Traditionally stage lights were called lanterns or luminaires. With the advent of programable consoles and intelligent lights, lights are now usually referred to as ‘Fixtures’. In some areas of the Entertainment Industry, traditional incandescent lights are still called lanterns and intelligent lights are called either ‘lights’ or ‘Fixtures’ or sometimes just called ‘movers’.

There are many names for lighting devices used in theatres and concert halls, including lighting unit, lighting instrument, light fitting, lighting fixture, luminaire and lantern. These terms are all synonymous and refer to a complete lighting package, consisting of the housing (or casing), lamp (or bubble), socket, reflector, electrical cord and connector, and often a lens, mounting clamp and colour frame.

Stage lighting fixtures are available for either 120 volt or 240 volt operation (240 volt in Australia). Most use an incandescent (or electric filament) lamp or bubble. By changing the amount of electricity passing through the filament (the metal wire inside the lamp) it is possible to change the intensity or luminescence of the beam produced.

Lanterns range in wattage from 50 watts to over 10 000 watts. Display lighting, of the kind used in shops and museums for example, uses 50–300 watt fixtures. Theatre lighting employs mostly 500–2000 watt lanterns and film and television lighting uses 1000–10 000 watt fixtures.

Lanterns designed for theatre, film and television lighting come in two main types: spotlights and floodlights. The main difference between a spotlight and a floodlight is that spotlights use a lens whereas floodlights do not. Spotlights are differentiated by the type of lens they use.

Most of these spotlights and floodlights are designed as lighting fixtures to be mounted on overhead bars (pipes), vertical bars or floor stands, and as such are fitted with a mounting yoke and usually a pipe hook clamp. The yoke and clamp allow for the lantern to pan, tilt or rotate into (almost) any position and then lock into place.

Most lanterns are also fitted with colour frame clips to hold a square metal frame (for holding colour filters/gels) or other accessories, including barn doors, top hats, doughnuts, and colour wheels.

A stage lamp is made up of many parts.

Identify each part of a light using a light you have available to you at school and the labelled image of a profile light.

Many of these elements are common to incandescent, LED and moving style lights.

There are various globe types used in production lighting, including:

• incandescent or tungsten

• LED (light-emitting diode)

• fluorescent

• strobe.

Watch the video "Globes" (left) to learn more about these different types of globes.

Floodlights are the simplest of all theatre lanterns, consisting simply of a light source (and reflector) in a box with one open side. As floodlights do not use lenses, they provide a wide, unfocussed and even distribution of light over a large area. There are several types of floodlight, defined according to their use.

A single unit which is hung or floor mounted is simply called a flood. Floods are often used in rows or battens. A row of floods sitting on the ground to light a set are called a groundrow and a row of floods hung behind a border above stage are called borderlights or batten lights. A row of floods along the very front downstage edge of the stage are called footlights and a row of lights at the back of the stage to light the cyclorama are called cyclights. In almost all of these cases the strip of lights are in groups of three or four units, each with their own colour (red, blue, green and yellow).

There are many different spotlights. The most significant difference between them is the type and number of lenses installed. Below is some information on the four of the main types of spotlights:

• Fresnels

• Profiles

• Par Cans

• PC (pebble convex)

You will aslo lean about follow spots and movable lights.

Fresnels and Profiles are two very comon types of spotlights.

Fresnel spotlights are becoming one of the most frequently used lanterns in theatre lighting. The Fresnel (pronounced fren-ell) lens has a significant amount of material cut out of the convex side of the lens, with many angles built into the cuts (see the figure below). This creates a very diffused, yet still controllable beam. Fresnels are used to provide soft-edged wash lighting to acting areas or important set areas, or to provide a colour wash to a particular area. Fresnels can create a beam width ranging from spot to (almost) flood. Some fresnels even have a pebbled or stippled plano side to diffuse the light further. Many fresnels require barndoors to control or minimise spill light.

Profile spots or ellipsoidal reflector spotlights use either one or two plano convex lenses to create a narrow, directional beam that can be varied and focussed. Profile spotlights often incorporate internal metal shutters and/or an iris and can accept a projection template or gobo, which enables them to project light patterns or designs. Modern profile spots can vary the beam angle by several degrees and a zoom profile can vary the spread angle by 20 – 25 degrees. Profiles are also able to adjust the beam edge from very hard to quite soft.

Profile spots are used to provide concentrated light on specific areas, actors or important features of a set, as they can project intense light over long distances.

Watch the video "Lenses" (right) to discover more about these two types of lights.

Open the following 'Types of lights' summary table in Google Docs and fill in each column of the document below for fresnel and profile. Continue to complete this table as you move through the lesson and learn about more types of stage lights, including the par can, pc, follow spot and moving lights.

The followspot is simply a specialised, powerful profile spotlight which is mounted on a stand and usually fitted with its own dimmer, iris, colour magazine and shutters. It is situated in or above the auditorium and worked by a followspot operator. The light beam can be varied between one and ten degrees, have its size, edge and focus altered, and be moved around the stage to follow an actor. It is typically used to highlight a featured actor, often in musicals or other presentational productions.

Watch the video 'Follow spots in theatre' (right) to discover more about follow spots, then complete the 'Types of lights' summary of the follow spot in the table.

Automated or moving lights are very versatile. They have the ability to move, change colours and include lighting effects, all from programmed sequences through the manual programming of the light or DMX (more about what DMX stands for in a later lesson).

Some of the common features include:

• colour

• pattern (produced by a gobo)

• focus

• pan movements (horizontal)

• tilt movements (vertical)

• rotation.

Watch the video 'Introduction to moving theatre light' (left) then complete the 'Types of lights' summary of the moving light in the table.

Intelligent lighting is any type of lighting that has automated colour and intensity control or has motion capabilities or both. It is sometimes called automated lighting, moving lights or moving heads. The lights are connected by DMX (Digital Multiplex). It is the standard digital communication protocol that is used to remotely control intelligent lighting fixtures. Intelligent lighting is used extensively in live music events, televised performing arts events, in television studios, ballets, Ice Skating Spectaculars, stage musicals and to a lesser extent in theatre. A light can be intelligent light, but not necessarily a moving light. LED pars have colour and intensity controls and are controlled by DMX, but are not moving lights.

Watch the video 'Shaping lights' with Lincoln Gidney.

Discuss the purpose and functions of the following lighting accessories and how they are used in various productions:

• barn door

• shutters

• gobo

• colour gel.

Strobe lighting and fog are also common accessories used to create various lighting effects on stage.

Further research into each of these accessories will be useful to build your knowledge and understanding of shaping lights.

Read through the following website (left) to discover how to clean theatre lights.