unt 4. Tye Museo BUC 8 sre Ve oY Bush Nou ‘Ont, 2003 Leki HEAITO, ew As Rous, cst, eck Pao, one Co Blt, POGted st ENO Describing and controlling light ‘A designer of performance lighting should be able to tolkaboutlightin the context ofthe production withthe ‘other members of bath he creative team and the team that wl else the lighting design I can be hard to esc ight and therefore hard to aiscuss but is nat impossible. Having the words to aiscuss light is clearly important for anyone wishing tobe involved in lighting for performance, | would argue that this includes directors, choreographers, and designers of setand costume as wellas lighting people, Often itis up to the lighting people te provide the basic ofthat an _Buage, just asthe choreographer wil provide the basic language fora discussien about dance and the musica iector fora discussion about musi. Cleary any dis cussion ofa specialist espect of performance among a team including non-specialists will use mate general language than a discussion between specialist. Dancers use specialist terms when talking about dance to.each other that most non-dancers do nat fully under. stand. The same is true for musicians talking about ‘music and fr ighting people talking about performance lighting ‘Specialist practtione's lean specialist terms as they train (ether formally or informally) and these can be Intimidating to the outsiter. Lighting designers working in tive performance often need to develop two ways of talking about their specialist subject — the specialist language t0 be used amongst fellow lighting prac titoners and a more general language to be used with ‘other members ofthe ceative team, We have already ‘ome across some specialist terms and some ways to talk about light in more general language. Ths chapter Introduces some more examples of both types of language, once again highlighting how important con ‘munication skis are toa lighting designer. The fundamental physical properties of light cannot be altered, they underpin al discussion, However, as we look at fight for performance in more detal, it wil become clear that there are matters relating to the 45performance Ughting design constraints of most performance situations and the ‘workings of human visual perception that must aso be taken into account Intensity, location, colour, beam and time The properties of performance light at any single moment fall relatively easily into four interrelated categories. Intensity ~ a measure of how much ight fs present Location ofthe beam In 30 space — where the light comes from and what it hits and iluminates on the way to ts target, hw istrikes the target, and what happens afterwards, especially in terms of shadows cast and other things Mluminated. n the VarPLite™ traction, this refered to as focus, but the property should not tobe confused withthe sharpness or softness of image. Colour — well we know what that I, don't we? Coloured lights usually the resut of fiterng some colours out af white ight, Diferent lamps produce different ‘whites’, and the white light of nature is actually different colours at different mes of day and yea, and in diferent places onthe earth ‘Beam — including edge, pattern across the beam, and Light quality ofthe beam. The main diference between the output of different fitute types can often be described in terms of beam. For example, conventional profile fixture has a ‘la’ beam with ‘sharp’ edges Le. theres relatively even intensity across the beam and at the edge the intensity drops off very quickly In contrast the beam of conventional Fresnel ature i "peak" with a soft edge Le. the Intensity drops more a ess continu ‘ously from the central ‘hot-spat' tothe indefinite edge of the beam. A conventional PC fixture has a beam some- wherein between these two, flatter than that from most ‘modem Fresnel fixtures but witha less well defined edge than the beam from a profile fixture. 46 These are the same categories mentioned in the section an moving light, and this Is not a coincidence, but itshould be understood that this s only one way to ‘think about the properties of light. It is current in part because thatishow many moving ight desks, and those Who use them, work, and so it will give us a common language with which to describe the light from conven: tional lantems and fom moving lights. ‘Time — the everpresent ith element of performance lighting: on stage, asin nature, ight changes over time, Very few ive productions keep the same lighting state throughout the perfrmance, and even if they dd, for reasons to do with she way human eye/brain channel ‘works, the audience perception of the light may well change overtime anyway. Time affects each ofthe other properties — human perception seems to be largely, based on an abilty to recognise changes, and changes happen overtime. I: also has Its own discrete role to playin the creation of performance lighting on stageand ‘we wll come back totime frequently in est of the book, Intensity Intensity isa measure of how much of ight is present. We know that forthe audience to see anything there must be Some tight present. For performance lighting what we are usualy interested in is how much ight is bouncing off things and avalible to enter the eye ofthe audience member or go down the lens tube of a camera. In the