A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, 2nd Edition

Background Preparations and Preliminary Design Paperwork

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relaxed give-and-take. Certainly, the meeting’s prime

focus remains on the director to express her con-

cept and visual objectives for the show. That said,

this is also the opportunity for the lighting designer

to pre sent his own ideas, research, and perceptions

about the piece and the production as well. When

multiple meetings are anticipated, the first one-on-

one is not only an exchange of ideas, but also a way

for the two to establish communication, play “do

you know so-and-so?,” begin to work together, and

hopefully begin another relationship in mutual artis-

tic trust.

The first time that a director and a lighting designer

work together, they often must begin the process of cre-

ating a semantic language that both can understand.

In some cases, the phrase “romantic,” when applied to

lighting, can mean a host of choices. In that situation,

the two attempt to find a common point of reference,

referring to research material, or alternately suggest-

ing a particular scene or moment from a film or TV,

or a printed image, that illustrates the “romantic” look

the director wishes to see on the stage.

Questions for the Director:

•Whatistheoverallproductionconcept?Any

specific sources? Visual sources?

•Whatisthegenerallookofthestage?Dowesee

the overhead electrics? The backstage?

•Audienceperceptions,colors,imagesforanact?

Scene? Location? Special moment?

•Audienceperceptions,colors,imagesabouteach

maincharacter?Groups?Relationships?

•Anyspecificcolorsorotherlightingelements

that you like? Hate?

•Whatistheflowfromscenetoscene?Any

special transitions in mind?

•Anyspecialblocking?Specialareasofthestage?

Relationships to other performers?

•Anyspecialcastingchoices?Whatskintones

need to be considered?

Information to share with the

Director:

•Colorpalette(orcolorkey)thoughtsformajor

scenes. Swatch book pieces taped onto paper.

(Or time with gelled instruments in the lighting

studio.)

•Sketchesorrenderingsofmajormomentsinthe

show.

•Picturesofanyconceptualinspirations.

•Anyresearchorsources:movies,websites,

television, printed material, etc.

If the pair has worked together in the past, previous

productions, moments, or evocations can also be used

to provide a basic semantic framework to verbally

exchange illustrations, feelings, or facilitate commu-

nication. Find a common base and work from there.

In many cases the light plot may need to be

designed, if not hung, before any run-throughs

take place. In that situation, it’s necessary to

define the broad use of the space and scenery for

the show, where the blocking will and will not take

place. Will the performers use every portion of

the stage? Will they be in the house? In the orches-

tra boxes? Does anyone get elevated high in the air?

Establishing broad ideas of where action happens

sometimes helps the director focus on the blocking.

It might also accidentally provide the director with

new ideas of where to go in the theatre.

Director’s Meeting Notes

For the purposes of this book, the director for Hokey

is a woman. She wants the show placed in “nowhere,

in a void”; each scene will be defined by the lighting.

There won’t be any scenic projections or scenic pieces

used to define location. To reinforce “the void,” she’s

requested the feeling of a “black surround,” meaning

that once the audience’s vision reaches the onstage edge

of the vertical or horizontal masking, there is no other

visual intrusion. It’s clear that this means she doesn’t

want to see any lighting instruments, either overhead or

from the sides of the stage. The director wants to use as

much of the width of the stage as the proscenium will

allow, but realizes that she needs to give up some depth

in order to have the translucency visually succeed.

The show will be somewhat presentational.

At the top of the show, for example, the performers

will step out of character, and speak directly to the

audience. A phrase used by the director to describe

the overall look of the show is “comic book-like.”

During the discussion it becomes clear that in the

director’s vision, this alludes to color saturation,

both on the performers, bodies and the translucency.

The director also made reference to potential “stark

contrasts”; the example given includes scenes when

the frontlight will be at a relatively low level, allow-

ing light sources from other directions to provide a

more dramatic feel to the visual image. Although the

scenes will be blocked to provide stage focus, there

will be times when followspots will be required to

direct focus to specific performers.

The comic book reference also refers to the

fade time of light changes. Just as comic books are

edited to quickly change from panel to panel, the

light changes from look to look will in most cases be

very apparent. While this doesn’t eliminate the use