How to Do Stage Lighting
Know your performance genre and the simple principles behind lighting that genre., Consider your venue., Look into what stock you have at your venue.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Know your performance genre and the simple principles behind lighting that genre.
A standard play has lots of dialogue.
An audiences ability to understand dialogue is directly linked with their visual connection with the speakers face.
Make sure you have a lot of light focused to the actors faces.
Dance is where the movement of the body is most important.
Light from the sides is what highlights fluid movements the best.
Experiment with side light at different heights and angles.
Musicals are an amalgamation of both, as they contain elements of both drama and dance.
Usually, principles of both are amalgamated into the same lighting design.
Concerts are the colour and effects ball game.
Often you will have flesh-tones spotlights following your performers around but most other lighting will be for colour, movement and effect.
Think symmetry, bold colours, and wash lights. -
Step 2: Consider your venue.
This will help determine how many lights you need, and where you are able to place them.
Look at where the lighting bars are.
This gives you an idea of where you can hang things.
Can you put lights on stands on the floor? Or rig vertical pipe and hang them from the sides? , Most venues have a base stock of equipment.
Make sure you know what they are and what they do.
Don't get too caught up in the technical names if you aren't sure what they mean, there are two differences that are most important:
FRESNEL lamps are 'wash' fixtures.
They have a certain type of lens (called a fresnel) which causes the light to have a fuzzy edge and usually will cover a lot of area.
Often you can adjust the spot size but the edge will always be fuzzy.
These lights are usually shorter than PROFILE spots.
PROFILE spots are usually used for when you want to light something specific
- a person in a specific spot, etc.
They have the ability to have a sharp edge.
Some have a 'zoom' capacity which means you can alter both the size and the edge (fuzzy or sharp) of the light output.
They are usually longer and skinnier than FRESNELs. -
Step 3: Look into what stock you have at your venue.
Detailed Guide
A standard play has lots of dialogue.
An audiences ability to understand dialogue is directly linked with their visual connection with the speakers face.
Make sure you have a lot of light focused to the actors faces.
Dance is where the movement of the body is most important.
Light from the sides is what highlights fluid movements the best.
Experiment with side light at different heights and angles.
Musicals are an amalgamation of both, as they contain elements of both drama and dance.
Usually, principles of both are amalgamated into the same lighting design.
Concerts are the colour and effects ball game.
Often you will have flesh-tones spotlights following your performers around but most other lighting will be for colour, movement and effect.
Think symmetry, bold colours, and wash lights.
This will help determine how many lights you need, and where you are able to place them.
Look at where the lighting bars are.
This gives you an idea of where you can hang things.
Can you put lights on stands on the floor? Or rig vertical pipe and hang them from the sides? , Most venues have a base stock of equipment.
Make sure you know what they are and what they do.
Don't get too caught up in the technical names if you aren't sure what they mean, there are two differences that are most important:
FRESNEL lamps are 'wash' fixtures.
They have a certain type of lens (called a fresnel) which causes the light to have a fuzzy edge and usually will cover a lot of area.
Often you can adjust the spot size but the edge will always be fuzzy.
These lights are usually shorter than PROFILE spots.
PROFILE spots are usually used for when you want to light something specific
- a person in a specific spot, etc.
They have the ability to have a sharp edge.
Some have a 'zoom' capacity which means you can alter both the size and the edge (fuzzy or sharp) of the light output.
They are usually longer and skinnier than FRESNELs.
About the Author
Kevin Perez
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow practical skills tutorials.
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