met system, we measure intensity in Lux, the umber of tux giving the intensity fight at a particular pont. Lunens, the unit most usually quoted forluminates and pojectors, is the total ight output at the source. Since the beam from most sources spreads ‘out ast gets furthe: away fom it rgin the intensity flls off to, and so an intensty measurement for a single source will decrease the further away you are from the source ‘Many cameras alow the user to measure relative intensity using the light meter within the camera, but anSci, ave bea ae Theory ateere eth ste 8 tee mf an ‘rom the tage soe & ‘The lar of eam vc he te of etn he tes of bam 84 tines the ten nk (een proprtoal toe sqare a the amet ch — Pages ley easiee afte ance f teat ‘apared tobea yh he inbeam 8c ver 4 Tis te tee eau Ai ines ‘ery nba 8 Incident light meter will provide an absolute reading in lux or Foot Candles which can be essential when ‘working with video or film cameras. It Is nat commen practice to measure intensity on stage for lve perform: ance, unless cameras are involved, when contrast must be more strictly controlled, Generally people ean tol: erate much greater dliferences in intensity with the visual fed than cameras. ight meter can, however, be a useful tool for raining your eye to spot relatively small. changes in intensity, establishing an idea of what is acceptable contrast between, for example, foreground and background and in gaining an understanding of how much light is ‘im’ or ‘right in a particular situ ation.* Do not be afraid to use one if you think it will help you. describing performance lighting Humans can cope with an incredible range of light intensity, from 109,000 Lux of a snow field on a clear bright day to 0.00005 lux of starlight. Unlike cameras, humans perceive relative intensity not absolute inten sity. We reference intensity to what has gone before, and it takes some time for our eyes to become accus- tomed to radically diferent levels of Intensity. If you went quickly from the 100,000 Lux snow field nto @ nor- mally room, at say 320 Lux, you would perceive the room to be very dark. Ion the other hand, you came Into the room from a moonless start night, you would Perceive it to be painfuly bright. tis said that after 99 ‘minutes under starigh: the visual perception adjusts sufficiently to make it possible to read! Although we can operate in this huge range of light Intensity, we cant see dealin object of very different intensities atthe same ime. Our visual perception will attempt to set its sensitivity to the average intensity level of what we are locking at This isnot the same as the average intensity level of the whole visual elds we ‘an clearly see a bright image in an otherwise dark visual field, even If that image makes up only a small Proportion ofthe total visual fel, as is often the case when we wateh a stage show from the back ofa large theatre, or a rock show from the back of a sports stadium. Within the aree of audience focus, we need to contrl the relative intersity that i the contrast Intensity: glare, distraction and alvecting audience atention Although we can cope with 2 wide range of intensity Within the visual fel, ifthere are particularly high con- trast areas, especialy the very bright area appears smallin the visual field, creates discomfort, The effect, Is known as glare and nost people will have experi= fenced it at some time or another — looking into low sunlight or very bright car headlights on a dark oad. In extreme cases glare can cause physical pain but more ‘often its ust unpleasant and reduces visual acuity — ‘ean als be useful fo balancing the intense of flow spots, when my ntl deny les canbe placed nthe Beams of he vighter us ut alintenstes are the same which ull wha we want st to sta ith 47performance ighting design not usually helpfulto the lighting practitioner. Glare can result from any numberof sources in the performance environment, rom lanterns shining into the eyes ofthe audience, elther Intentionally or unintentionally, fom highly reflective surfaces on the set or costume catching the light, or from extraneous light sources, such as the gap between the colour frame and the lantern on some units (oartcularly PAR cans) or from poorly implemented emergency lighting, The attentive lighting practitioner, whether designer or nat, wil endeavour to eliminate all unintentional sources of sare. ‘Our visual systems have evolved witha good abilty to see detail in the centre of the visual field, and a refined ability to detect movement at the perighery of ‘ur vision? a reason for dimming the house lights, and Lighting the stage. Everything else being equal, we use the part of ur vision most able to see detail to examine the brightest par ofthe visual field The focus of visual attention is normally directed to where itis brightest so long as the contrast isnot so great that iterates glare. This makes the ability to selectively control intensity hugely important in performance lighting design. We can use selective control a intensity to cect attention within the performance area, to point the attention of theaudience towards the particular area ofthe stage we want them to focus on. The technique of directing the spectators attention by using selective intensity Is extensively used inthe field of ine