A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

Create the Preliminaries and Send out the Shop Order

●

125

The Preliminary Groundplan: Basic

Drawing

The preliminary groundplan is created in three steps.

Using all available information, horizontal and ver-

tical coordinates are drawn, double-checked, and

then joined to create the scaled drawing. For clar-

ity, the illustrations will show these lines properly

spaced in the three steps to quickly create the over-

all picture.

Step 1: Draft the Rough Outlines

The left-hand side of Figure5.5 shows the horizontal

placement of the vertical lines that will be used to cre-

ate the preliminary groundplan of the Hybrid Theatre:

stage right and stage left. Draw the first vertical line

in the middle of the drafting surface and define that

as centerline, one half of groundplan zero-zero. Now

draw the left-hand column of lines or tic marks rela-

tive to centerline, on the left-hand side (stage right) of

the page. Next the second column of lines or tic marks

can be made relative to centerline, on the right-hand

(stage left) side of the page. When completed, those

vertical lines will resemble Figure5.6A.

Next, the horizontal lines will be added. The

right-hand column of Figure 5.5 lists the vertical

placement of the horizontal lines: stage right, center,

and stage left. Draw the first line and define that as

plaster line, the other half of groundplan zero-zero.

Now draw the following lines or tic marks relative to

that line (positive to the algebraic “over” or above,

negative to the algebraic “under” or below). When

completed, those added lines resemble Figure 5.6B.

Now some quick drafting and a little artistic license

will clean this up.

•Thelinesareshortened,joined,andshadedto

show the preliminary shape of the architecture.

•Thesightlinesaregivencircleoutlinessothey

can be seen.

•Thefrontedgeofthestageandtheorchestrapit

is shaped.

The result is the general shapes and outlines shown

in Figure5.6C. The basic outlines and shapes for the

groundplan are now complete.

Step 2: Fill in Information Upstage

of Plaster line

The next step is to draw the current masking posi-

tions upstage of plaster line. First, this means draft-

ing the location of each lineset relative to plaster line.

This is one moment when CAD drafting can be an

advantage; copy the lineset schedule box from the

section, and paste that into the groundplan. The box

then includes the lineset number, the distance from

plaster line, and a placeholder for the trim height and

the goods. After rotation, the box is aligned so that

SR SL Distance Measurin

g

PointSRCSL Distance Measurin

g

Point

0' 0" Centerline xx32' 0" Back Wall

xx19' 0" Proscenium Openin

g

x 30' 3" US Side of Lock Rail

x 20' 4" USR Onsta

g

e Door x 30' 6" USL US Side of Door

xx21' 0" Batten Ends x 27' 6" USL DS Side of Door

xx22' 6" Offsta

g

e Side Pros Openin

g

xx16' 5" US Side of Side Wall Columns

x 28' 0" USR Offsta

g

e Door xx14' 5" DS Side of Side Wall Columns

x 28' 0" Lockin

g

Rail x 3' 9" DSL US Door

x 32' 6" SR Onsta

g

e Columnsx1' 6" DS side of Lock Rail

x 33' 4" SR Offsta

g

e Columns (SR Wall) x 1' 3" DSL DS Door

x 26' 9" SL Onsta

g

e Columns xxx 0' 0" Plaster line

x 28' 0" SL Offstage Column (SL Wall)

x

-1' 6"

SL Back of Proscenium

xx18' 3" Near Orchestra Si

g

htline xx-1' 6" Downsta

g

e Side of Pros

xx21' 0" Offsta

g

e Ed

g

e Butts into DS Pros x -3' 4" SR Back of Proscenium

xx21' 10" Offsta

g

e Ed

g

e of Orchestra Wall x -5' 0" Front Ed

g

e of the Sta

g

e

xx 6' 0" Onsta

g

e Truss Holes xx-8' 6" Near Orchestra Si

g

htline

xx14' 0" Offsta

g

e Truss Holes x -11' 6" Upsta

g

e Side of Orchestra Wall

xx20' 6" Box boom Near Vertical xx-11' 9" Box Boom Near Vertical

xx25' 6" Box Boom Far Vertical xx-19'9"Box Boom Far Vertical

xx29' 6" Balcon

y

@ Side Wall Architecture x -26'6"Truss Holes in the Ceilin

g

xx27' 0" Ceilin

g

Cove x -34'0"Center of the Balcon

y

Rail

xx 6' 0" Spot Booth xxx-47'9"Ceilin

g

Cove

x -65'0" Spot Booth

DS of PLASTER LINE

VERTICAL PLACEMENT of HORIZONTAL LINESHORIZONTAL PLACEMENT of VERTICAL LINES

DS of PLASTER LINE

Figure 5.5 Preliminary Groundplan Measurements