Writing Assignment 6.1
Sheial 234
Stage_Lighting_Properties.pptxThe Tools for Creating Lighting Design
Properties of Stage Lighting
The Right Ingredients
These four elements are:
Intensity
Color
Distribution
Movement
Let’s take a look at each of these properties more closely.
We’ve looked at the objectives of lighting design: what the designer is trying to DO. Now we need to take a look at the properties of light the lighting designer has to choose from in order to meet those objectives. There are four elements that can be combined in myriad ways to create fresh and exciting designs for any play.
Property 1: Intensity
Intensity refers to the dimness or brightness of a light. Lighting designers have excellent control of this property due to the common use of computer controlled dimmers. This control of light intensity enables designers to control the mood as well as the visibility of the things on stage. Changing the intensity of the light makes it possible for designers to show a huge and subtly controlled range of moods, times, and atmospheres. Imagine how odd a night scene would look under bright stage lights, or how underwhelming a hot summer day would seem without intense lights.
The lighting in the top picture has a low intensity light, while the bottom image has some high intensity light.
3
Property 2: Color
Color is an extremely powerful property of stage lighting. The range of color available to a lighting designer is vast—literally hundreds of colors are at her disposal. Color in lighting is created by the use of gels, thin films that are placed at the front of a lighting instrument. Gel colors range from extremely subtle to super saturated. This intensity in light color is usually not found in TV or film, and is a critical property to create mood or atmosphere.
Intense colors that we normally don’t see in natural light.
Property 3: Distribution
Distribution of light refers to the location and directionality of light. Where is the light coming from—above the stage, at an angle, from the sides, from directly above or below the performers? Distribution can also refer to the nature or quality of the light—is it diffused, broken into patterns, or in a single cleanly focused shaft of light? Unlike the lights we use at home, many lighting instruments can have their beam of light focused to give a lighting designer exquisite precision and control in working with light.
Notice the strong directionality of the light distribution here—strong light from the back of the stage, as well as tightly focused beams of light pointing at the figure on the upper level.
Property 4: Movement
Movement refers to the way the light travels around the stage and carries the eyes of the audience from one place to another. This can be accomplished in a few ways. One way is through the obvious movement of a light, such as a follow spotlight tracking the movement of a performer. Another way is through lights coming up on one part of a stage and fading out on another part. This draws the eye from the previously lit spot to the newly lit spot.
Here is a performer in a spotlight. If this beam of light follows this actor as he dances and moves across the stage, it will draw the eye of the audience along with his movement.
Summation
Lighting designers have four properties of light that they can combine in a wide variety of ways to create unique, suitable, and exciting creations for a theatre piece. These properties are:
Intensity
Color
Distribution
Movement
