Chapter 17 – Lighting
Lighting Terminology
DIMMERS
CONTROL BOARD
COLOR FILTERS(GELS)
ADDITIVE COLOR MIXING
FOLLOW SPOTS
GOBO
AUTOMATED OR INTELLIGENT LIGHTING
VALUE SKETCH
LIGHTING SCORE
LIGHT PLOTS
FLOOR PLAN PLOT
VERTICAL SECTION PLOT
SPECIFIC ILLUMINATION
GENERAL ILLUMINATION
SPECIAL EFFECTS
SPOTLIGHTS
ELLIPSOIDAL
FRESNEL
PAR-CANS
INSTRUMENT SCHEDULE
CUE SHEETS
Outline
I. Lighting does much more than make the other elements of theatrical production
visible, but it is often ignored unless it is clearly inadequate or obtrusively obvious
A. Sound also makes its greatest contribution when designed for careful integration with the production as a
whole
II. The Controllable Qualities of Light
A. Lighting designers achieve their goals by manipulating the four controllable qualities of light:
1. Intensity (brightness)
2. Distribution
3. Color
4. Movement
B. Intensity depends primarily on the number of lamps used and their wattages
1. It may be increased or decreased in several ways
a. The number or types of instruments focused on the same area or object
b. The distance the instruments are from what is being illuminated
c. The use of dimmers to dim or brighten
d. The presence or absence of color filters
C. The visible spectrum of light is divided into colors, each distinguishable from the others because it is
composed of light waves of a given length
1. In stage lighting, color filters control the appearance of color through the principle of “selective
transmission”
a. A blue filter, for example, screens out or diminishes other wavelengths
2. Color filters also affect our perception of color
3. Light from a number of sources may be mixed using basic principles of “additive color mixing”
a. Mixing different colored light together to produce achromatic white light
D. Distribution refers to both the placement of the light source and the area which it illuminates
1. Instruments may be mounted almost anywhere in the theatre
2. The effect and the dimensionality of what is being illuminated varies greatly depending upon the
direction from which the light comes
a. Frontlight
b. Backlight c. Crosslight (sidelight) d. Downlight
e. Uplight
3. Lights may be directed at one area, or may be distributed evenly or unevenly over the entire stage
E. Movement refers to perceptible alterations in any of the other controllable factors
1. The control board may create apparent movement in intensity, color or distribution
a. This may be accomplished by dimming and brightening selective instruments
2. The focus of lighting instruments can be moved from one area of the stage to another, and their color
filters can be changed as well
a. Physically manipulated by an operator – follow spots
b. Automated lighting instruments (computerized movement control)
3. Movement allows light to change moment by moment in accordance with the shifting moods and
development of the dramatic action
III. The Functions of Stage Lighting
A. Lighting designers use the controllable factors of light to fulfill the various functions of stage lighting
1. Create visibility
2. Aid in composition – emphasis and subordination
3. Affect audience perception of dimensionality (mass and form)
a. This proves a powerful means of creating mood, atmosphere, and stylistic traits
4. Enhance mood and atmosphere
5. Reinforce style
a. Realism
i. The designer may establish a realistic light source (sun, moon, lamp, etc.)
ii. The designer may reflect a time of day, weather, season, or suggest the basic time period
b. Nonrealism
i. The source of the light and the way it is handled may be more arbitrary
6. Underscore the development of the dramatic action
a. The designer may also support the rhythmical patterns of scenes and changes from one scene to
another
7. Support the production concept through a combination of the other functions
B. Although it serves many functions, lighting is among the most abstract of theatrical means
1. Lighting works through suggestion and association
2. Many lighting designers believe their designs to be most effective when they work in harmony with
the other production elements
IV. The Lighting Designer’s Skills
A. Lighting designers need a variety of skills, many of them pertinent to other professions
1. Electrical engineer
a. The designer needs to understand physics and electronics
2. Optical engineer
a. The designer needs to understand the principles of optics and light to use light effectively for
artistic purposes
3. Computer programmer
a. The designer needs computer literacy to program sophisticated automated lighting instruments
and control boards effectively
4. Display designer
a. Both use the controllable qualities of light to focus attention on important elements
5. Visual artist
a. Expresses ideas through visual means – drawings, renderings, scale draftings
6. Electrician
a. The designer must know what each instrument can do, the types of lamps, electrical cable, and
connectors that are needed, where instruments are to be mounted and plugged in, and a host of
other details
7. Social and cultural historian
a. The designer must know what role light played in various periods in the past
b. Be aware of what illuminants (candles, oil, torches, etc) were available, how each was used, and
what qualities of light each generated
c. The designer needs to know the conventions that governed stage lighting in each period
8. Stage director
a. The designer must keep in mind and unify the entire stage picture
b. Must be attuned to the overall needs of each scene as it develops moment by moment
V. The Lighting Designer’s Working Procedures
A. There is no standard approach to the design of lighting
1. What they light is designed by others and frequently they must adjust their work to enhance that of
others
2. They can not make firm decisions about placement and direction of lighting instruments until the
scene design is agreed upon and the movement pattern of the actors is established
3. Firm decisions regarding color usually are not made until the costume and scene designers have
made their decisions - each designer’s work impacts the others
B. Lighting designers should be able to convey their ideas about how the stage should look during
performances. They often create:
1. Value sketches - emphasize mood, atmosphere, light and shadow
2. A lighting score - breaks the play into scenes or units and indicates in a diagram the time of day,
source of light, overall brightness, the desired mood, color, etc.
3. Computer simulations - show how the production will look when lighted
C. Lighting designers usually attend several rehearsals to become familiar with the movement patterns and
to understand the director’s intentions
1. They may try out their ideas in a lighting lab
2. They usually do not arrive at fully developed designs until shortly before the instruments are to be
hung and focused
VI. Organizing the Distribution of Light
A. Lighting designers use two primary working plans to organize the distribution of light
1. Light plots
2. Instrument schedules
B. Light plots can be divided into two types
1. A floor plan plot
a. A scale drawing from a top view of the stage, setting and auditorium
b. This plot indicates the type, size, position and focus of each instrument – shows horizontal
placement of the instruments
2. Vertical sections
a. Scale drawing from a side view of the stage, scenery and auditorium
b. Shows the trim height of all the battens, the lighting positions in front of the proscenium, the
vertical placement of any instruments on vertical standing pipes and the instruments’ beam
angles
3. Light plots specify what instruments are to be used and where each will be mounted
C. Lighting plots also take into consideration the 3 principal types of stage lighting:
1. Specific illumination
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
2. General illumination
3. Special effects
Specific illumination is confined to a limited area
1. Used principally for the acting areas
2. Spot lights are the principal source of specific illumination
a. They combine a reflector with a lens to help concentrate the beam of light
b. A single spotlight can only illuminate a small segment of the stage
c. Lighting designers generally divide the stage into small areas, and focus several instruments to
illuminate each area
3. Where instruments are mounted to achieve desired distribution depends in part on the type of stage
a. For the proscenium stage lights typically are:
i. Mounted in the auditorium to light the front of the stage
ii. Mounted over the stage on battens
iii. Mounted at the side of the stage on vertical pipes
iv. Mounted on stands or on the floor
b. For the thrust stage lights typically are:
i. Mounted above the acting area and audience
ii. Mounted on vertical pipes out of sightlines
c. For the arena stage lights typically are:
i. Mounted above the acting area and audience
d. For the flexible stage lights may be mounted almost anywhere
General illumination
1. Spreads over a much larger area than specific illumination
2. Serves three functions on the proscenium stage:
a. Lights the background elements (cyclorama, ground rows, drops)
b. Blends acting areas and provides a smooth transition from the acting areas to the background
c. Enhances or modifies the color of settings and costumes
3. Can not be confined to a small area, but its direction can be controlled
a. Footlights – point upward and backward
b. Borderlights – point down or to the side
4. Striplights and floodlights are the primary sources of general illumination
a. These contain a reflector, but no lens to concentrate the light
5. Plays a minor role in arena stages, as there is no background to light
6. May play a larger role in thrust stages
7. For a flexible stage, all the illumination may be general
Special effects
1. Out-of-the-ordinary demands such as projections, fires, fog, bright rays of sunlight, etc.
In making light plots, the designer considers each type of instrument separately and then as a part of the
whole
After the light plots are complete, an instrument schedule is made
1. A chart that lists for each lighting instrument:
a. Its specifications
b. Mounting position
c. Color filter
d. Focus
e. Circuit into which it is plugged
f. Dimmer to which it is connected
I.
There is a wide array of lighting instruments available to the lighting designer
1. Ellipsoidals and fresnels
a. Both are considered spotlights, but they have different lenses which produce different qualities of
light
2. The type of reflector also alters the properties of light the instrument emits
3. Lighting designers must understand the basic properties of each type of lighting instrument in order to
select the proper instrument to create the effect they wish.
4. In addition to spotlights and floodlights, there are also a variety of projectors and “intelligent”
instruments available
5. Numerous accessories can shape the pattern of light and shadow
a. Gobos (etched metal or glass filters) selectively block some light from reaching the stage
BOX – Automated Lighting

