Theatrical Lighting 3/19/14. The functions of lighting. Lighting needs to light. Lighting Creates Emphasis. Electricity. Lighting should be logical

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1 The functions of lighting Theatrical Lighting What is the first thing a lighting designer needs to make sure they do? Lighting needs to light The audience has to see the actors Too dim - causes eye strain and hides detail and features Too bright - causes glare and washes out costume details and facial expressions Lighting Creates Emphasis Working with the scenery, lighting can help establish mood and emphasise the themes of the play What colors do you think you would use for a comedy versus a tragedy? Warms for comedy, cools for tragedy Lighting should be logical I generally should reproduce light sources such as the sun or the moon, a fireplace, lamps, and so on. (called a practical) Suggesting the light source, you can imply time of day, weather and so on. Electricity To operate lights, one needs an electricity source. Due to the high wattage of most lighting systems, the electricity is run independently from the rest of the building. 1

2 Things to know about electricity Electricity can be dangerous in such high voltage situations, so safety is always a primary concern when working with these systems. The order that a lamp is wired is as follows Instrument - Circuit - Dimmer - Channel - Submaster Terms Instrument - The combination of a lamp, a reflector, a lense and its housing. Circuit - The place that the instrument is introduced to the power source. (plug in) o Can be edison (standard) o twist lock - rounded positive and negative with a standard ground. o 3 pin (most common) - most durable Lighting Diagram Dimmer - Allows the electricity to be controlled so intensity can be adjusted according to the needs of a scene Channel - Electronic designation on where a dimmer will be located on a lighting board. The channel is a product of computer programming. Submaster - Channels are grouped by computer program into submasters according to color and area focus to allow for faster programming of cues. A little math... Watts = Volts x Amps So, if the power source is 110 Volts and the instrument has a 500 watt bulb, how many lamps can be plugged into each 20 amp circuit without overloading the system? Solution Watts = Volts x Amps x = 110 x = 110 x /500 = Lamps can be plugged into each circuit safely 2

3 Instruments Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight (Leko/ Ellipsoidal) - throws strong focused light over a long distance. The shape it makes is elliptical, hence the name. Fresnel Spotlight - throws soft light on a large area from a short distance - usually used for top and back light to create definition and pop actors out from the back ground Parabolic aluminized reflector light (PAR can) - rock lighting - produces a round, soft light that can be used for basic lighting needs. The lamp in a par can is contained within the reflective surface, so both are changed when a lamp burns out. This is not the case with a fresnel or a leko. Scoop floodlight - lights a large area with strong light Followspot - throws bright focused light on a moving actor - usually manually controlled but can be remote or automatic Border lights/strip lights - washes light over a large surface - usually used for lighting a cyc curtain. Colors represented are the primary (RGB) and usually an amber or a white for mixing. Color - A Lesson in Physics White light is the combination of all the colors in the color spectrum. A red painted car appears red to you and I because it reflects only the color red back to us. All other wavelengths are absorbed by the object and converted to heat energy (this is why black cars are much hotter when exposed to direct sunlight on a sunny afternoon.) Prism Example Here, a glass prism separates the white light into each separate color 3

4 Gel Gel/Color Filters: Filters undesirable wavelengths of light so that only one color shines through Got its name because long ago, gel was made from gelatin. Complementary Colors of Light The McCandless Method Maximized revelation of form 2 front lights sent at 45 degree angles to the subject o Warm side o Cool side One back/top light o Neutral/Complement If the warm and cool are complements, you will get the appearance of white light. The backlight is used to pop the subject from whatever background you see. Provides depth on stage. Using color to establish mood Need to keep the following in mind: Mood Time of Day Location Season 4

5 Lighting Plots and Instrument Schedule In order to keep things organized, a lighting designer will need to keep and create certain documents. An instrument schedule lets the light crew know which lights are being used in the production and where they are located. Light Plot The lighting plot shows the designer and his/ her electricians where to hang, focus, and gel each specific light. Often this is done on computer aided drafting software such as Vectorworks or Autocad. Until not long ago, it was done by hand using stencils and blueprint paper. 5