Lighting Design
Stage lighting can be an effective way of creating a variety of theatrical illusions and producing the mood and atmosphere needed to enhance the performance. Lighting can have a heavy influence of the impact on the audience and the experience they have when they see a performance.
When you are first given the task of designing lights for a performance there are many things to consider:
- What are the physical requirements of the performance?
- What type(s) of lights you can use to support the script?
- What areas of the stage your actors will use or occupy
- What colours you should use to convey different ideas or emotions
- Timings and how lighting changes throughout can enhance music or sound
- Are their any special effects needed to enhance audience experience?
Impact of Lighting
Selective Visibility: What do you want the audience to see or NOT to see?
Focus: Where do you want the audience to look - Where should their attention be?
Setting (Time & Location): Where is the drama set? Can the lights reflect this? WHEN is the drama set? Day or night? Time Period?
Mood & Atmosphere: What mood/atmosphere do you want to create? Can we do this with colour, intensity, movement or position of lights?
Projection: Any shapes or images that would help enhance the action. This includes media projections also.
Positioning Lights
You can position lights to come from any direction. Its important to understand the benefits and effects of each direction.
Front Lights
They are usually the primary source of lighting for most scenes. The distinction between warm, cool and neutral front lighting establishes mood, time and place. The colours used should enhance the scenery and complement a performer's skin tone.
Side Lights
They are primarily used to highlight the side of the face, arms, mid-torso and legs.
A full quota of side lighting consists of bottom, middle and top lights, which reveal the three tiers of a performer's body.
High Side Lighting
This is a light hung at an over-head angle between 30 and 60 degrees. This accentuates the top side of an actor's head, neck and shoulders. Thus, high side lighting draws special attention to the facial expressions of a performer.
Down Lights
These highlight the top of a performer's head and shoulders. Down lighting is mainly used to wash or flood aa particular area of the stage with soft or harsh light.
Types of Lights
Lighting Effects & Accessories
Gels
Coloured plastic sheets, cut to size and inserted in front of the lens.
Different colours can create different moods/atmospheres & effects
GOBOs
Metal cut-outs which can create different pictures or images using shadows
There are many standard Gobo's that you can choose from or it is possible to get them custom designed. You can either have a plain metal cut out that lets through the light of the lantern you are using or you can choose to fill the gaos with glass and create multi coloured effects
They are a very easy and effective way of creating setting in a drama.
Use these links to play around with different lighting techniques
Credits:
Created with images by Sweetaholic - "spotlight fog stage" • 383961 - "theatre light lighting"