Initially developed in the 1980s for rock concerts, automated lighting has proved the most
significant change in stage lighting in the past 25 years.

The initial “intelligent” lighting instruments could pan and tilt, thus changing their focus

Newer models remain stationery, with a rotating mirror mounted in front to redirect the beam
of light

Lights can now be programmed to dim, douse, zoom, and change gobo patterns, color, and
focus on cue

Automated lighting helps solve Broadway theatres’ problems of inadequate space in which to
hang instruments

Lighting designer Jennifer Tipton succinctly notes a truism in respect to using automated
lighting, “Technology is always as good as the person using it. Always. And only as good as
the person using it.”
VII.
Setting the Lights, Rehearsals, and Performances
A. The tasks required to set the lights are reasonably standard
1. Using the light plot and instrument schedule, the master electrician and assistants mount each
instrument, direct it toward the stage area specified, may add a color filter or gobo, plug it in to the
proper circuit and then connect it to the proper dimmer.
B. To expedite these procedures, a number of aids may be used to avoid the need to refer constantly to light
plots and instrument schedules
1. Each instrument’s information is put on a piece of tape at its mounting position
2. Each batten’s information may be placed on a separate card
3. Although the work may be done by others, the lighting designer is typically available to answer
questions or to clarify plans
C. Setting and focusing the instruments can be time consuming and sometimes disheartening because it is
difficult to confine light precisely
D. Cue sheets must also be made
1. They ndicate, moment by moment, which dimmers are to be used and the setting of each
2. Sometimes designers will create a cue synopsis
a. A listing of each cue, its effect, and how it is created
3. The cue sheets become the basis for controlling the lights during the performance
E. Lighting is usually integrated with the other elements for the first time during technical rehearsals
1. This is a crucial time for the lighting designer because many of the decisions that determine the final
design are not made until these rehearsals
2. Lighting may need to compensate for other aspects of the production
3. Designers often condense their light plot organization into a “magic sheet” or “cheat sheet”
a. These sheets serve as a reminder of where the lights are positioned and how they are controlled
i. They indicates dimmer, channel, color and focus of each instrument
b. A magic sheet provides this information in a graphic format
c. A cheat sheet provides this information in an alpha-numerical arrangement