BASIC LIGHTING DESIGN NOTES:

Note: this text is not a copy of anyone’s work and drawn from the sources listed at the end of the text, personal experience and articles or publications not mentioned. I assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the material, and assume no responsibility for resulting harm to body or property from reading or applying any of the suggestions or techniques outlined below.  The material is intended strictly for the interest and reading of students in Assumption High School, in Louisville KY.  Before undertaking any work with electricity, or any lighting instruments, you should read thoroughly the operating and safety instructions for any piece of equipment, be thoroughly familiar with all safety precautions involved with electricity and lighting.
Dan LaBorde February 20, 2008

INTRODUCTION
What a Lighting Designer does and her importance in the performance
DESIGN PROCESS
Lighting for visibility
Lighting to define the mood of the performance
Naturalism (or why is the light there?)
Lighting to add to the composition of the performance
Developing a lighting plan
McCandless lighting (basic)
Shaping the light by changing:
Intensity,
Direction,
Color,
Form,
Working with the stage and the instruments
Types of instruments and how they work
Safety
LIST OF SUGGESTED READING

GOALS OF SEMINAR
Students realize the importance and duties of the lighting director, and how she works with the other members of the production.
Students learn how lighting helps shape the mood, tone, composition, of the performance, not just provide light
Students become familiar with the elements of the lighting design process: intensity, color, direction and form.
Students learn the basic 3 point lighting method, or the McCandless method.
Students learn how to make a lighting diagram and how to “focus lighting instruments.
Students will be able to begin planning the lighting for their next performance.

TEXT: (Demonstrations and Illustrations will be included in presentation) 

THE ROLE OF THE LIGHTING DESIGNER IN PRODUCTION

The lighting designer is part of a chain that supports the production of a play, a film, a television show or video tape, a web cast, or photographs.  Lighting designers work in the theater, in feature film production, television production, and photography.  Web video and photography are the latest forms of visual communication benefiting from a creative lighting director.

In each discipline the lighting director works on an equal basis with the director, writer, photographer, set designer, costumer, all those who contribute creatively to the production. The lighting director is called upon to not only provide visibility for the scene, but to add additional elements to the play. Everyone will be willing to tell you if the lighting is good, and if it’s bad.  There’s a saying “Everyone in the theater knows his own job, and how to do the lighting”.  Creative effective lighting adds so much to a production, no wonder everyone wants to be a part in the design.
Given the importance of the element of lighting, much care should be taken with it, and a system of design needs to be followed.  Putting lights up randomly with out a plan
usually ends up not working, or at best working but with great difficulty and little creative addition to the performance.  Just turning on lights so the actors can be seen, or the image exposed properly is usually as path toward “bad”lighting.  There must be more than just illumination in lighting.

A lighting director is responsible for coming to a creative agreement with the other creative members of the production as to the interpretation of the play, and how the lighting will strengthen and realize the group’s vision.  This always starts with an in depth  reading of the script.  When you read the script, you will begin to see the performance in your mind.  Sometimes the first ideas are great, but more often just a starting point and need of further work.

Learn all you can about the playwright: research his or her political, social moral views, try to find out why the play was written. Research the time and place setting of the script.
All your research will help in developing light that will portray the subtle meanings of the play. 

Next comes a meeting with the director, producer, scenic designer and all of the creative designers.  Each will have their thoughts on the play as well as yours.  You must come to some sort of understanding of what the play is about and how you will produce it together.  This will be very difficult.  It’s the hardest part of lighting and you haven’t even turned on a light.  You will have to make compromises as well as sell your vision.  Be prepared to defend your thoughts and back them up with your research of the play, product, and history of the times etc., as well as listen to the opinions of others. When you and the other members of the performance have a clear idea of what the play means, and what direction you all want to take, it’s time to start designing.

THE DESIGN PROCESS:

 The first aspect of lighting is Visibility.  The actors and scenery, the props or the product must be seen.  In theater, the audience will be confused, restless, bored, un-interested if they cannot see what is going on.  In photography, proper exposure is the first consideration.  Your first job is to light so the audience can see the performance. However, lighting for visibility only is the path to poor lighting.  Bad lighting is usually flat, has no purpose, and adds little if anything to story.  Poor visibility could be a sign of bad lighting, but there is usually someone who will turn up the lights trying to fix the “bad lighting”.  Don’t over look the importance of providing visibility for the actors, scenery, and costumes, but remember, it’s only the very beginning.  There must be more to lighting than just providing visibility! 

Visibility is affected by color, contrast, direction of light, as well as intensity.  For example, a small pool of white light illuminating an actress in a white dress, on black stage will appear very visible.  The same actress wearing a gray dress on a gray stage will be less visible, even though the light remains the same in both scenes.  Visibility will be affected by every other element in the play and will be constantly adjusted though out the design process.

