Intro to Lighting Design Club Soda October 1

Intro to Lighting Design Club Soda October 1, 2003 Rob Siemborski

Overview Intro to Lighting Design n Basics of Light n The Lighting Design Process n Interaction with other Design Staff n Interaction with your Master Electrician n Building a Plot n Designing for Scotch ’n’ Soda n

What are we not covering? n How to be a Master Electrician Cable Plots n Crew Management n How to physically Hang / Focus an Instrument n Specifics of particular types of instruments n Specifics of using a Light Board n

In Short…. n Today is all theoretical n Please accept the lighting BS n There’s a lot of territory to cover n All of these “rules” can be broken n Some of these photos are old, sorry!

What is Lighting Design?

Goals of Lighting Design n Enabling the Actors to be Seen! Directing Focus Setting n n Location Season / Time of Day Set Creation “On the Cheap” Creating Mood and Atmosphere

What does the LD Do? (OK, This isn’t quite what is in the Sn. S Responsibilities Document) n n n n Reads the Script / Score (if any!) Attends Rehearsals Coordinates with the Director and Production Staff Performs necessary research Generates / Communicates Design Ideas Creates a Light Plot Determines / Writes Cues for the Show Coordinates implementation through Master Electrician

Basics of Light n The Lighting Designer has Many Tools! n Focus Angle Intensity Quality Color Movement n n n

Basics of Light (Focus) Focus: What gets lit n If it can’t be seen – It’s not on stage! n Lighting is as much about shadow as it is about light! n Strongly influences instrument choice n Washes vs Spots n

Basics of Light (Focus) n Think About n n Highlighting the set but keeping the actors dark Having one actor well-lit but the other in the shadows When is a followspot appropriate? Using tools to draw focus in different ways

Basics of Light (Angle) n n Angle: Where is the light coming from? The type of performance can affect angle choice n n n Dance prefers sidelight Rock concert prefers backlight Think about: n n n How do lights from multiple angles interact? Silhouette How “interesting” is a given angle?

“Normal” Lighting Angles n 45 degrees is the typical “magic number” n Both vertical and horizontal

Basics of Light (Intensity) n Intensity: How bright is the light? n Think About n Directing focus using varying intensity

Basics of Light (Quality) n What is quality? n n n Soft/Hard Light? Textured Light? (Gobos!) Dependent on Instrument Choice n Also strongly affected by Diffusion

Basics of Light (Color) n n One of the hardest tools to master Additive Mixing n Primaries: n n Red Blue Green Think About: n Color Mixing and Angle interaction

Using Color n Warm Side / Cool Side n n “Coloring the Shadows” Warnings n n Avoid Complimentary Color Mixing Colors to be careful with n n n No Color (a. k. a. N/C) Yellow (somewhat) Green (always!) Note: This is a pigment color wheel.

Choosing Colors What is the source? (more on that later) n How will that color mix with others on stage? n Gel books are your friend n Hue n Transmission Percentage n Spectrum n

Basics of Light (Movement) Not just “Intelligent Lighting” n Primarily Timing of Cues n Heavily affected by type of show n Musicals – Follow the Music n Fast light changes need motivation n n Think About: n Split Fades, Part Cues, and More

What is a Light Source? n Something that motivates a light in a scene Moonlight n Car Headlight n Sunset n Reflection off water n n No correspondence to lighting instruments Sometimes multiple instruments are a single source. n Sometimes one instrument can represent different sources in different scenes. n

Key and Fill Sources n Key Source n n n Primary source of light The Sun Indoor Lighting n n n Fill Sources n n n Lamps Windows Coloring the shadows Reflections off of walls Can have multiple Key or Fill Sources

Realistic and Unrealistic Sources n Realistic n n Directly from setting/time of day E. g. Sun, Lamp, etc Mood still applies! Unrealistic n Primarily by mood

Design Process

The Early Design Process Read the Script n Talk to the Director n Re-Read the Script n Read the script looking for lighting “clues” n If there is music, listen to the music n Talk to the Director again n Repeat n

How to Read the Script Read it at least once in its entirety n Go through and highlighting “clues” n Explicit stage directions n Time of day/Seasonal references n Location references n Think about each scene in detail – where is the lighting coming from? What does it feel like? n You may need to invent a timeline n

How to Talk to The Director Often times, Directors don’t know what Lighting can do for them! n Offer them your ideas and see how they respond. n Don’t talk in terms of specifics, but more in terms of general looks / scenes. n Come to the director with interpretation questions. n

How to Talk to The Director Pictures that convey your ideas accurately can be very helpful! n When attending rehearsals, talk to the Director afterwards, not during. n n Read the script at least once before ever speaking with the director

Interaction with other Design Staff n n One of several unique viewpoints Collaboration n n Colors! Scene Changes Space in the venue for lights/set/props Use design tools to describe your ideas

Design Tools n n Lighting Concept Visual Research Scene Analysis Color Key

Developing a Lighting Concept Traditionally a short written statement n No need to be formal! n n You should be able to answer 3 questions What does the script say? n What is the director’s interpretation? n How will your lighting convey the above? n

Lighting Concept for “Peter Pan” n n n “Peter Pan” takes place mostly in the idylic island world of “Never-Never Land. ” This tropical setting is your basic island paradise. Captain Hook is the source of all evil in the lives of the Boys. This evil slowly encroaches on their world until they have no choice but to feed him to the gator. The lighting for the play will start out warm and friendly, however as the pirates start to encroach on the world of the boys, parts of the stage will darken and disappear until Hook is finally defeated, when the world will be revealed again.

Other Tools n Visual Research Helpful to get ideas or give examples to the director n Pictures can convey better than words n n Color n Angle n Quality n Mood n Not presenting anything is better than presenting the wrong thing!