at, notably by some ofthe old masters of painting. Look at Renaissance paintings of interiors forthe way in which the masters handle the depiction of light and shadow, and use it to raw attention tothe main subject, and then to broaden the attention of the spectator into the surrounding shadows. fig changes in ntensty can leave the audience ‘almost blind for several moments, or sometimes longer, hile their eyes readjust to the new level of illumi- nation Our attention may be directed by even relatively small increases in relative intensity, though at the same time as we have said, we are easly distracted by even relatively low points ofilumination atthe edge ofthe visual fed, especialy so wien the point is not constant — either physical movement or flickering Intensity for example It follows that performance lighting needs to be con- cetned with contro. of relative intensity across the performance area, and the elimination of distractions in the visual fel ofthe audience, both within individual scenes and from scene to scene through the perform Intensity as a signifier Innature, we take many signals fom the intensity ofthe light surrounding us. For example, we are used tonight being darker than day outside and the reverse inside For anybody who has spent some time in the open alt, ‘there will be many more signals, the darkening that heralds a storm, the brightness of mid-day against the lower intensity of eariy morning light, the bright inten sity of direct sunlight in an open space or more difused daylight reflected from many tall buildings in a city’s financial district, oF though trees in a forest. Inside bullings, light intensity gives other signals. In many bars, relatively low intensity light is replaced by bright Uight atthe end ofthe evening, signalling closing time. Lower intensity ligh: can be seen as romantic in some settings or as threatening in others. High Intensity can be used to help skify clean and efficent in some public spaces, or cld and uncompromising in others, "this ssl to have been evltonry weft our distant ancestors, bth when tng and when being attacked, Whatever the eo lutenary arg, every unheu when members of he usince are strated he expels of anushestrein theme ‘ofan ingotant speach Fom th stage compares a mast camera tchralages humans are abl tlre altel high ee of eta thin ou vs el Tae ook. at shadows aginst aright sky onthe screen of most dtl aera, an your ee wl sent detain the shadow han the carers 48‘Think about the way intensity is used in fast food cutlets and romantic restaurants. What often gives the major clue to change of time, place or location on stages intensity. When resources are in short supply (and often even when they ate nat inten: sily may have to carry most ofthe signification oftime and place, and of mood. In each ofthese examples (and inthe ‘many more'm sure you canthinkof there are other prop- erties of the light that change along with te intensity — thecolouroflightatrightisdifeenttothatinthe daytime, the shadows are strong in ditect sunlight and weak or absent in defuse reflected ight — the properties of ight are interconnected, in the natural world and in perform ance, yet Intensity remains perhaps the strongest single signifier avaiable othe performance lighting designer. By controlling relative intensity throughout the per: formance thelightingdesignercanusethe simple ideaof the indexical sign (See the appendix on semiatics for more on indexical sign), pointing the audlence towards wiatisimportant onthe stage. They canuse variationsin Iensityacrossthestageto signify something about how one area relates to other areas, Intensity can be varied throughtime,andso.can beusedto signify changesinthe Felationships between different spaces or changes inthe space as a whole; changes in stage time or locaton. It also follows tht selective use of intensity can define the sizeof the performance space at any paticulat moment. ‘To achieve many ofthese effects we need tobe able to separately control the intensity of ight in diferent ateas of the performance space. One af the most ‘important decisions to be made in the evolution of a lighting design concerns the number and shape of these separate areas, and how many areas wil be illuminated at each point ofthe performance. Focus — the location of light in space intensity is about the quantity of light, focus in this context, is about which part or parts of the stage the light hits, and the ciection from which the ight comes. scribing performance lighting There are two distinct parts to this property. The more apparent is usually defined as the angle of incidence and has an effect on our perception of objects illumi: hated on or near the performance space. The angle of incidence of a beam of ight on a target abject oper former descibes the relationship between the diection {om which ight comes and the erection from which the audience is observing, ‘The second part wlll the throw. This is todo with Wwiere the light originates and the path It takes to the stage — with the path ketween the source ofthe light and its destination. Angle of incidence Lit objects create shadows, and in nature it is often these shadows that give us the best visual clues as to ‘the word focus is sen several eiferet ways in perfomance ligng As well asthe present cot, it