The lighting designer has several responsibilities: 1) They design the lighting program to match the mood of the production and emphasize actors' movements and emotions to make them visible to the audience. 2) The lighting indicates the time of day and location and directs attention to certain areas of the stage. 3) The lighting designer attends rehearsals to get ideas for lighting cues and notes actors' movements, then creates a lighting plot and cue sheet.

1. Lighting Designer
A lighting designer has the job of designing a program of lights and effects that match the
mood or atmosphere of the production. One of the most basic jobs is to emphasis the actors
movements and emotions to make them visible to the audience. It is also used to indicate
the time of day and location, direct attention to certain areas of the stage. The lighting
designer has to look at the script and note the type of called in each scene, they then come
together with the director to discuss ideas and visions. They also discuss the set as this may
influence the lighting ideas. The lighting designers must attend rehearsals to get an idea of
the lighting cues and movement of the actors. They can then create their ideas through
looking at pictures of previous shows which they can then change or adapt to their ideas.
They will then make a lighting plot which is a scale drawing of the stage and set showing
sightlines and position of lights. They then will write a schedule of each lighting instrument
separately along with the details of its type, wattage, purpose, filter color, the dimmer it will
be plugged into and the circuit that will control it. After this is established a cue sheet will be
produced. Lighting designers usually combine both direct and indirect light to illuminate the
actors and objects on stage. Direct lighting comes from a definite location and illuminates
specific areas; indirect lighting washes over the entire area to be lit and doesn't appear to
come from any one specific location.
He lighting designer works alongside the director and the creative design team (set,
costume and sound). They will talk about where the set goes and the director’s
interpretation of the play. It is important for them to all work together so that when the
production comes together it has a unified look and feel. Once the show opens, the
designer's work is essentially complete. Now it's normally the job of the stage manager and
light crew to make sure that every aspect of the production runs just as the designer
intended.i
i http://www.aact.org/lighting-designer