In small groups, brainstorm as many production contexts that require lighting as possible (eg live theatre, concerts, corporate events, sporting events, film etc). Choose two of these production contexts and outline the requirements of each. Do you think that in your specific contexts there is a move away from conventional lighting and towards intelligent lighting? Is there place for projections as a source of lighting in your contexts?

Discuss your thoughts with the class.

Lighting is used in theatre and opera for the following reasons:

• Illumination: Required so that the audience can see the actors

• Attention: The audiences’ attention is drawn to where the director wishes it to be

• Mood: To set the mood of the scene.  Is it a happy or a sad scene?  Lighting is used to affect the audience’s mood

• Time/Place: It sets a time and place for the scene to occur (season, time of day, indoor/outdoor)

• Enhance: The work of the set and costume designers is enhanced by enabling the costumes and set to be seen as the designers intended.  It can also help with making the set appear realistic.

• Extend: Can be used to add to the set.  In collaboration with the set designer, effects to extend their work (for example, window gobos, cyclorama, skylight moving shadows etc).

Lighting for Theatre and Opera is designed to subtly enhance the set, the scene and to make the actors visible.  It is not intrusive.  Live concert lighting is different, the lighting effects need to be seen.  Fog and haze are used to allow the beams of light to be seen as they illuminate the stage.  Lights and beams of light are projected back into the audience to create greater excitement and effect.  Often the performers are not perfectly lit for the audience to see them, sometimes they are only partially lit for effect.  Moving lights have become an expectation at a live music event.  Pyrotechnics are also regularly used at live music concerts.

The lighting for Ballet is more subtle than the lighting for concerts, but more obtrusive than theatre lighting.  In Ballet, the focus is on the form and movement of the dancers.  Lighting is used to focus the audiences’ attention on the principal dancers and to create mood and atmosphere.  Haze and fog are often used to create a more interesting atmosphere.

Interrelationship with other technical and creative areas in live production

Lighting is used to assist setting the mood of production.  It may be flashing exciting lights for a live rock concert, beautiful gentle colours for a classical ballet or setting a mood and time of day for a theatrical production. 

Lighting has wide and varied contexts in many different areas of the Entertainment Industry.  Traditionally we think of lighting in the context of a rock concert or theatre, but it is used in many more commercial contexts. 

Corporate lighting

Corporate events are one of the largest areas of employment in the Entertainment Industry.  Businesses use lighting in their product launches, trade shows, public meetings and large corporate celebrations.  Political parties employ lighting companies to light their campaign speeches and public announcements.  Corporate events are often as lavish as major rock concerts with moving and effects lights, haze, fog and pyrotechnics used to increase the excitement for the new product.

Film

Lighting plays an integral part of the film industry.  Whether the film is be being shot (filmed) indoors or outdoors, lighting is used.  An outdoor scene requires consistent lighting.  Often the parts of an outdoor scene will be shot on different days, natural lighting will not be consistent, so additional lighting is provided to ensure that the natural light does not cause inconsistencies in the final scene.  Large Reflectors are used to provide a diffuse light over the scene.

TV (Television)

A large percentage of TV is shot indoors.  Therefore, lighting is required to enable a clear and consistent footage of the scenes being filmed.  As per outdoor film production, lighting is required to assist in the production of a consistent, well distributed final film.  Television studios use a lot of haze when they are producing music shows, the haze allows the beams of light to be seen moving around the studio.

During the production process, the lighting designer will be consulted regarding costume colours.  The colour of costumes will be affected by the lighting used.  For example, if designing the lighting for Grease, the pink ladies’ jackets must look pink.  Using lanterns such as parcans on a lower power in the scene where the jackets are worn would result in the jackets having a more salmon appearance. 

If the production is going to be filmed lighting colours should be selected which are compatible with camera’s sensors.  LED Lights can be programmed for different colour temperatures to assist with this process.  Often beautiful vibrant purples can become blue on the video, whites can be too harsh.  Often it has to be decided whether the appearance of the live production is more important than the filmed of the production.  If a filmed product is the priority, the lighting designer will have to work closely with the Vision Designer to ensure a suitable colour palette for the production.

