A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO STAGE LIGHTING

in 4SL

in 1SL

in 3SL

in 2SL

in 4SR

in 1SR

in 3SR

Scenic Stack

BlackScrim

Backdrop

in 2SR

UPSTAGE

DOWNSTAGE

DOWNSTAGE

RIGHT

DOWNSTAGE

LEFT

CENTER

Border

C

OLORS

1. L205-Yellow (Closest)

2. R33-Pink

3. R40-Reddy

4. R64-Blue

5. L128-Green

6. R132-Frost (Furthest)

smallbig darkbrite

KNOBS

HEADSETS

A-Judy SM

Sally ASM

B-Steve LD

Ruth ALD

Mike PE

C

AST

Pookie - Blue/Lav

Hokey - Pink

Low-Raine - Green

Proscenium

Tee-oo - Purple

Wendela - Veils

Father - Brown

Figure 13.5 Followspot Cheat Sheet

The followspot director and operators are now

ready to begin the technical rehearsal.

Shelley’s

Note s

Shelley’s Notes:

Followspots as Guide Lights

The lamps in most followspots are relatively delicate;

many folks think they take more wear and tear being

ignited (striking up) than they do if they’re just left

on. For that reason, if the break time between periods

of spot usage is relatively short, they’re often just left

on. Whether this practice is good or bad is a discus-

sion best left to the lamp experts. For me, though, if

the followspot is going to remain on, it can be put to

good use as an illumination source pointed anywhere

on the stage.

During breaks or in rehearsal when the stage is

being re-set, console programming may still be taking

place, but the brightness of a spot’s beam won’t get in

the way. Rather than douse the followspots so their

beams can’t be seen, I’ll direct the spots toward critical

areas of the stage that are otherwise in complete dark-

ness, and then ask the spot ops to lock their beams off.

Critical areas might include stairs leading to the house,

the edge of the stage, the aisles in the house, ladders, or

piles of scenery that have things sticking out of it. Areas

of the stage that have traffic typically receive no illumi-

nation or are potentially precarious when it’s dark.

During breaks in the tech, or breaks over cof-

fee, “parking” the spot beams at these predetermined

locations means that folks can still move about the

stage in semi-darkness and console cueing can still

take place, without the need to fumble around and

turn on the worklights. If need be, the followspots

can be doused out by the operator.

During rehearsals I’ll assign each followspot to

a default location; my first choice is often the stair

access between the audience and the stage. As soon as

a scene has been halted, I give the instruction “spots,

please move to your park points,” and the spots leave

their pickups on stage (presuming they’re not needed

for light cue work), move to their respective guide

points, and lock off. The followspots can then relax

for a moment, and the critical areas of movement

are lit. When the rehearsal’s ready to start back up,

I’ll give the instruction “spots unlock and back to

your positions at the top of the scene.” If someone is

still moving through a parked spot at a guide point,

that will be seen and accounted for. In this way, no

matter when performers want to move to or from the

stage, or move about the stage, they’re not travers-

ing in darkness. Using the followspots as guide lights

speeds the rehearsal process, and increases the safety

of working in the dark.

THE TECHNICAL REHEARSAL

Some say that the primary objective of technical

rehearsals is to safely add performers to the techni-

cal elements of the production. While most agree that

statement is true, from a broader perspective, the

technical rehearsal is a whole slew of things: it’s also

the first peek toward the production’s visual concept,

and the first step toward realizing the overall flow of

the show. The technical rehearsal is the opportunity

for the director and the creative team to clarify the

stage pictures, and to decide if all the choices that

have been made, design or otherwise, will fully (or

have a snowball’s chance) to succeed. To achieve this

goal, the initial objective of the technical rehearsal is