2.  Lighting in theatre history
 First 2,000 years of theatre history, it took place
mostly outdoors during the day – that didn’t give
people a lot of control over light
 Playwrights used the imagination to suggest
nighttime, or shifts of lighting
 Playwrights also used language in place of lighting
 Around 1600, theatre began to move indoors
▪ Candles and oil lamps were used for illumination, but there
still wasn’t a lot of control
 1803, the theatre in London installed gaslights
 1879, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb

3.  Objectives of lighting design
1. Provide visibility
2. Help establish time and place
3. Help create mood
4. Reinforce the style of the production
5. Provide focus onstage and create visual
compositions
6. Establish rhythm of visual movement

4.  Elements of stage
lighting
 Intensity
 Color
 Direction
 Form
 Movement

5.  Given Circumstances
 What are the major cues?
(Scenes, time shift)
 Specials – any light that
is used to light a very
specific part of the stage
for just a couple special
moments
 Available resources
 Budget and schedule
 Style/Concept of the
show
 Color palette

6.  Discussion
 Research
 Sketch
 Discussion
 (Computer
Simulation)
 Light Plot
 Hang the lights
and create the
cues. Discuss.
Adjust.

7. This is a section of a light
plot. This is what designers
use to show the master
electrician where every
instrument is going to hang
and how it should be
pointed and circuited. The
series of symbols stand for
different kinds of lights, the
circuits they’ll be plugged
into, where they’ll be placed
in the theatre… it’s a whole
language all its own!

8.  The lighting designer’s resources
 Types of stage lights
▪ Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight

9.  The lighting designer’s resources
 Types of stage lights
▪ Soft-edged spotlights

10.  The lighting designer’s resources
 Types of stage lights
▪ Floodlights, strip lights,
and border lights

11.  The lighting designer’s resources
 Types of stage lights
▪ Automated or moving light

12.  Gels – thin plastic sheets that are placed in front of
the light to cast different colors
 Gobos – thin metal slides that are inserted into an
ellipsoidal light to cast a pattern like leaves or a
window
 Barn Doors – an attachment that is placed on the
front of some lights to help shape the beam of light
 Shutters – a piece of some lights that can shape the
beam of light
 Practicals – electric elements that are plugged in on
stage and really work, like a real lamp or a real
toaster

13.  Lighting controls
 Lighting changes, or cues, are arranged ahead of
time
▪ Black-out: all the lights are shut off at once
▪ Fade: lights dim slowly
▪ Cross-fade: one set of lights come down while another
comes up
▪ Split cross-fade: lights that are coming up are on a
different fade count from the lights coming down

14.  The lighting designer’s collaborators
 A Master Electrician – in charge of hanging and
wiring the lights and then maintaining them
during the run of the show
 Spot Operator – the person who runs the spotlight
(when necessary)
 Light Board Operator – the person who pushes
the “go” button to move from light cue to light
cue during each performance

15.  The sound designer
 Responsible for arranging and orchestrating all
the auditory aspects of a production
 Consults with director to determine sound
requirements,
including sound
effects and
amplification

16.  Given Circumstances
 What are the major cues?
(Scenes, time shift)
 Do you need music the
play in the audience
before and after the
show and at
intermission? What kind?
 Available resources
 Budget and schedule
 Style/Concept of the
show

17.  Discussion
 Research
 Discussion
 Search for/Record
sounds
 Sound Plot
 Program the
sound cues
 Discuss
 Adjust

18.  Understanding sound reproduction and sound
reinforcement
 Sound reproduction: use of motivated or
environmental sounds
▪ Motivated sounds: sounds that are directly called for by
action or lines in the script
▪ Noise of a car crunching on gravel to signal someone’s arrival
▪ Phone ring
▪ Environmental sounds: noises of everyday life that help
create verisimilitude in a production
▪ Street traffic in a city
▪ Crickets in the country

19.  The Process of Sound
 A list is made of all sound effects required
 Recordings are made and the sounds arranged in
order of appearance in script
 Sometimes the sounds are run from a CD,
sometimes they are put into a computer program
that programs the cues in a lot of detail – just like
the light board
 During the performance, an operator controls the
cues when the stage manager tells him/her to go