canbe used odes the se shape and ede quality ofthe beam From 3 luminal andthe plo stage intended tobe he centre of auionce attentionperformance ight Imag Tolantern time of day, location, and to the three dimensionality of the people and objects we see, Where those shadows fal their size and shape depend on the objet, where the light is coming from, and the positon of the spec- tator. These last two define the angle of incidence. Although frequently constrained by the architecture of, the performance space, the angle of incidence of the beam to the performance area will ordinarily be the most important consideration when the lighting designer comes to decide where each lantern should hang. Conventionally, when performance lighting prac titioners talk about angles, they refer to the angle of Incidence toa performer facing straight out towards the contre of the audience. There are two angles involved: the angle of elevation, taken from the plane of the ‘stage, whichis assumed for these purposes to be flat, ‘and the angle the performer would need to turn from looking out to cente, in order to face the lighting pos ition High or steep angles are close to directly ‘overhead and ow or shallow angles ae close to or even below the eye tine ofan upright performer. Up light as orsonest Aaa fr) centre tine should sy that few practioner gt out eaubment for measuring anges in these discuss, and any anes meron re ough spprasinatons.describing performance lighting its name suggests is ftom well below the performer's feelin, for example fotlights. Back ight comes from behind the performer (80 degrees or a tum for the performer, side or eros light from the side (ge degrees oray4tum in either die:tion) and tp light from directly above. All these tems can be madified or combined to escribe different lighing positions relative to the subject or to the performance area. For example, a steep backlight fora performer would be ina direction roughly behind their eat above them, and further away vertically than horizontally (se dlagra. ‘low cross light could be tothe performers left or Fight sie, it would probably be below waist level, and may be pointing slight up. This postion has a special awe name in dance lighting where 1s called a shin buster because ofthe potentia hazard the lantern becomes to Low arses from the legs of those working onthe stage, below performer mb Tne Its clear thatthe part of the beam that does not strike the performer continues past that illuminated performer and lights up the stage floor or the set or watever ese is inthe beam ofthe lantern Light from any angle of incidence oher than directy above the pe en former, iluminates a lager area of stage floor than the Cnty pertormar Bs uly rom Nee ote by ts lantern. Performer standing nthe centre of re Beam ‘stage sn fom the wat up and the face and Upper boy of parforner are eventhough ther fet ar cutie ths beam onthe age a A eye 6 Te etc eo tm oF UTS HT NOUN NETH FH POL 51eee et pefoxmance lighting design area useable by a performer (ee igure 8). The steeper the angle, the smaller the iluminated area ar stage oar or set, the less spill outside the usefull illuminated area, Steep angles provide more tightly defined areas, which in tun gives the lighting designer a better oppor: tunity to use selective intensity to guide the attention of the audlence. However, steep anges often don illumi nate the performers’ eyes — the performers’ brow creates shadows that stop th light getting tothe eyes. ‘compromise must be made between the steep angle that gives well-defined areas for selective ilumination ‘and superior modeling, and the shallower angles that get light into eyes and under noses, helping the audi- lence to see the facil expression ofthe performers more clearly, but tending to flatten the stage pictur, illum nate parts of the stage floor ané set that we would prefer to leave unlit, or create potentially distracting shadows. All these positions assume we are ina more or less traditional proscenium theatre space, or atleast that the audience has more or less the same end on view of the performance area, Ifthe performance space Is not laid out like this, the description of lighting angles gets a litle more complicated. For example, if the audience surrounds the stage, for a performance in the round, frat light on the performers for some of the audience, is back light for others, and side light for the rest! Front light (On the lef, ighting student Jenny is it by % font light, warm fom stage right, cool from stage left 52 ‘The combination helas to model her face. (The effect of the coloured light on her face Is somewhat exag: {erated by a camen, In lve performance, our eyes ‘are more willing t2 accept small deviations from white) ‘On the right, Jenn sit witha steep front ight and a soft back light, This combination increases the Impression of depth and of the figure having three imensions in space, but the steep front light tends to hide her eyes. Straight on font lighting Some of the fits igting postions installed for elec tele stage luminalres were on the font of the circles and galleries of the 19th century play-houses. This is ‘4 good position from which to give a more or less natural look on the faces, but It does litle to model the body, As original installed in most theatres, light