Effective theater lighting does not just involve the lighting effects, colors and shapes you may see during a stage production. Theater lighting also involves lighting the audience and making fine adjustments to ensure that the scenes are vivid and clear and the costumes look bright and real. Theater professionals use a few techniques and rules of thumb to help them design an organized, safe and effective lighting plan for a stage production.
House Lights
When designing lights for a venue, an important first step is house lights. House lights are usually incandescent or fluorescent bulbs in recessed lighting. House lights are expected to light the theater fully so everyone can clearly see.
Light a path for your audience. A theater lighting setup should have controllable lights that light the pathway of the audience. Audience lights equipped with a dimmer offer better control over the level of light in the audience, and you can use them to turn the lights down during the performance. Audience lighting should clearly light the walkways through which the audience must safely pass. A proper lighting design plan will have plans for house light control at the beginning, intermission and end of the performance.
Keeping the Focus
Effective stage lighting should not draw attention to itself. A lighting look needs to light the scene which is being performed. Use of lighting effects should be used tastefully. A skilled use of focus, placement and color can more intensely communicate the scene's emotion.
When designing lighting for a scene, think about how much of the stage needs to be lit for the scene. Think about how intense the light needs to be. Consider whether any small gestures or props appear onstage which might need extra light for the audience to see.
One method you can use to design the light is to light from the top first, then add the side light, and follow by filling in with front light. Keep in mind that adding color gels can darken a light, so remember to make final intensity adjustments if you change the color of the light.
Considering Colors
To avoid color clashes with costumes or scenery, test your chosen lighting colors with the costumes and scenery before you install all of the colored lights.
Costume colors can do wild and crazy things when they get under the color of the light. In green light, a red costume can look almost black. Some colors can make skin appear lifeless or can make the actor look sick. Lighting effects will have varying looks on actors with different skin tones. Experimentation is the best way to become familiar with lighting color effects onstage.
Adding Emotion
When you are charged with adding emotion to the scene, consider how light affects the way you feel. Think about whether the emotion of the scene is sharp and harsh or ethereal and comforting, warm or cool, solid or fractured, and make subtle adjustments to scene lighting to intensify its emotional impact.
