Stage Lighting  observation assignment

Class Help Links:

The design process part one.

Stage Lighting Instruments

Basis Electric Theory and Practice 

Cable Chart

Working with the Director

Basic Dimmer Set Up

Chapel Theatre Circuit Directory

Welcome to the wonderful, and interesting, world of  Stage Lighting.

In this class we will be doing a lot of different things, which eventually will come together into something coherent that will enable you to be a designer.

There is no single way that a designer works, but you will be given the tools to discover the way that works for you.

In the beginning of the semester you will learn how to “see”, but more about this later.

I believe that in order to design, the designer must know all of their tools, thus we will study the instruments and control systems that will be some of the tools you use in your design.  We will also study the “artistic” part of design and the elements of light that you can alter and control for your design such as intensity, direction, color, movement, and texture, and the uses to which light can be put.

Since lighting is only one element of a production, we will also examine the collaboration necessary with the other designers and the director, and since the director is the interpreter of the script, we will examine scripts and the author’s (and director’s) intentions and image.

Since a designer must be able to communicate their design (and since the lighting designer is still the only designer not required to present a visual representation to the production staff in advance...though this is in a state of flux) we will examine the “paper work” that usually goes into a design and which you will use to present your own designs to the class.

While much of this class will be technical, keep in mind at all times that the mechanics and technical elements are there to help you “do art”...it is the ART that is the design, not the mechanics. The mechanics only help you to present the "art" of your design. They are  the brush strokes or the casting process that go to creating the product, but they are NOT the work of Art.

 One thing to keep in mind about “art” is that it is always ORIGINAL.  Original thought is encouraged (and for this class, required) when you design. Art is also revealing, and makes a statement, creates a response......Keep this in mind as well!!