from these circle font positions complemented the foot light, which had until then worked almost alone to light the performers. Light from above the heads of the performers heps audiences to see the per formers’ eyes and mouths clear, so long as the angle is nat too steep. If front light is fom too shallow an angle, it can lead to large distracting shadows on the se. Shallow front light used in iso lation tends to fatten the stage picture. Used in ‘moderation with the fine attention to detail of, say rmult-awardwinnrg UK lighting designer Marke Henderson, low angled front ight “Is facial features just enough to allan the audience to see eyes and mouth in an othenise steeply focused, very area specific tig, Three-quarter front ight or gallery booms ‘Many 19th century theates in the UK and elsewhere have had adaptations built into the ends of the top gallery seating area (or the gallery boxes in traditional play houses) to tike theate lantems. Almost all proscenium theatres with electric light for the stage have been designed to accommodate these lighting positions. The ideal positon is considered to be about ‘5 degrees up from horizontal and about 45 degrees to either side of the centre line ofthe stage and the auFat 8. Ts sb ove rok we He oc torium2 For much of the 2oth century, this is where front ight for performers’ faces came from, and or very 00d reasons. Light from this direction provides good llumination of the pecfrmers’ faces and a degree of ‘modelling, s0 its good for achieving visual acuity. For lighting a performance staged behind the frame of a proscenium, it fs as near to perfect as can narmally be achieved. However, once the area of performance is pushed through the frame of the proscenium, we begin tw have a problem. How do we light the performers at the down stage edge without breaking the illusion of the proscenium frame by illuminating that as well? Another problem with font ight ishow to continue it further up stage. Ona proscenium stage, the header, hich comprises the top part of the proscenium fame, els in the way of using % front light positions from ‘many gallery box booms further up stage. Even when a deeees half ght ar. the scribing performance lighting the header is notin the way, the angle becomes less steep the further up stage the light Is focused, and so the ‘spill pool gets bigger and the performers’ shadows agetlonger. theresa back wallor an upstage area that should be dar, this slution will not wark. Finding pos Itions for front light lanterns over stage can be difficult, especially so in theatres with alot of flown scenery. The German Wadition has addressed this problem well and most arge proscenium theatres there have a structure of perches and a bridge behind the Droscenium to provide a comprehensive selection of Higng positions. Breaking away from the ¥é front system to light up stage areas can make matching the eel ofthe lighting up stage and down stage ficult, giving the impression that we have two different worlds on stage — one world down stage with a % font light look, and anather up stage wth a diferent loak. tis better to try to find aso: Uti that allows for some rigging pasitons for font light over the stage if the intention of the production is toattempt to show a untied space over the whole depth ofthe stage ‘One further problem with front light on relatively small performance spaces isthe increased size across ene 9 he sow ot TH SUSE ODN GSO OF TE ees tn one Sis ates, eT OE Re, RES 53performance lighting design 7 stage of the “spill poo” compared to straight in front light (ee fig. 9). This can make It harder to define sep- arate areas ofthe stage across its width, just as straight in front ight can make It hard to separate up stage and down stage areas. So for conventional fron lighting postion, there is rarely an ideal solution that successhily solves all the problems set by an evolving performance lighting design, Pethaps this explains the frequent use of fllow spots for larger-scale performance. The wellplaced, ‘well operated follow spot can be used to subtly lift key faces out of steep area lighting. This fs @ common tec ‘ique in opera and for ve music concerts, where the primary role of the lighting is often to make a statement ‘and to light the sometimes grandiose set. n ballet, the primary ole ofthe lighting is usually to emphasise the physicality of the dancers (he Faces of chorus are less Important) and here follow spots are frequently used to highlight the principal dancers. Light rom below the performer's eye-line With the arrival of focusable electric light forthe stage, ‘mast theatres threw out fooligts for the ‘unnatural’ shadows they created and the barrier they made between performer and audience. However, many lighting designers have now re-introduced ight from the dwn stage edge of stage, though usually inthe form of mall single units rather than the obtrusive Nleats* of ‘old, Light fom this position has proved very useful. It can create unnatural shadows, which may be an inten ional effect. t can also get light into the performers? eyes in otherwise difficult situations, such as when wide brimmed hatsare worn onstage, or when theavall- able positions for front ight al result in steep angles. Light rom the sides Side or cross lighting emphasises angularty and