Home The Art of Theater Theatrical Literature and History Social Science and the Theater Theater in Health Care and Sports Credits Links   The Basics of Stage Lighting Stage Lighting is a very important part of theater. The lighting director must work closely with the technical director and director in order to assure the proper lighting for individual scenes. Every scene may require different lighting techniques in order to convey the feeling of the play. Although the acting can give an idea of the mood, lighting can give an idea of the mood when there are no words spoken. For the lighting design process to work best the first step that must be taken is to study the production. Gels which are used with individual lights can add color to your scene. If a specific scene is calm and subdued, you would more than likely try to use cool colors such as blues and greens. The most important part in lighting a play is to make sure that the actors are not in shadows and the shadows that you do have are not distracting to the audience.   COLOR Color can have a drastic effect on the way a certain scene comes off on an audience. There are three basic colors that are used rather often; red, blue, and green. These are known as the primary colors of lighting. There are also secondary colors. Mixing light colors is much like mixing paint. When two primary colors are combined (two primates) a secondary color is created. The secondary colors are made by combining primary colors in the following ways. Red and Green Creates Yellow Green and Blue Creates Cyan Blue and Red Creates Magenta The combinations that are listed above are not all the possibilities for creating new colors. When you combine a primary color with a secondary color the result is white light. Through trial and error you can combine certain amounts of colors to create hundreds of different shades and tones. This picture is an example of the mood that can be created with the use of gels. In many situations colors are achieved not by different colored bulbs but by plastic gels. Gels are pieces of plastic that are tinted with different colors so when the light passes through the plastic it transforms the light to the color of the gel. In this picture gels were used to cast a red shadow on the figure to create a dark and dangerous environment. These gels are available in thousands of different hues thus making your options of lighting variety greater with the use of color. Lights in Relation to the Stage There are several different positions that you can place lights. The three main positions are front, side, down, and background. The main purpose of these are listed in the table below. Front Lighting Front lighting is used mostly for visibility and color. It is also used to isolate an individual person or set piece. Front lighting generally works better if placed at an angle between 30 to 50 degrees. Side Lighting The most common use of side lighting is effect. Side lighting is often used with bolder colors to accent movements and contrasting colors coming from the opposite sides. Back Lighting Along with side lighting back lighting is used for effect. Back lighting is often used to create depth on the stage. When used from low angles back lighting can also give a sense of a silhouette. One thing to remember when using back lighting is that the lights must be relaxing to the audience. If the lights are positioned into the eyes of the audience it will not be a pleasing experience. Down Lighting Down lighting is often used to create the illusion of depth. Down lighting also works very well to isolate one person from another. Background Lighting Background lighting is a very bold style of lighting. It is brighter than the rest of the stage. It is a very powerful way to create a picture. Equipment There are many different types of equipment that are used in the theater today for lighting. The following is a list of commonly used equipment. There is a description of each piece of equipment following the list. Ellipsoidal Fresnel Scoops Par Cans Followspots Control Devices Ellipsoidal: Ellipsoidal are considered to be the prominent device used in stage lighting. These lights belong to a group of lights called focusing instruments. Ellipsoids allow the designer and the lighting technician to make the edges of the beam softer or to cut off part of the beam to leave an area unlit by the use of shutters. These lights are normally designated by their lens type. If the lens measures 6 x 12 then that means that the first number listed is the diameter of the lens in inches. The second measure is the focal length of the lens. The focal length is the distance from the lens where the light rays converge. The focal length is usually measured in inches. When moving ellipsoids it is always a good practice to make sure all shutters are completely closed. This way there is no way for the shutters to get bent. Fresnel: Fresnels are used generally for color washes. When these lights are used the beam can be changed by moving the light back and forwards on a track built into the light. The edge of the beam on the fresnel is always soft where as the edges on ellipsoidal can be changed from harsh to soft. Scoop: The basic description of a scoop is a flood light. These lights are a very good way to provide a full light setting for the stage with a small number of lights. Par Cans: A par can gives a broad, general beam of light and covers a wide area. Par cans are possibly the easiest lights to use and to work with. They are very light weight and easy to handle. They are also easy to focus. These lights are seen with many traveling shows and bands because of their durability. Followspots: Followspots are designed to follow an individual actor. These lights are used simply to give the actors mobility on stage. Followspots have many differences in the way that they are designed. The basic setup though is internal gels, and also shutter controls. There are followspots out on the market that have many more features than this but these are the basics. Control Devices: When utilizing the above lights there is one aspect that must be confronted. That is control of them. Control devices are different and there are many of them on the market, but in the end they all perform the same basic functions. The first of these is the control of power. These devices allow you to control which lighting fixtures receive power and which ones do not. Another function that these devices control is the level of brightness. Many operate just like a household dimmer switch. These devices allow you to decide how brightly you want the lights to operate.