The next consideration is mood.  Your understanding of the play will include the mood of the play and the mood of each scene and how the lighting will reflect it. For example, in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, Tom sets the mood in the first scene by saying “The play is memory.  Being a memory play it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic”.  The reading of the play, your research of the time period of the play and the background of the playwright, should give you a plan of how you would develop the mood.  Be careful though, “Being a memory play it is dimly lighted” does not always mean lowering the lights.  Dimly lighted” could mean, muted colors, or higher contrast, or softer light. It could mean pools of light that are brightly lit, but the rest of the stage is dark.  Even though the playwright might suggest a lighting style or mood, the lighting designer has to develop what she believes will work for the performance.  Observe scenes in reality and see if they are “dimly lighted”.  Look at your kitchen at home, or your bedroom, or your front porch.  How could you make them “dimly lighted”?
Another example of lighting setting the mood is the play Rowen and Martin’s Laugh In, produced by Beth Hall at Assumption High School in 2007.  A reading of the script revealed that the play was a naturalistic set from a 1960’s television show.  An understanding the 1960’s culture, as well as the conditions of early television production, would help the designer to develop her vision of the mood of the play.  The play is a comedy, bright, funny, colorful, and the lighting mood might reflect that.

After visibility, and mood, the lighting director considers “naturalism”.  Naturalism means the reason for the lighting.  If the play takes place in a living room, the lighting should reflect that.  If the lighting is on the street, the lighting should look like daylight.  
The audience relies on the lighting to be drawn into the set.  Lighting should also reflect the time of day, the weather, the locations, all the natural aspects of the light.
Many special lights are used to give reason for the light.  Light from a window, light from a candle, light from a table lamp.  This lighting is done after the over all lighting for visibility is completed.  Naturalistic lighting adds considerably to a performance, but it can’t provide all the light. Single point lighting is not tolerated well by audiences.
 
Lighting also enhances the composition of the stage, or photo.  Lighting can direct the viewer’s eye towards a particular area of the play.  By lighting or not lighting areas the composition can be pleasing and balanced or jarring and emotionally disturbing. When the lighting director considers adding to the composition of the stage with lighting she must work carefully with the scenic designer, and director, who are also very interested in visual composition.  Together with the scenic designer and director, the lighting designer should look for ways her lighting will direct the audience to parts of the stage and the action in that part.  Light attracts our attention and where she puts the lighting will greatly effect what the audience looks at.

These are the first considerations the lighting designer will make in developing her lighting plan for the performance. Using the lighting instruments and equipment that is available, the lighting director will now develop a plan to accomplish her vision of the mood of the play, the reason and justification for the lighting she has chosen, and the composition of the stage.  You can see now how closely the lighting director must work with the director, actors, and scenic designer. At this point she has gone far past merely providing visibility for the actors and sets.  

