A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO STAGE LIGHTING

Up to this point all attention on light bouncing back

up toward the viewer’s eye has been concerned with

the angle of reflection. Now consider an exam-

ple of the angle of incidence. When viewing a light

cue from the audience, gaps in focus or irregular

blending are most notable in the frontlight. When a

performer’s face darkens while crossing the stage, it’s

easily noted that he or she is moving through a hole

in the coverage between two frontlights. If the focus

of a frontlight is too sharp, the sharp beam edge can

also be seen on the performer’s face while he or she is

crossing the stage.

It’s much more difficult, however, for the viewer

to see sharp beam edges or gaps in coverage from

sidelight or backlight without looking at the deck.

The lack of smooth blending or sharpness of the

beam edges is only obvious to the eye when the angle

of observation is the same as the instrument’s angle of

incidence. From the audience’s angle of observation,

this implies the following:

1. Frontlight systems need the smoothest coverage.

To achieve this, frontlight beam edges are usually

soft, rather than sharp.

2. In most cases, sidelights can be more sharply

focused, because only the side sightlines of the

audience will be able to see the reflected beam

edges from the same angle of observation.

Although these implications are illustrated using a

proscenium theatre as an example, they can be applied

to other theatre configurations. When the audience

views the stage from more than one perspective, like

a thrust, arena, or alley configuration, these observa-

tions should be considered. It’s prudent to consider

the law of specular reflection and its impact before

each focus session.

FOCUS TECHNIQUES AND NOTES

While focusing lighting instruments is an acquired

skill, there are techniques and tactics that are shared

here. It’s important to keep track of which instru-

ments have been completed, and which are in an

unfinished state. It’s also important to consider dif-

ferent ways to focus, and how to deal with environ-

mental extremes during the focus session. Here are a

few thoughts:

Paperwork Techniques

During the focus call, three documents are often

updated. The lighting designer marks the focusing

document, which may be a copy of the light plot, a

focus schedule, or an instrument schedule. Constantly

marking that document updates the progression and

state of the focus session. The work notes sheet, or

something like it, is marked to keep track of tasks to

be completed at some point in the future, in order to

make the light plot fully functional. The final docu-

ment, usually a legal pad, is used to write down con-

cepts, realizations, or any other notes not pertaining

to physical labor.

During the focus session, instruments fall into

three categories. Either the instruments haven’t been

focused, they have been focused, or they’ve been

“touched.” A “touched” instrument has been at least

turned on, but may be only partially focused. It will

require additional attention for its focus to be consid-

ered complete. Notes taken throughout the process

keep track of each instrument’s status. Some design-

ers employ different colored highlighters or pens to

indicate the current state of the focus. Other designers

make two different kinds of marks on their focusing

document next to each instrument: one indicates that

the focus is complete, whereas the other shows the

units that will require additional work. Often, both

the “focus done” and the “more work” marks are

made in pencil. In that way, when the “more work”

action is completed, the note can be changed. When

the page is scanned and no “more work” marks can

be found, the entire hanging position can be consid-

ered focused. On the other hand, when an error in

the focus is discovered, the “focus done” mark can be

erased, replaced by the “more work” mark. A final

scan of the hanging position displays the units that

require additional attention.

Occasionally, it’s necessary to change infor-

mation about an instrument. A change in purpose,

the planned electrical path, or other elements may

require alterations in circuitry, patching, color, or

focus. While these notes may be made directly on the

focusing document, they’re also recorded in the sup-

port paperwork. The cleaner the support paperwork

is kept, the easier it will be to later update the data-

base. Regardless of the system used to denote the

changes, they shouldn’t obliterate notes or informa-

tion about the instruments that have been completed.

Marking completed focus with a magic marker is not

advised. When the information can’t be seen, it can’t

be referenced later.

Keeping a separate work notes sheet, on the

other hand, singles them out for the attention

they deserve. Unless the note requires additional

focus, many of them can be accomplished with-

out the lighting designer’s direct involvement.

Throughout the focus, the electricians can attend to

the work notes, without interrupting the designer’s

concentration.