Quick Tips for Lighting Design

Introduction

It's actually quite difficult to nail down exactly what the minimal set of information is that a beginning light designer will need. This is partly because it's really not that simple, but also because, at this level, you almost invariably end up having to take on the role of Master Electrician as well, which brings in a whole host of concerns related to the specific setup of the space you'll be working in which are hard to generalize about. If you're lucky enough to have an ME working for you, great: read this section and that should be sufficient to get you started. If not, go read the analogous section in the Master Electrician docs as well.

Working On A Show

One of the biggest problems that beginning lighting designers face is knowing where to start when tackling a show. There are so many variables -- how many lights do I have? what are the hanging positions? when do I load in? what's my budget? -- and particularly on smaller shows, it's really difficult to know who to talk to to figure things out. So the first, and most important tip to pay attention to: use the resources you know about. This website has a lot of good information, with more being added every week, so keep checking in. If anything's missing, e-mail me and I'll try to point you in the right direction, and may even add your comment/question to the site. Also talk to your theater friends; they are invaluable for finding out where/when/how to buy things, find help, etc. Alan Symonds is also a great resource for general theater questions, and a lot can be solved by simple dropping by his office. One other important tip, related to those above: don't wait until the last minute. This is partly because you'll get very stressed out, and partly because the people and/or resources you were counting on may not be available if you haven't asked for them well in advance!

Finally, if you have enough time, either now or later, take the time to read the full LD doc on this site or, if you prefer, pick up one of the LD books listed in the Resources section.

Working With The Staff

Your first big task should be to try to nail down what exactly you need to do for the show, and take a first cut at planning on how to handle it. The rest of your production staff may be assuming that you will take care of things that you aren't planning to, or may just not know what resources you'll need, so it's best to get these misunderstandings out of the way as early as possible.

Try to get these big questions answered (usually by the producer):

What are your responsibilities? Are you just designing, or do you need to handle the ME side of things as well? Do you have a reliable ALD? Anybody to work with you at all, even just for load-in? Are you expected to handle anything else (houselights, projections, sound, set stuff, anything like that)?
What's your budget? Try to get a specific figure, and avoid the "Well, what do you need?" question (the appropriate response is "About nine million dollars, to do it right.").
Where is the show happening? Usually a simple question, but can sometimes be trickier than you expect.
What's the load-in schedule? You might not need specific, hour-by-hour breakdowns quite yet, but you should be very, very concerned if the producer doesn't even know when you can start working in the space. Trying to load a show in, even a small one, in less than a day is no fun at all.
Who else is on staff? Any decent producer should come out with a full staff list, including contact information. You never know who you need to get in touch with, and when, so ask for this early.

Researching The Show

The next big phase is finding out what the show is all about. This information comes partly from you, and partly from the rest of the production staff. The length and complexity of "design meetings" with the rest of the staff will depend a lot on the size of the show; small shows you may meet once with the producer, larger shows may have several multi-hour design meetings.

What type of show is it? Drama, cabaret, musical, coffeehouse, dance show, fashion show, whatever, nail this down so you know what the heck you are trying to accomplish.
Is there anything specific the director/design staff wants? Again, depending on the complexity of the show, this will vary a lot. On big shows, the director may want lots of specific effects, equipment, themes, looks, ideas, etc. On smaller shows, she may say "Just make sure we can see them".
What's the space like? Ideally, go visit the space. If you can, get plans (see Space Information). Get a feel for what the space is like, and see if it causes any concerns (are the windows masked, or will you have to deal with streetlight shining in? Does the space/equipment look like it's in good repair, or will you have to deal with some bad units? Are there wierd structures blocking sight/lighting lines? etc)
Get a set plan or at least a description. If there's any sort of set or even a stage, this will make a major difference in your design. If you set up all your lights, and only then discover that there's a 8' high stage being put in place, you're probably screwed.

This research phase will be a continuing process, as plans for the show evolve. Make sure you keep abreast of significant developments.

Designing The Show

OK, so now you should have some idea what you are expected to do, what the show is going to be like, and what resources you have available. It's time to start thinking about how you're going to light the show. Again, try to do this well in advance; it's sometimes possible to make things up on the fly, but I don't recommend it. You'll need to know your lighting inventory before you start thinking about these things (although, budget allowing, you can always rent some more units); you'll also need to know something about the available hang positions and how much total power/dimming you have available (see the ME doc for details on figuring this sort of thing out).

Your first concern is visibility. That's sort of the point, really. Basically, you need to make sure that the things that the audience is supposed to see, they can see. The logical counterpoint is to hide the things that they aren't supposed to see (sometimes, this isn't possible (see streetlight, above), and it usually looks bad if you attempt to hide things, and fail). It's also distracting if the light you throw onto the action comes from wierd angles or casts odd shadows. So, as a first cut, plan your lighting so that it illuminates without distracting. In the absolute worst case scenario, you can throw up a bunch of frontlights, turn them on at the beginning of the show, and turn them off when you're done.

