Stage Lighting

PART ONE LIGHT: THE MEDIUM

1 The Nature of Light

 

 

Before you can learn to design with light it is important to gain a basic understanding of the nature of light. Unlike other areas of design; light isn’t tangible. It appears to be mysterious, can cause unpredictable results, has an impact on everything it touches, and is controlled in ways that require at least some understanding of optics and electricity—topics that easily intimidate many people. Light itself is our medium, and we can usually only convey our design ideas through indirect methods such as with pencils, paints, draftings, or computer simulations. This is very different when com-pared to other artistic disciplines where the mediums are very tangible. You can’t easily draw or ...