Other Tools n Scene Analysis One per “scene” n Color, direction, and description of all sources n Brief description of n n Setting / Time of Day n Mood n Key and Fill sources n Quality n Other Motivating Factors

Other Tools n Color Key Shows colors/angle of all washes n Useful to have actual gel pieces n Helps to talk about color choice n n Cue List Lets you organize what cues you need in advance n Location, Description, Timing, etc n Useful to mark cues in script n

The Sn. S Tech Production Process n n n n Show Approval “Design Phase” Budgeting “Implementation Phase” Board Preview Tech Week Show Strike

Brief Overview of Tech Week n Load-in n n Hang Focus Cueing Rehearsals n n Cueing / Focus Notes Work Calls Work with the Stage Manager to get timing right Shows n n Let go of your design when the first curtain goes up Strike n Domain of the Master Electrician

What about the Master Electrician? n Master Electrician n n Makes the production happen! Assists with budget and equipment arrangements Schedules crew calls Manages all Lighting Equipment during the production Creates a “cable plot”

Working with an ME n Get the ME information early! n Lighting Plot!! n n Instrument / Gel schedules n n n Rough drafts are ok The ME can generate these Often easier for LD to do Concepts for Practicals

Working with an ME (Production Process) n You can make the job of the ME easier n n Better experience for both of you! How you can help Be familiar with the space you are in n Have a rough idea how the design will be pulled off n Pick and choose your focus notes n n Don’t needlessly sacrifice your design

Working with an ME (Tech Week) n As an LD, stay out of the way at calls You have creative input n The ME has control over the “practical” issues n The ME Manages Hang n The LD Runs Focus n n n With the advice of the ME Keep the ME apprised of Focus Notes

Board Preview? n You generally should have an almost-final light plot with you n n Don’t go into deep detail Discuss your design concept Discuss your color key Mention any potential problems

The End Result n n Lighting Plot Instrument / Gel Schedules n n Possibly with assistance from ME Cue List (including Followspots, if any) n Useful to have cues denoted in script as well n Arrange for Rental Equipment n More important to communicate this information effectively than “do it right”

The Production Notebook n Keep a notebook of everything related to show n n n n n The Script The Light Plot (if it fits, otherwise keep it nearby at all times) Scene Analysis Color Key Cue Lists Instrument / Gel Schedules Invoices / Rental Orders Work / Design Notes Equipment Notes (especially moving lights!) (etc…)

Break Time!

The Light Plot Conveys information from Designer to Master Electrician (and the rest of the Production Staff) n Details information about every instrument n Type n Position n Orientation n Color n Accessories n Circuiting n

The Light Plot Overall layout personal to the LD n Drawn by hand or with CAD n Typically drawn to scale n n n Scale helps with creation of plot as well as hang Should contain enough information to execute the hang in the absence of the designer.

Other Contents of a Light Plot Sketch of set in relation to hang positions n Trim height of hang positions n Location of other equipment such as foggers n Other lighting equipment related notes n n Works in concert with Instrument, Gel, and Dimmer schedules

Lighting Instrument Blocks n n n Instruments drawn by symbol for simplicity Convey all the applicable information for a given instrument. Include a key to map symbols to instrument types! Ellipsoidal PAR 64

Sample Lighting Block Gel Color(s) Contains a Template Instrument Number Channel Number More?

Key Plot Components n Title Block n n n Production (and Dates) Designer Director What does this plate describe? Legend n n What do the symbols mean? What is the data for each symbol? n Hang Position Names n n Booms n n n Trim Heights if you care Location in plan Profile view of instruments General Notes Section n E. g. “Gel before focus”

Creating a light plot the Right Way n n Finish your Color Key and Scene Analysis first Instrument Research n n Sketch Plan View of Set n n Decide on acting areas Lighting Section n Look on Manufacturer websites Check throw distances and angles Don’t cut off heads Draw the Plot

Light Plot Simplifications n The “Dot Plot” n n Skip the Lighting Section n n Don’t draw symbols – just use color-coded dots Section is most useful in unfamiliar venues Don’t draw to scale Be sure to note this to your ME n Requires more involvement during Hang n

Our Example Light Plot n Simple Color Key Warm Side / Cool Side n Several Angles: n n Diagonal Frontlight R 54 (Pale Lavender) n Straight Backlight n Venue similar to Mc. Conomy R 33 (N/C Pink) R 62 (N/C Blue)

Scotch ‘n’ Soda: Hints n Talk to past Sn. S LDs They have experience in the spaces n They know solutions to common problems n n Don’t expect significant Direction n n Sn. S directors are often new, and don’t know what lighting can do for them Attend lots of rehearsals n Ask the director or stage manager any questions you have

Scotch ‘n’ Soda: Hints n Light plots don’t have to be formal! Not to scale n Brief Sketches n Schedules not required n Find what works best for you and your ME n n Know your venues Resources – especially dimmers – are limited n Some venues come with “in house” equipment n

Scotch ‘n’ Soda: Hints n Rentals This is generally done by you, not the ME. n Contact ABTech Early n Contact Vincent Early n If you are shipping expendables, do so VERY early n n Have Fun!

Photo Credits n Photos in this presentation were taken from the following sources/photographers: Adam Pennington n Rob Siemborski n Alex Orgera n The Scotch ‘n’ Soda Gallery n

References n Photos: n n http: //www. coed. org Lighting Instrument Specs: http: //www. altmanltg. com n http: //www. etcconnect. com n n Rentals: n http: //www. vincentlighting. com n (Call the Pittsburgh Office)

Questions?

Come Back for Lighting II! October 15, 6 -8 pm Mc. Conomy Audotorium “Things to know for Electrics Crew”