If you have more time/money/resources, think about coloring some of your lights to make life more interesting (gel swatchbooks are available from Alan Symonds or High Output). You can just use some light colors to warm them up or cool them down, or you can use deep reds, blues, purples, etc to really add color. Just make sure you don't sacrifice visibility! You also want to check and make sure that your color mixing won't produce some gawdawful mess onstage, so be flexible.

Rules of thumb:

Standard gel sheet is something like 22"x24"
Standard ERS (Altman or Leko) units, 6" Fresnel: 7.5"x7.5" gel cut, e.g. 6 cuts per sheet of gel.
PAR64 and 8"Fresnel: 10"x10" gel cut, e.g. 4 cuts per sheet.
Source 4 ERS units: 6.25"x6.25" cut, e.g. 9 cuts per sheet.
Striplights, etc: Vary widely; get out the ruler!

More advanced designs use what are called "systems" or "washes", e.g. sets of lights that work in parallel so that the actors don't seem to step from one pool of light to another (at least, for scenes where you don't want that). Again, resources allowing, think about setting up systems to make your design more seamless and interesting. The basic idea is to break the stage up into areas, and then assign a single unit to light each area from a fixed direction (relative to the center of the area). The end result is a set of lights all aimed parallel to each other, gelled the same color. As the actor steps from one lighting area to another, they move from one beam to another. If the units are overlapped correctly, one light takes effect as the other drops off, and no one notices that the lights are different units. Usually, the areas are individually controllable, so you can highlight various parts of the stage.

Rules of thumb:

Break the stage up into areas, based on where action is likely to take place. A typical area is usually something like 8' across.
Which lights you use to light the areas depends on where the hanging positions are. ERS units are typically used from the front (they can be shuttered off of scenery and the like), and fresnels from the back or top. See the table below for typical throw distances (you'll need to calculate these or go estimate them). Throw distances are calculated from the beam angle, but the light continues outside this region. The light outside this region (the field angle) is what overlaps with the next region and creates a seamless wash.
For washes that don't need to be tightly constrained to areas (e.g. where you are washing a large part of the stage and don't need to separate the units into areas), you can use wider beams and just throw color out there. PAR cans are good for this sort of thing.
Typical dramas use something roughly analogous to the "McCandless Method", e.g. something like frontlight at 45° up and 45° to the side (relative to a person facing straight downstage), usually using ERS units; and then toplight straight down from above (Fresnels).
Dance often uses "sidelight", e.g. light that comes from 90° to the side (from either side of the stage). Booms (freestanding vertical pipes in a heavy base) are often used to get the units close to the ground, so the dancer's forms can be highlighted.
Using good colors is critical in washes. For the most part, you want your opposing systems to use colors that add up to white, e.g. usually one warm and one cool. This will look most natural when the light mixes on the actors. But, of course, you can play with this to achieve any effect you want.

Table of typical throw distances for ERS units (you should be able to interpolate other unit sizes fairly easily):

Designation Beam angle Throw to 8' circle (beam angle) Field angle Actual size of field at that distance

4½x6 22° 21' 55° 22'

6x9 16° 29' 37° 20'

6x12 11° 42' 26° 19.5'

6x16 8.5° 54' 19° 18'

Other advanced things you can try is to use things like gobos to throw patterns on stage; fog machines, strobes, and other effects; moving lights; larger and more complex washes and systems, etc.

Paperwork

For most shows that aren't extremely small, you'll have help when you set up the lights. For this reason, and also just so you yourself can keep track of things, you should produce some paperwork to refer to. This should include, at the very least:

A plot: this can be just as sketch, but should indicate the space, the hanging positions, and where on the hanging positions units should be placed (and which type of unit it is). Typically, measurements are based off of the centerline of the stage/space, and the plasterline (proscenium line). If these don't exist, start from one corner of the room, or the center of the pipe, or something. Also, place your lights at 1'6" intervals, if possible. This makes hanging and focussing easier. Where you deviate from this, mark so clearly. Number each unit starting from one end of each pipe. Also indicate accessories, color, etc. Some example plots are available on this website.
A patch sheet: this just indicates which lights are plugged into which dimmers, and if necessary, which dimmers are patched into which channels. Usually, some indication of function (e.g. which wash the unit is a part of) is indicated.
A magic sheet: this is just a quick and dirty sketch of the space, indicating which washes are coming from where, and what channels they consist of. Use this as a reference when writing cues.

