking about lights that pan and . Imagine how the stage lighting “moves” at the end of Act I of the Madame Butterfly by Puccini. Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly) confesses to Pinkerton (her bridegroom) that yesterday, alone and in secret, she climbed the hill up to the Mission as she adopted the reli- gion of her bridegroom. With the wedding ceremony completed, the guests toast the couple. The atmosphere is very happy and bright. Suddenly Cio-Cio-San’s uncle, the Bonze (a Japanese priest) bursts upon the scene with her extended family, cursing the girl for having renounced her ancestors’ religion. Pinkerton furiously orders the Bonze and family to leave. Alone at last with his bride, Pinkerton reassures Cio-Cio-San and dries her tears. As they stand in the moonlit garden gazing at the stars, they discover their love for each other. The familiar and beautiful love duet Viene la sera (“Evening is falling”) ends Act One. The lighting can be described as moving, or progressing, from afternoon, when it is happy and bright; to dusk with an orange sunset during the Bonze’s scene; to a romantic moonlit garden.

-/ Ê/ Ê* / As the lighting designer, you can define goals by choosing which qualities and functions of lighting you wish to accomplish in your design. How do you accomplish your goals? We will first describe a method for lighting fixture placement. The most common method for lighting a stage is called the McCandless System. Stanley McCandless wrote about this method in his 1932 book, A Method of Lighting the Stage. His method was not meant to be the definitive meth- od, but it is a useful system based on his experi- ence. The method can be described as a 3-point sys- tem. Two lighting fixtures are placed in the front of the subject and one fixture behind. The front lights are located at a 45-degree angle to the left and right of the subject and at a height equal to an angle of 45-degrees above the subject. These locations make the subject appear natural and have 3-dimensional form. The shadows caused by the angles of the light provide definition of form without causing deep, dark shadows under the eyebrows, nose, or chin. The location and angle also provide visibility as the subject turns his/her head from side to side.

È Color and intensity added to the front lights will provide visibility and definition. McCandless recommended using a warm color in one front light, and a cool color in the other. The colors blend for a natural appear- ance and contrast with each other to provide definition. The third light is to be placed behind and high overhead the subject, without being directly over the subject or shining in the audience’s eyes. The “backlight” causes the subject to stand out from the background and further defines his/her form by lighting the back of the head and top of the shoulders. The color of the backlight depends on your intentions. Usually you are “coloring the shadows” cast by the front lights. However, you may want to create a halo effect by using intense, warm backlight. “Do I need more than three fixtures?” Yes, unless your subject is a speaker at a podium, never moves, or doesn’t have a background to be lighted. Based on the typical lighting fixtures and auditorium heights, you should consider the area covered by a single three-point group of fixtures to be eight feet in diameter. Therefore, you will need several fixtures placed at eight-foot intervals to cover your entire stage or platform. If this area is 25 feet by 25 feet, you may have nine “acting areas” of eight-foot diameters. This represents an ideal scenario of equipment and space. The realities are not often ideal. This lighting design will provide basic illumination for your stage or platform. If you require more col- ors or more angles, you may have to double or tri- ple the number of fixtures focused on one acting area. Examples would be needing in one event both day and night; different locations; or perhaps entire- ly different productions during the same event. Your blue back lighting may be great for Juliet’s garden, but bad for a hot summer day in the streets of Verona (Juliet’s home town). Additional lighting will be required to light a background, drapery or scenery; and to provide “specials,” which highlight a specific area or action not covered by the general “area” lighting.

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LIGHTING FIXTURE GUIDE LIGHTING FIXTURE GUIDE FRESNELS BORDERLIGHTS/ The Fresnel Spotlight is named for the type of The is a long multi-lamp fixture lens used. The used in this spotlight designed for lighting scenery or a . has concentric rings and a stippled back produc- This fixture is normally wired in 3 or 4 circuits ing a soft-edged beam of light. The lamp and with one color per circuit often using permanent reflector can be moved within the housing to cre- glass color filters called roundels. ate either a spot focus or flood focus. The spot focus has an intense center beam with rapid fall off of the light intensity. The flood focus is a wider beam of light with more even illumination. The fresnel spotlight is most often used on stage SCOOPS for back, side or down lighting. The is a wide angle soft edged flood light generally for set and background lighting. The ELLIPSOIDALS scoop has a matte finish elipisoidal shaped reflector and no lens. The Ellipsoidal Spotlight is named for the type of reflector used. The ellipsoidal shaped reflector in combination with one or more lenses creates a hard edged beam of light with even light intensity across the beam. The design allows the use of shutters that can shape the beam of light. Ellipsoidals are also used for pattern or “” CYC LIGHTS projection. These fixtures are most often used for Cyc Lights are the modern improvement of the “front of house” lighting. striplight. The cyc light has a special shaped reflector which produces a smooth field of light from the top to the bottom of the cyclorama. Cyc PAR CANS lights are available in one, two, three, or four The PAR can is named for the type of lamp used. “cell” units designed to be hung overhead or at The Parabolic Aluminized Reflector lamp is a the base of the cyclorama. sealed lamp containing the filament, reflector and lens within the glass lamp. The PAR can is a metal lamp housing allowing electrical connec- tion, and the mounting of the color frame and hanging yoke. The PAR fixture is the most cost efficient fixture, giving the greatest light output with the least wattage lamps, and least equip- FOLLOWSPOTS ment dollar investment. There is no focusing A Followspot requires an operator and produces adjustment on the PAR fixture. The beam spread a sharp movable beam of light to follow a per- characteristics are changed by replacing the former about the stage. A followspot produces a lamp, normally available in wide flood, medium beam of light similar to that of the ellipsoidal with flood, narrow spot, and very narrow spot. PAR the addition of controls to allow the shaping of fixtures are often used in place of fresnels or for the beam and smooth rapid changing of color broad color washes of light. filters.