is ‘4004 for modelling the body. Ithelps the audience's per- ception of depth. Coss light can be used to create strong shadows on the body, emphasising physicality, especially useful when lighting dance. To further temphasise the bocy, complementary colours can be used inthe eross ligt from each side of stage, Low level cross lighting is very often arranged to cast no shadow ofthe performer on the stage (the shin busters men- tioned above). For most classical ballet, the stage Is arranged with wing Mats, set to hide both the source of the cross light (igged on vertical pipes or towers called booms) and to contain the shadows ofthe performers. ‘On an open performance area the shadows from cross light can become a distraction, especially with low side Tight when the shadows are over lif size, but the effect can also be used selectively tothe advantage of the per formance. Perhaps more than any other genre of lve perfor ance, ballet, and toa lesser extent dance in general, has set of rules conce-ing position and focus of lantems. ‘There is a requirement to produce ligt that shows the ‘tothe st and gt centuries, Rass was the ame sven fot es consisting of wks ating ina trough fol ater lective sion relaced the wicks witha row of incandescent amps iia fo the ones in common domesticus today. Bath types fa & feflctor cur glare guadperaps acorn hgh mounted behind he blo Fame, which eectiely cut off ay Wew of performers et Formuch ofthe audience 54physicality ofthe dancers to best advantage over the wile stage, and fo do this an arrangement of side or ‘105s lights has developed and has become almost uni versal. Anyone wishing to practice lighting for this genre needs to understand how and why this system wots. ‘The diagram gives an idea ofthe focus, but asin other areas of performance lighting, there sno substitute for hhands on practice. ‘When wing flats are not availabe to mask booms and extraneous shadows, and sometimes even when they are, many designers use high ctoss light to provide ‘modeling, and sometimes to introduce coloured light. In music theatre, iis common to see pales of lanterns Figged atthe end ofthe lighting bar and pointing more ‘orless actoss stage. These ae refered toas pipe ends.? This position can be especially useful when there are a lot of bodies on stage, for example the large chorus of an opera or a musical, where light from lanterns rigged scribing performance lighting Mids: focus to hie the body but ot the stage where the ‘audience can setie Shin-Busters Focus lust off the Stage floor ‘rst. Tw acu OF HE OME UT OA CE BOOM HELIS TO OOEL 1H PEVERESSEODY WILE KEG UST OFF THE STAGE O08, lower down on booms would be blocked bythe frst one ‘or two performers on each side of stage. Paule Constable and Oavid Hersey, among. others, make extensive use of cross light outside the dance gent. Inconfdent hands, it becomes a toa to allow the Lighting designer to develop painterly scenes, where the ‘main intensity comes from the side producing an effect close to the chiaroscuro of Dutch and italian Renaissance painting. The shadows are delicately filed with just enough light to provide an appropriate level of visual acuity, enabling the audience to see facial fea: tures. This Kind of work cannot be accomplished without a significant level of co-operation between per- former, director and lighing designer, Top light or down tight Top light makes the figure seem more massive, creates ‘very short shadows, and can often seem to shorten the 55performance lighting design body, When the lantern ae too close tothe performers, it can make the tp ofa performers head the brightest part of the stage, which is not usually helpful. When there Is enough height between performers and lumi naires itis a good position fram which toad colour to the stage, and especialy to shadows onthe stage lor. ‘Shadows are created when a part ofthe beam of a dominant ight source is blacked by a person or abject. This often means that the light from less intense sources is more evident in shadows, and when that ight Is coloured, the shadows take on that colou Top light is frequently used to colour the stage floor itself Very often in musical theatre, a coloured top light wash Is faded up slightly ahead of the rest of the lighting for the scene, presenting a mace saturated colour to the audience fora few moments before the rest ofthe light dilutes the effect. Top light can also be used to add intensity to a scene ‘without substantaly changing the balance of face light, bout again this effect needs to be used with care, some of the audience cannot see the stage flor the effect could be substantially different for them. IIs possible that sources of glare willbe introduced for audience members who an see the floor, especially ifthe floor highly polished and therefore very reflective. Such ait ferences in audience experience for diferent sections of audiences not limited tothe use of top light, or evento lighting effects, Conscientious members of the creative team will usually ty to See the performance from as ‘many different audience positions as possible to dis cover such aferences Tight pools of top light are often used as specials. In smaller performance spaces, it is sometimes only necessary to have the performer look up slightly to provide sufficient ilumination