The document transcribes a conversation between a lighting designer and director discussing lighting cues for a theatrical production. The lighting designer uses descriptive language to convey subtle changes in hue, brightness, and timing of lights to elicit different moods and emphasize moments. The director prefers softer lighting initially but defers to the lighting designer's expertise. The lighting designer notes that drawings would take too long compared to using words to quickly communicate lighting design intentions.

1. Communicating the intangible –
or “How did you learn to speak director?”
Kelli Zezulka
School of Performance and Cultural Industries
University of Leeds

6. Lighting designer: Yeah, just want to see them in
a different colour. [Pause.] That's better. They're
brighter but darker. [...]
Programmer: Do you want it back to 82?
Lighting designer: 81's really dark, sadly. Show
me 82. So what's the difference between 81 and
82...? The 81 is greener blue and the other one's
bluer blue. So, actually, go back to 78... Go to
81... I think I prefer that.

7. Lighting designer: That feels a bit dirgy to me.
Lighting designer: If we make it a bit bright then pull
them down I think it would make it really epic.
Lighting designer: Yeah, it needs to feel like a burst into
the – like he's bursting into the door.
Director: I guess what I'm thinking is if they could be
softer.
Lighting designer: I just need to feel this space a bit,
don't I?

8. Lighting designer: Who has time to do drawings in
theatre? I would hope that my words would be able to
articulate what I want better and quicker than the time
it takes to do a drawing.

11. Lighting designer: What do you want it to go to?
Director: 'Cause it went to blue just now, didn't it? It
went to a very pale light -- I'm not sure about that. Do
you -- are you -- are we thinking of gradually losing the
warmth?
Lighting designer: Yeah. I mean, you saw it happen
over five seconds, where it should -- the timing should
be forty seconds.
[...]
Director: OK, so --
Lighting designer: It just shifts -- you shouldn't realise
it; it should just sort of take over.

12. Kelli Zezulka
School of Performance and Cultural Industries
University of Leeds
enklz@leeds.ac.uk