Stage Lighting

10/23/2014 7:00:00 AM

Meet with mac to go over the midterm.

Think about coming on Saturday
How Dimmers work
1800s
Candles were used
o Made of animal fat
o Made things smokey and stinky
How to color the light?
o Tried to put bottles of colored wine in front of the candles

o Would take colored pieces of silk and put it in front of the

candle
o They would raise cans above candles and try to raise and
lower them to give the effect of a dimmer
Theatres are built to be burned
Began using natural gas
o Helped regulate how much flame we got or how little flame
we got
Late 1800s
o Thomas Edison develops the light bulb
o Batteries began coming into play
Salt Water Dimmer
Recycle a whiskey barrel
Fill it with salt water
Put a coppor plate in the bottom and on top
Put a plunger at the top
Pushes plunger up and down
The closer the plates the brighter the light

The farther the plates the dimmer the light

Could control between 18-24 lighting instruments
The people controlling these would be about 20
guys with a very choreographed way of aking sure
it was all done the way it was supposed to

WWII
o The start of the electronic age
o Still using the idea of resistance

o Boards are getting smaller

Silicone Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
o A doorway (gating device)
What you see is a whole bunch of keypads
o The light board sends the message to the dimmers, which is
really what does all of the work
o If you type in a certain amount of percentage on the board,
the SCR closes or opens accordingly.
o

Color in Light
Primary colors
o Red, green, and blue
o Secondary Colors
Blue+Red= Magenta
Blue+Green= Cyan
Red+Green= Amber
Mix all three=Near White Light

Hue: Name of color

Value: Freedom from black or white
Saturation: The amount of color in it
o Can always change the saturation
Wavelengths for light
ROYGBIV
o Technically indigo is no longer a color
o Ultraviolet to Infrared
o When you put a gel in front of a stage lighting instrument,
You are not coloring the light, just filtering the light.
There is a difference between Amber and yellow
o Amber is more golden
o
Complimentary Colors
o Blue and Amber
o Green and Magenta
o Cyan and Red

For gels
o First started with glass
Glass began to break under the lights
o Began using gelatin
The same kind of gelatin that you eat
Bugs tried to eat it
Dried and Cracked quickly
Cheap
Rain ruined it
Saturated colors faded quickly
Difference between Cool and Warm
o First, depends on what youre comparing it to
Lavenders have a tendency to nutreulize things
Transmition factor
o E.g28% means if you use this gel only 28% of this light is
going to hit the performer
o

The purpose or function of all design in the theatre is to create an

environment that visually fulfills the director/ choreographers vision.
McCandless approach to lighting a stage
Read or listen to the piece all the way without any stops
Re-listen several times Now its okay to take notes
Meet the choreographer/director
Meet the other designers
See a run through

o Seeing all of the pictures unfold

Start the light plot
o Divide width of stage by 8 ft circles, must be odd number
Must be odd because center should be lit with its own
instrument
o Each 8 ft circle gets 2 lights at the most pleasing angle of
illumination
o Pick cool and warm side

o Stay consistant with warm and cool and with grouping

Groupingwhether it is dimmers or channels
Finish the light plot
o Cyc/Drop
o Gobos/Pattern
o Side light/ Back light
o Isolation
o in is the best scale for OBT
Obstacles noted
Key-what are the symbals
Title Block
Who/What/Show/Designer
Foot Marks
o Need to note channel, cat, and instrument numbers
Instrument sketch
Magic Sheet

10/23/2014 7:00:00 AM

10/23/2014 7:00:00 AM