for visual aculty Sometimes itis possiole to cheat and ig the special unit slightly down stage ofthe performer's position, or use the performers costume to bounce light into their eyes. ‘Sometimes we can use the ight reflected frm the floor 0 fill the shadows just enough. More often, if it is appropiate to see the face, a low intensity, secondary source will be needed, and this could pethaps come from a foot light positon. Using a top light minimises the spi required to create an area of useful illum: nation, and s0 is ieel for some kinds of special Top light is of limited use in concert lighting in sports arenas of open air festivals, Most of the audience cannot see the floor and the structural effect of beams is less pronounced with top light than with back light. For classical concerts, however, top light can be used to 56Huminate the music and the instruments with the minimum of glare and extraneous shadow, good for both the players and the audience. Bock tight Light from the sie of a performer or from immediately ‘above a performer has some impact an the audience's ablity to see the facial features ofthe performer. Light from behind the body ofa performer facing the auc ‘ence clearly does nothing to illuminate that performer's face, so why i it considered so important by almost all performance lighting designers? What back light does for performance ightng design isto further emphasise the three dimensional physicality of both the per- formers and the performance space. Back light, by lMminating. the edges of performers. and objects, especialy curved objects with hairy edges (such as the head of a performer) helps the spectator to perceive depth inthe individual objects and separation between objects and background. Human stereoscopic vision only works over a rela tively short distance. In large spaces, we need help to ‘work out the relative distance tothe various objects in ‘ur Feld of view. Because of this back light 1s an Important tool for the performance lighting designer, especialy in large performance spaces, such as the sports arenas and festival sites where rack and pop acts perform. Live concert lighting rigs are often dominated by backlight sources. Standard video and film cameras, having only one ‘ye’, have no stereoscopic vision, and cotten back ight provides the only visual cue separating performer from background, Just back light on a performer can help to produce very dramatic effects, perhaps because the presence of the body is emphasised without giving the audience sight ofthe face — there can be na direct reading ofthe face so suggestion can be used to full effect. Concert lighting, especialy for rock music, makes huge use of these effects, concentrating attention on shapes on stage rather than deals Whenever there is dust or smoke in the alr above stage, backlight reveals itself, an effect more concerned With throw than angle of incidence, bt important never theless. dese ing performance lighting Using angle of incidence [Angles of incidence can be used to help enhance mood ‘and atmosphere. For example, shadows produced by light from directions not normally found In nature draw attention to themselves and can signify the supesnat ural or dreams, The long shadows cast by lanterns ator below performer eyesine can be very atmospheric, as can strong backlighting. Astrong single soure, suchas the large discharge Fresnels favoured by many opera lighting. designers, can create massive scenagraphic Statements almost on thei own, and getting these units in just the right place cen be the key to success in this type of design work. ‘More often, changes in angle, causing changes in where shadows fall and In shadow length, are used to signify changes in tine of day or season, The light cof dawn and sunset cones from close to the horizan and produces long shadows, while the ight of mid day produces short stadows. The problem here is that very often urban dwellers don't notice these things, so the sign mey not be widely read by the aueience. Each diferent diecton of illumination can provide a diferent sign, or set 0° signs, to the audlence, con cerning the physicality ofthe actor/character, and may bbe used to signify aspects of the character's psycho: logical make-up or relationship to other characters, it might be possible, for example, to show a particular kind of power relationship by lighting a dominant cha acter fom the side or ciagonal, emphasising angularity, waist the submissive characteris lit pr: marily with top Ught, tending to shorten the figure. Such uses of particular lighting angles for different characters, however, can be hugely restricting f both characters were on stage at the same time, they could not use each other's areas of stage without a fly obvious lighting cue for each movement, and they would not be able to come clase to each other without being lit by te light des ged forthe other. This kind of effect could be used at the entrance af each ofthe two characters, but again itis more likely tobe read as at: ficial or a mistake if not perfectly integrated into the production, 57performance lighting design A performance lighting rig usually needs to werk with the aesthetic of both the production and the space. Visible beams can draw attention to the source of lum nation and away from the