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Horizon & Imagine exploring your design by lighting a Everest 3D – model of the set. Except, at the same time, See page 6. you're drafting your plot on top of imported drawings. Even better, as you work on your

TM plot, all of your paperwork is kept up to date Wysiwyg automatically. When you're finished, you See page 2. have your plot and paperwork, along with some renderings and a disk of rough cues to load into your light board. COMPUTER SOFTWARE Specifically designed for use with Macintosh® Computers. Z501 Lightwright (specify Mac or DOS)..... 404.95/Discount Code H Z700 MacLux Pro v2.0 ...... 350.00/Discount Code E This program organizes, stores, and prints Z701 MacLux Pro Upgrade to v2.0 ...... 89.00/Discount Code E stage lighting paperwork. Z510 Light Shop ...... 79.00/Discount Code E Z518 SoftPlot 8 ...... 349.00/Discount Code E Light Shop is a Windows based software tool for lighting designers, technical direc- Windows based lighting design software tool, which tors, technicians, architects and others in the stage and studio lighting industry. integrates Light Shop. Print paperwork reports, and Light Shop provides an on-line library of manufacturers photometrics data for hun- prints light plots. Includes Light Shop. dreds of different lighting instruments. An instrument may be selected and its pho- X524 Theatrical Lighting Design tometrics analyzed based on trim and floor distance, lamping, and even GEL colour, Interactive...... 59.95/Discount Code E by performing all necessary calculalions such as beam diameter, throw, angle of Interactive CD-ROM teaching tool with “Mini Light Lab” incidence, and footcandles or at the subject. NORCOSTCO.COM 29 see website for current pricing http://www.premier-lighting.com PORTABLE SYSTEMS EASY WIRING FOR PORTABLE PRECAUTIONS: Do not exceed the dimmer channel or dimmer pack load capacity. Do STAGE LIGHTING SYSTEMS not use under sized wire cables to connect or light instruments. HEAVY DUTY 12/3 EXTENSION CABLES ARE RECOMMENDED. ALL of the portable stage lighting dimmers and controllers are made to Do not over load the AC power circuit(s) used to power the dimmers. connect using standard cables and connections. It’s easy as Usually both outlets on a duplex receptacle are on the same circuit, and 1...2...3! often several duplex outlets will be on the same circuit. Take care to isolate separate circuits when connecting dimmers to AC power. 1. Plug your lighting instruments (PAR, Ellipsoidal, Fresnel, etc.) into the dimmer pack standard Edison receptacles.

2. Connect between dimmer packs and the controller using standard XLR-type microphone cables. It won’t matter which order they are connected as long as they are all connected.

3. Plug the dimmer pack AC power cables into a standard 20AMP, 120v AC circuit. You’re doneSTAGE with the wiring! The LIGHTING controller CONTROL gets its power from either the dimmers or an external power supply. Start programming the dimmers andThe setting most your common lighting scenes.way to control the intensity of stage lighting is by an electrical dimmer. They are When connectingusually electrical arranged equipment in equipment it is important racks, to observe and the racks are placed in a mechanical room, isolated from the standard precautionsperformance to avoid area electrical due to shock.the heat and noise generated by the cooling fans.

In a modern dimmingPERMANENT system there is one DIMMER dimmer for each INSTALLATIONelectrical outlet or circuit. Outlets are distributed throughout the performance space in every possible location you may want to place a light A basic dimmerfixture orsystem “instrument”. is composed However, of five itcomponents; is better to place a controller, the fixtures a dimmer as needed rack orfor pack, your theevent lighting rather instruments, than a distributionplace system a fixture and in theeach power outlet. source. Once connected,The power the source fixture is becomesusually part a “load” of the onbuilding the system. and provides electricity to the system. The distribution system is the wiring that the lighting instruments are plugged into. In large systems the wiring is in conduit or connector strips over and around the performance area. The dimmer rack, contains the dimmersDimmers which control are controlled the flow of by electricity a CPU mounted through theint hedistribution dimmer rack system with to the the dimmers. lights making The dimmerthem bright rack or dim. Dimmer racksCPU iscontain connected multiple by adimmers, low-voltage, each digital dimmer control being wire referred to a totabletop as a dimmer control channel console or or circuit. The controller sends electronic“dimmerboard”. signals to The the operator dimmers of specifying the control the console amount will of programelectricity or to otherwise flow to the operate lights. the console to control individual dimmers or groups of dimmers. Modern control consoles will store lighting Contemporaryprograms “memory” which controllersinclude the permit “look” the for operator each scenes to store and lighting special cueseffects in thethat controllers may occur computer during a memory. Some controllersperformance. will record the The memory entertainment data to industrya disk so standard the show for can the be control stored signal as a backup is called in “DMX.” a safe place. In some cases, dimmers can also be controlled by wall stations or “remotes”. Both permanent and portable dimming systems are designed with the above elements. The size and complexity of the systems are determined by the venue, the use and the budget.

dimmer rack distribution system

lighting instruments power source

controller

see website for current pricing http://www.premier-lighting.com 58 (818) 762-0884