Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performing arts., Stage Lighting Design Principle and Process Several different types of stage lighting instruments are used in this discipline. theatrecrafts' Types of Lanterns. In addition to basic lighting, modern stage lighting can also include special effects, such as lasers and fog machines. People who work on stage lighting are commonly referred to as lighting technicians or lighting designers.
The equipment used for stage lighting (e.g. cabling, dimmers, lighting instruments, controllers) are also used in other lighting applications, including corporate events, concerts, trade shows, broadcast television, film production, photographic studios, and other types of live events. The personnel needed to install, operate, and control the equipment also cross over into these different areas of "stage lighting" applications.
History
The earliest known form of stage lighting occurred in Ancient Greek theaters, which were typically built outdoors and oriented so that afternoon sunlight illuminated the performance space while keeping the audience shaded. Natural light continued to be utilized when playhouses were built with a large circular opening at the top of the theater. As well as during the Middle Ages, many performances such as miracle and mystery plays were staged outdoors in church squares or on pageant wagons relying primarily on daylight rather than artificial lighting.Early Modern English theaters were roofless, allowing natural light to be utilized for lighting the stage. As theaters moved indoors, artificial lighting using candles and oil lamps supplemented the use of natural light via windows and shutters. Key developments in lighting technologies and practices were developed alongside the scenic stage in Italian Court Theatres by architect designers such as Bastiano da Sangallo (1481-1551), Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554), Leone di Somi (1527-1592) and Angelo Ingegneri (1550-1613). Renaissance lighting techniques (including the use of darkness) were developed across Europe and detailed clearly in the writings of two architects, the Italian Nicola Sabbatini (1574-1654) and the German Joseph Furttenbach (1591-1667).Palmer, Scott (2013) Light: Readings in Theatre Practice https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/light-9780230551909/ Bloomsbury Methuen ISBN 9780230551909
In England following the Civil War all stage production was suspended in 1642 and no advancements were made to English theaters. During this theatrical famine, great developments were being made in theaters on the European mainland. Charles II, who would later become King Charles II witnessed Italian theatrical methods and brought them back to England when he came to power. New playhouses were built in England and their large sizes called for more elaborate lighting. After the refurbishing of the theaters, it was found that the "main source of light in Restoration theaters to be chandeliers" which were "concentrated toward the front of the house, and especially over the forestage". English theatres during this time used dipped candles to light chandeliers and sconces. Dipped candles were made by dipping a wick into hot wax repeatedly to create a cylindrical candle. Candles needed frequent trimming and relighting regardless of what was happening on-stage because "they dripped hot grease on both the audience and actors". Chandeliers also blocked the view of some patrons.
In the eastern world, shadow plays relied heavily on lighting to transform the story of the show because, as implied in the name, they utilized shadows to change the shapes of the characters/puppets, using the distance of the lights from the puppets to change the shape or size of the shadow.
There were two different types of Restoration theaters in England: commercial theaters and court theaters. Commercial theaters tended to be more "conservative in their lighting, for economic reasons" and therefore used "candle-burning chandeliers" primarily. Court theatres could afford to "use most of the Continental innovations" in their productions. Theaters such as the Drury Lane Theatre and the Covent Garden Theatre were lit by a large central chandelier and had a varying number of smaller stage chandeliers and candle sconces around the walls of the theaters. Two main court theaters, built between 1660 and 1665, were the Cockpit Theatre and the Hall Theatre. Chandeliers and sconces seemed to be the primary lighting sources here but other developments were being made, especially at the Hall. By the 1670s, the Hall Theatre started using footlights, and between 1670 and 1689 they used candles or lamps. It can be noted that by the end of the 17th century, "French and English stages were fairly similar". There is not much written on theatrical lighting in England at the end of the 17th century and from the little information historians do have, not much changed by the middle of the 18th century. Gas lighting began appearing in English theaters in the early 19th century including installations at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. These systems utilized coal gas piped through valves and pipes. that could be controlled from a gas table, an early form of centralized lighting control. In the 1820's limelight was developed producing intense illumination by directing a flame at a cylinder of calcium oxide (quicklime) which became incandescent and emitted a bright white light. This illumination could then be directed by reflectors and lenses. Lime light was first used for theatrical lighting at Covent garden theatre in London in 1837 and became widely adopted in theaters by the 1860's. until it was displaced by electrical lighting. Electric lighting began replacing gas lighting in theaters in the late nineteenth century. one of the earliest examples was the Savoy Theatre in London which in 1881 became the first theatre illuminated entirely by electric light. Early electric stage lighting systems used salt water dimmers, which controlled brightness by adjusting electrical resistance in a container of salt water these systems were widely used in theatres before modern electronic dimmers. Lighting innovations developed in English theaters during the nineteenth century helped establish many of the technologies used in modern lighting.