DEVELOPING THE LIGHTING PLAN

In order to contribute more than just visibility, the lighting director must manipulate the intensity of the light, the color of the light, the direction and the form of the light (More on this shaping of the light later).  First, lights must be put on the battens and a general lighting scheme developed. When the basic lighting plan is developed, the mood, the composition and the reason for light can be implemented. When the lights are roughly in place, the lighting director and her crew will work on moving past visibility by changing the direction, the form, and the color of the light. 
To get started, the stage must be divided into areas.  Most small to medium stages will use six to nine areas.  In a six area lighting scheme, there are three areas downstage, and three upstage.  A nine area plot will have three downstage, three in the middle, and three upstage.  Using a floor plan of your stage, on a large piece of paper, draw circles with the edges touching to fill the stage. Any number can be used; it is advisable to use an odd number across the downstage area, so there is always an area in the middle, as much of the action of most plays takes place center stage.  Each one the areas will have three lights illuminating it.  The three lights are called a key light, a fill light, and a blending, or toning light. Or, in photography, the third light is a frontal fill or eye light.  Each of your areas will have three lights in a single hang show.  Multiply your areas by 3 and you’ll have the number of fixtures you need to get started.
This is called the McCandless method of lighting.  It was developed by Stanley McCandless in the early 1930’s and is still the standard today.  You will be adding all sorts of interesting special and motivating lights after you have the basic hang completed.  Make sure you have enough lights for what your vision is.  On your diagram of the stage floor, (the one with the circles drawn on it) draw the lighting batons and note the number for each outlet on the battens.  Pick outlets on your drawing that if a light was plugged in to that outlet, it could illuminate one of the circles drawn on the stage.  You will need to pick three outlets or hanging positions for each area on your paper.  The positions you pick for each area should be one directly down stage from the area, one 45 degrees the left of a line drawn from the apron to the back wall, and another 45 degrees to the right of that line down the center. This plan will change as you work, it’s just a beginning.  When you have the show the way you want it, you’ll have to make a new plan, noting all your lights.  If the show is to be repeated in the future, you know what you did and how to duplicate it.
At this point, you and your crew can hang the actual fixtures begin positioning them towards your areas.  This is called “focusing the lights”.  Begin with the center area and pick two lights on the batten that are in front of the area, and approximately 45 degrees to the left and right of a line drawn from the apron, through the lighting area, to the back wall. Note the number of each light, and with the light fixture dimmed to half, move the light on the area.  Open all barn doors and shutters, remove any gels, and adjust the focus to the spot position. When you have the light pointing at the face of some one standing in the center of the area, adjust the focus to the widest flood position, and move the shutters or barn doors in to keep the light on just the area you are working on .Do this with all of your areas when you have all your areas covered with two lights, you can add the third light from the front.  Now you have achieved basic lighting for visualization, or in photography, exposure.  If you bring all your areas to full, and you have done a careful job, you will have an even, boring lighted stage! Now the lighting designer has the basic light she needs to bring her creative vision to the play.  She will now alter the intensity, the direction of the light, the color of the light, and the form of the light, to create the mood and composition she desires.
INTENSITY
A lighting board controls the intensity of each lighting fixture.  A value for each fixture is stored in the computer’s memory.  Altering the intensity of a fixture affects all the other light in the area.  Lowering or dimming the intensity makes the other lights in the area, as well as any background or set lights appear brighter.  The reverse also occurs.  Dimmers are used to establish a “key” direction for each area, and the contrast between the actor and the background.  The Key light is always usually brighter than the fill light.  The key light is the naturalistic source of the light.  All the areas usually have the key from the same direction.  However if an element of the set is meant to be a light source the key in an area might change. Dimming one side of an actresses face establishes a direction for the light; it brings out the features in her face, making her look attractive or unattractive.  Sometimes if the actor is not visible enough, lower the lights on the background.  This might bring more attention and a perceived increase in level on the actress.  Dimming a light can shape an object or person, it can change the mood, and it can increase the contrast or suggest a reason and direction for the lighting.
The direction of the light was roughed in for each area using the McCandless method.  If the scene required a setting sun form stage left, the basic three lights could be altered, to show that direction.  Better would be to add fixtures to show that effect and retain the light hang for future use.  If the entire play called for setting sun from stage left, you could change the 3 light set up Light fixtures for drama are usually hung at about 70 degrees from the floor.  A light at a steeper angle would cast shadows under the actress’s eyes, and have a sinister or negative look.  Changed the direction to a side light is very dramatic and powerful.  A light that is lower is a mysterious light.
COLOR
Light is colored with gels; clear colored plastic filters placed in frames and hung in front of the fixture.  Colors are warm, cool, or neutral.  Cool colors are blues, greens, violets, purples. Warm colors are reds, oranges, yellows, pinks.  Neutrals are usually clear, frosted, and light pinks and lavenders.  
Adding color to a light changes the mood of the light.  Blues suggest night, mystery, memory, callousness.  Warm colors are happier, optimistic, and more open.  Neutrals are used to fill in areas and for toning and blending.  Sometimes the contrast between the warm color and the cool is too much and a toning light can lessen the contrast.  Comedies and musicals use more blending lights and dramatic scenes use the additional contrast of the opposition warm and cool colors.  Colors can change costumes and scenery, so picking colors again has to be a team decision.  Prepare to defend your choice of color and adjust it to the creative thoughts of the others in the production.
FORM