Lighting Designers have to take into consideration the placement of the screens for the production.  While projectors are bright, follow spots and moving lights are usually brighter and a spot or gobo moving across a screen can be very distracting for the audience.  Additionally, if the screens are positioned above the stage, lighting will need to ensure that there is no spill from the Front of house bar lights.  This is often solved by using Barn Doors or Knives to cut out any light spill to the screens.

Lighting is the biggest consumer of electricity in a live production event.  Available power needs to be carefully allocated.  In large venues which regularly hold events.  Lighting usually has its own dedicated circuits and the Lighting Designer needs to work within the power available.  Big outdoor events use generators and Lighting usually have their own generators, separate to Vision and Audio.  The most difficult events are events where there is not a lot of power available and there are no allocated circuits for Lighting Audio and Vision.  For this type of events, the three areas must discuss their needs and negotiate the allocation of power.  LED lighting uses a lot less power than incandescent lighting, so this may be the solution needed for the event.  But, if the venue only has incandescent lights available and the budget does not allow for the hire of LED lights, creative planning must be made.  If the event is in a small hall, the power requirements for dressing rooms for example hair straighteners, blow dryers etc can easily take up an entire circuit.  The kitchen may also have urns, which also take up a circuit each.

Discussions between Lighting and Audio need to be held to decide where the cable runs will be.  If the audio cables are run too close to the lighting cables, every time the lighting changes state there will be a buzz through the speakers.  Lighting and Audio must never be on the same circuit unless you want buzzes coming out of your speakers.

Discuss with the person next you the different considerations needed for an outdoor entertainment event.

Report back to the class, three considerations that you discussed.

The 45 Degree Rule

If you are directly above the stage looking down, you will want to have a light pointing at the area, 45 degrees off of the center axis, in each direction. This helps to ensure that both sides of the actor’s face are lit evenly, and you don’t have shadows on one side or the other. 

How high should we hang these lights? If you are looking at the stage directly from the side, you will want your lights to be hung 45 degrees above the stage. This helps to avoid any shadows from a light pointing from too low of a height. 

By using the 45-degree rule, you can avoid shadows, because the light is coming in to the cheek area of the face of the performers, and avoiding the nose and other areas that can create shadows on the face. 

Sidelight is the most commonly used lighting in dance and the most useful in revealing form. This is the light hung on the sides of the stage that many dancers have run into. Sidelight is the most important lighting to have in dance.

Backlight is used to give more depth to the dancers by pushing them out of the background. Backlight is hung upstage of the dancers and focused downstage toward the audience. Backlight is also often the light that colors the floor.

Front light is the least commonly used lighting in dance. It tends to flatten out the dancers and remove shadows thereby removing their dimensionality. This light comes from the front of the stage and is most often used to light the faces of dancers when they have speaking roles.

Three-point lighting is the name for one of the most common lighting setups and techniques for filmmakers, videographers, photographers, and any other visual creatives. 

As its name suggests, three-point lighting involves the use of three light sources in three distinct lighting positions. By using these three light sources, a professional can control pretty much all the variables for lighting a subject.

1. Key light

The key light is the main light source. It shines directly on the subject, usually from the front right right or front left. It establishes the overall look and feel of the shot.

2. Fill light

The fill light is your secondary light source. It provides balance to the key light by ‘filling in’ the rest of the subject’s face with softer light. It should be positioned to the side that’s opposite the key light.

3. Back light

The back light (or rim light) is the background light source. It creates a flattering rim of light around the subject, separating them from the background. As its name suggests, it should be positioned behind the subject.

Have a look at the following website to find out more about three point lighting: https://vimeo.com/blog/post/your-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-3-point-lighting/

With the current trend towards LED lighting we have seen the advancement of LED screens being used in the theatre to create amazing effects on many surfaces of a stage. Have a look at the video (right) to see just a small use of LED screen. THe option are endless (well almost!)

Lighting live music such as rock concerts is a very different syle of lighting. There is a lot more use of moving lights and the style and beat of the music must be taken into consideration when designing the lights. look at the video (left) to get a general idea of how this works.

Explain the processes that the various lighting personnel would need to follow to create this scene.