Functions of lighting
Stage lighting has multiple functions, including:
Selective visibility: The ability to see what is occurring on stage. Any lighting design will be ineffective if the viewers cannot see the characters, unless this is the explicit intent. Revelation of form: Altering the perception of shapes onstage, particularly three-dimensional stage elements. Focus: Directing the audience's attention to an area of the stage or distracting them from another. Mood: Setting the tone of a scene. Harsh red light has a different effect than soft lavender light. Location and time of day: Establishing or altering position in time and space. Blues can suggest night time while orange and red can suggest a sunrise or sunset. Use of mechanical filters ("gobos") to project sky scenes, the Moon, etc. Projection/stage elements: Lighting may be used to project scenery or to act as scenery onstage. Plot (script): A lighting event may trigger or advance the action onstage and off. Composition: Lighting may be used to show only the areas of the stage which the designer wants the audience to see, and to "paint a picture".
Effect: In pop and rock concerts or DJ shows or raves, colored lights and lasers may be used as a visual effect.
Lighting design is an art form, and thus no one way is the "correct" way. There is a modern movement that states that the lighting design helps to create the environment in which the action takes place while supporting the style of the piece. "Mood" is arguable while the environment is essential.
Qualities in lighting
Intensity
Intensity is measured in lux, lumens and foot-candles. The intensity of a luminaire (lighting instrument or fixture) depends on a number of factors including its lamp power, the design of the instrument (and its efficiency), optical obstructions such as color gels or mechanical filters, the distance to the area to be lit and the beam or field angle of the fixture, the color and material to be lit, and the relative contrasts to other regions of illumination.
Color Color temperature is measured in kelvins. A light's apparent color is determined by its lamp color, the color of any gels in the optical path, its power level, and the color of the material it lights.
A tungsten lamp's color is typically controlled by inserting one or more gels (filters) into its optical path. In the simplest case, a single gel is inserted into the optical path to produce light of the same color. For example, a blue gel is used to create blue light. Custom colors are obtained by means of subtractive CMY color mixing, by inserting combinations of cyan, magenta and yellow filters into the optical path of the lighting fixture. The inserted filters may have varying densities, with correspondingly varied percentages of transmission, that subtractively mix colors (the filters absorb unwanted light colors, but the desired colors pass through unaffected). Manufacturers will sometimes include an additional green or amber ("CTO" color correction) filter to extend the range (gamut) of subtractive color mixing systems.
Lamp power also influences color in tungsten lamps. As the lamp power is decreased, the tungsten filament in a bulb will tend to produce increasing percentages of orange light, as compared to the nearly white light emitted at full power. This is known as amber shift or amber drift. Thus a 1000-watt instrument at 50 percent power will emit a higher percentage of orange light than a 500-watt instrument operating at full power.
LED fixtures create color through additive color mixing with red, green, blue, and in some cases amber, LEDs at different intensities. This type of color mixing is often used with borderlights and cyclorama lights. Learn Stage Lighting - How do I Use Color Effectively?
Direction
A gobo of this shape in a fixture with a red gel would produce a pattern like the one shown to the right. Direction refers to the shape, quality and evenness of a lamp's output. The pattern of light an instrument makes is largely determined by three factors. The first are the specifics of the lamp, reflector and lens assembly. Different mounting positions for the lamp (axial, base up, base down), different sizes and shapes of reflector and the nature of the lens (or lenses) being used can all affect the pattern of light. Secondly, the specifics of how the lamp is focused affect its pattern. In ellipsoidal reflector spotlights (ERS) or profile spotlights, there are two beams of light emitted from the lamp. When the cones of both intersect at the throw distance (the distance to the stage), the lamp has a sharply defined 'hard' edge. When the two cones do not intersect at that distance, the edge is fuzzy and 'soft'. Depending on which beam (direct or reflected) is outside the other, the pattern may be 'thin and soft' or 'fat and soft'. Lastly, a gobo or break up pattern may be applied to ERSs and similar instruments. This is typically a thin sheet of metal with a shape cut into it. It is inserted into the instrument near its aperture. Gobos, or templates, come in many shapes, but often include leaves, waves, stars and similar patterns.
Focus, position, and hanging
The focus is where an instrument is pointed. The final focus should place the "hot spot" of the beam at the actor's head level when standing at the center of the instrument's assigned "focus area" on the stage. Position refers to the location of an instrument in the theater's fly system or on permanent pipes in front-of-house locations. Hanging is the act of placing the instrument in its assigned position.