Renting and Buying

Assuming you actually have money, you now need to know where to spend it. There are several good rental/sales houses listed on this website; Alan Symonds is a good guy to ask for where to get odd things.

At some point after you have finalized your design, or at least can estimate what you need, you should come up with a list of items you need to rent. You should contact the rental house at least a week before you load in, three weeks before is better. I know of several shows that waited too long and called, only to find that nothing was available.

The rental place will deliver, but you should have someone around to accept the delivery. Alternatively, you can save some money and pick the stuff up in someone's car, if it's not too much. If you know what gels/gobos/other consumables you need, you can get them at the same time, from the same place.

It is absolutely critical that you keep track of your rental units. Quite often, you won't use some pieces of the rental, maybe you don't need the safety chains or C-clamps or something. Put these pieces in a safe place, and make sure they make it back to the rental house!!! Some of that stuff is really expensive when you're forced to buy it.

Load-in

In all likelihood, you'll be tapped to show up at load-in. In your official capacity as lighting designer, it's not strictly necessary for you to go, but on the other hand, you're not a professional with pro-quality paperwork yet, so your crew will likely need your input to figure out how to hang your show. So go to load-in, bring a wrench, and get to work. Make sure that all the lighting units get put in the right places, that they're hung right-side-up, are secure (some folks seem to think C-clamps are fragile, or something), are safetychained, are plugged in and operational. If you make sure of all this, you're doing better than 90% of the shows out there.

Before you actually get to load-in, you should make absolutely sure that the schedule is laid out for load-in and the days following. You'll need time for the setup of lights; this can usually happen in conjunction with other load-in stuff. But you'll also need time to focus, which usually requires quiet and darkness, and then to write cues, same deal. You should also specify some time after each tech rehearsal to touch up your cues. And finally, make sure that you'll have crew available to help you at the times you set.

Focus

If load-in went well, all the lights are set up and functional. It's now time to actually start implementing your master plan of world domination. But for now, let's see how to focus lights.

The basic idea here is to point the light in the right direction. Seems easy, but in fact it's critical to do it right (assuming ERS units, to start):

Start by marking out your acting areas, if you have them. Then go stand where the actors will stand; if you have several acting areas, you should stand dead-center in it.
Turn on the lights associated with that area, and have the focussers point the light at the back of your head (you should look away for this part). Look at your shadow on the ground, and make sure that the light is indeed centered on your head. Have the crewperson lock the unit down.
Step out of the light, and have the crewperson use the shutters to cut the beam off of scenery, audience, etc as necessary. Make sure you haven't accidentally cut too much off so the action won't be visible.
If you aren't using frost, have the crewperson drop the barrel so the beam gets a little fuzzy. Then have them drop color, attach the safety chain, and move on.

Each unit is a little different, so other things apply. For instance, you can change the size of the beam for a fresnel; your areas should probably overlap a bit when you do this. PAR cans have an oval beam; have the crewperson rotate the lamp until the light fills the area appropriately.

Focussing well takes some time to learn, so expect to refocus a couple times on your first few shows. I often end up touching up the focus myself later in the process, as set pieces get moved around, lights shift or get bumped, etc.

Writing Cues

Once the show is at least roughly focussed, move on to writing cues. Even if you don't have a fancy computer lightboard, it will be helpful to bring up the lights for each scene and write down what the settings are. Spend some time playing with the lights until you have a feel for what they look like, and then plunge into the show. Ideally, you'll have someone onstage so you can see what the lights will look like on people. I tend to go through the show linearly, writing some simple cues for each scene, and making sure I get all the blackouts and all that in the right places. Then I might go back and add more subtle fades and shifts once I have the show roughed out. You, of course, can follow any method you like, but make sure that you have the whole show at least roughly done by the time you start to do tech rehearsals.

Tech Rehearsals

The stress level of tech rehearsals is proportional to the size and complexity of the show. For simple shows, you might have only one runthrough, but for larger shows you will have several. You should spend this time refining the setup of your lighting units, their focus, and the cues you have written. Expect to spend a lot of time in the theater during this period, and make sure you get everything done by the time the show opens!

Strike

Once again, the LD has no official role at strike, although you'll be tapped to come and help. Most critically, you'll need to make sure that any rental units get set aside and eventually returned to the rental house (they tend to not want to rent to designers that don't care about returning the equipment). Don't forget to thank your crew and the rest of the people you worked with, even if you secretly harbor the desire to kill the director in his sleep.

Summary

I hope this quick summary will get you through your first few shows. I encourage you to do some more reading on this website or in some of the other books listed; I also encourage you to help out with other shows and learn as much about the tech and other design aspects as you can. Eventually, you should be able to handle huge shows like the mainstage, which require managing large crews and weeks of effort to set up. Good luck with your light designs!