The form of light is the effect color direction and contrast has on an actress or object.  For example, a white beach ball is placed center stage against a white background, and one light directly from the observers point of view lights it  The ball will not be visible.  If the intensity of the light on the ball is dimmed, the ball will appear as a brown or grey disk.  It still will not have the form of a sphere. If the light is moved to one side of the stage a shadow will form on one side and begin to show shape to the object.  Raising the light fixture will cast a shadow and further define form.  Adding a color to the lamp will            further define the form of the object.  The same effect on a ball happens with an actress.  Moving the light, dimming the intensity changing the contrast between the actress and the background all define the form in a different way.  Adding form to the lighting brings the lighting from dull to interesting.  The stage is an unreal place and your use of lighting helps to convince the audience that the ideas that the play puts forth are real.
All of these ideas need to be turned into reality using lighting fixtures, and rigging.  There are many types of lighting instruments.  Only by experience can you become proficient in all of them.  Most small stages use ellipsoidal and Fresnel fixtures.  We will explain how these work and how to work safely with them.
LIGHTING FIXTURES.
Your stage has three types of fixtures available to you.  You can rent or borrow more types and you should ask other designers for advice.  Write or E-mail local and national lighting designers and ask them how they did a particular lighting effect.  Always state that you are a student and what school you attend.  You will usually get a reply.
You have ellipsoidal, Fresnel and par lights.
Ellipsoidal lights have a clear lens in front that looks like a magnifying glass, and an enclosed bulb in the back.  There are shutter tabs on the top, bottom and sides of each fixture that when pushed in cut off parts of the light beam.  Ellipsoidal lights are useful because they cast an even side to side, top to bottom amount of light, and the shutters can control where the light hits and where it should not.  The lamps in the fixtures are extremely bright and you should avoid looking directly into them.  The lamps are quartz and burn at an extremely high temperature.  Never touch the bulb as it retains heat even after it is turned off.  Also, touching the bulbs with your fingers can contaminate the bulbs surface and ruin the bulb.  Always wrap the bulb in a clean piece of paper when handling a cool bulb.  Always make sure there is no power to the fixture when you are checking or changing a bulb.  Always keep the light dimmed when you are focusing the fixture.  Always make sure the fixture is positioned with the light cap on the top.  The light will burn out quickly if it is used upside down. 
Fresnel lights can be identified by looking at the lens in front of the fixture.  The lens is some what diffused, and has concentric steps in it.  The Fresnel fixture has barn doors in front of the lens that are adjusted to restrict the light.  Light coming from a Fresnel is a softer light. The light intensity drops off at the edges of the light pattern. The bulbs in Fresnel lamps are also quartz and the same rules for care of the bulbs for ellipsoidal lamps apply.
Par lamps have a sealed beam bulb in the fixture that has a fixed focus.  The light is spotty, like a car headlamp.  Par lights cannot be adjusted and are usually used for hard light in a small area general fill and special effects.
All lights are hung from a pipe or batten above the stage or in the wings.  Some special lights might be on the floor or behind scenery.  The battens are wired for electricity and plugs are available for each light.  Each plug goes through the lighting board where it can be dimmed or switched on and off.  Lights are clamped to the batten, and then can be pointed left right, up or down.  Always attach a safety chain or cable to the fixture.  The safety chain gets attached first and detached last. Always make sure the fixture is un-plugged before opening it, or removing it from the batten.  The fixtures are heavy so make sure you can hold the weight and get it to the stage floor.  After you have roughed out a lighting plan, begin hanging and focusing your lamps.  Ellipsoidal fixtures should have all gels or diffusion removed, all shuttered pulled out, and focused to the widest setting (the focus knob is on the bottom of the fixture towards the front.  Fresnels should have all gels removed, barn doors opened and focused to the widest setting.  Slightly loosen the left right swivel on the yoke of the lamp, and the tilt handle on the yoke.  Leave a little tension so the light stays where you point it.  Have the board operator bring the light up to about 30 percent and aim the light at the area you are lighting.  Focus the light to spot to find the center of the beam.  Then, move it to flood.  You will adjust the quality and intensity of the light with the focus control later.  Now, wiggle and push the shutters in to restrict the light from curtains, scenery and the like.  Do this with each of the three lights for each of your areas.  After you have all your lights in all your areas focused, you can check for un-evenness.  Change the fixtures you need to get even light. This is basic stage lighting.  Now you can add color change direction, intensity to achieve what you wish.
SAFETY:
•	Ladders and electricity are always to be respected.  Never plug in anything that appeared damaged or frayed.  Never touch bare wires or plug or un plug any fixture with power going to it.  Have the board operator turn the fixture off first.  
•	Always work in pairs with the ladder.  If you are climbing, the other person should be spotting you and holding the ladder.  Never walk away from someone on a ladder.
•	Make sure you are balanced and can hold the weight of the fixture if you remove it from the batten.
•	Tie a short piece of rope to your tools when on the ladder.  You don’t want to drop a wrench on the person holding your ladder.
•	Never stare into lights that are at full intensity.  You can damage your eyes.
•	Keep a cell phone and a fire extinguisher close.  Keep hot lights away from curtains, scenery props, costumes, anything potentially flammable!  If you see or smell smoke, turn off the power.  Tell your supervisor about it. 
•	Above all always tell others what you plan to do and think out a safe way to do it.  Have a plan and tell others.

FURTHER READING:
A Method of Lighting the Stage, McCandless, Stanley
A Syllabus of Stage Lighting. McCandless, Stanley
Photographic Seeing, Andreas Feininger 
History of Art, H.W. Janson
Backstage Handbook, Paul Carter
The Essential Theater, Oscar Brockett

Just as important as reading about lighting:
Observe lighting everywhere you go.  Note what you like, what emotion or mood the lighting creates.  How would you change the lighting to change the mood?  Look at the effect shadows create.  How does light look when it comes from below, above, left, right?  What effects do colors have on mood?
Don’t be afraid to try something different, but learn the established methods first.