performance on the stage Whilst a massive lighting system can become a domi nant element ofthe design, especially when it comes to Concert lighting, some productions ask the audience to willingly suspend thei disbelief inthe staged’ nature af the piece and the sight of lighting instruments and the bbeams they produce could be at odds with this aes theti Usually the audience accept that they are watching a staged performance and that means they will see some lighting and other technical equipment around the per formance area. They wil not want the presence ofthis meer technical equipment to be distracting though, of for there to be sources of glare from unmasked lanterns. One ofthe key designdecisions in most theatre work on a proscenium stage is whether the lanterns will be Visible above stage, o* il hey be masked, for example by flown borders? Eiter decision presents the lighting designer with possiblities and problems about the placement of lanterns, that i, the choice of throw. ‘There ave other factors to be considered in decisions relating to throw. A strong beam, apparently from an unseen source far away in the heavens, has been a strong signifier of thepresence ofa deity in Western art since pre-Renaissance times ~ clouds part, revealing, thehand of God. Butwas that what the lighting designer wanted the audience to read int their use ofa big back light2 Perhaps tess dramatically, we might want to ene.“ ou ms oT FT cae MET AMET SHE SND AR BUTS EAN A BRT ELON ‘este The ne pesextr mt HED To PARE HET Pron An Via Bis. 58describing performance lighting evoke a confined interior on an open stage. Ifthe audi- audience's expectations ofthe production. Inthe sem: lence can see beams from distant lanterns in dust or oes of the French pilesopher Roland Barthes, it wil haze above the stage, even sources high above the per- alter the decoding grid used by an audience It should formers, wll they undetstand the scene as confined therefore be a matter fr the whole of the production imerior? team, not just the lighting designe. Having said that, Visible beams of ight can have an architectural pres- often the only way to iluminate a particular element of cence on stage. Stage designer osef Svoboda working ina productions to use lanterns that show thie presence Prague in the last century created curtains of light. The tothe audience, and thelighting designer must be pre- beams were made more visible by filing the airwithtiny pared to argue that the ends justiy the means — droplets of moisture, creating vast three dimensional providing that they dot shapes In space, which could appear and dlsappear with the push of a fader. Architectural effects such as Colour this have been used with great effect to sigify abstract In performance lighting, we can colour light with thin notions such asthe olation ofa single performer arthe sheets of coloured fm in a gel fame placed in the grandeur ofthe gods. Visible beams oflight can be used runners atthe front of mast theatre luminaires. These. to signify physical structures, and they ae the stock in thin sheets are til refered to as gels, harking back trade of concert lighting designers, used to modify the to the original colouree gelatine, though these days. Audiences perceptions ofthe size and nature ofthe per- plastics of various kinds are used, The major manufac: formance space tures of lighting filters, Rosco, Lee Filters, GAM and ‘Such use of light draws attention to its self, fore- others, produce swatch books oftheir colours for ref: ‘rounding the language of stage lighting, potentialy erence, some of whicr include graphics for each cistracting the audience from the main action on stage. colour in the range, indcating the proportion of light Conversely, strong architectural lighting can evoke place filtered at each wavelength. Its relatively easy to get (oF atmosphere, aiding the production. As with any hold of these sample swatch books at trade fats of potentially dominant theatrical sign the use of strang fom the sales countet of any decent lighting hire architectural lighting has to be thought out and fuly company. Integrated int the language of signs within he produc- When we use sources of light that are essentially tion. white we create coloured light by tering out the fre: ‘here the lantem hangs in relation to the stage Is quencies we don't want. The dyes, held in either plastic ‘usually defined by what it has to illuminate, how the gels or in longer lastieg but more expensive glass target willbe iuminated, and the physical constraints sheets, allow selective transmission of the various of the space. Large numbers of very visible lanterns in wavelengths of light. red gl ora red glass absorbs all the auditorium or over the stage say something to the the wavelengths ofightthat are not ed, letting any red ‘audience about where they ae and what sort of experl- light present through. The filter does not ‘make’ red ‘ence they may be in for. I'seems clear that the decision light so if there is no red present in the orignal light, to hide or show the lighting will have an Impact on the then no ed ight wil marge ares introduced teen oa decoding ait semiotic cussions in 3970 wih his Book 2s original deas have been conser aby elaborated upon since then bath by hin ad others. In essence, the decoding ri ithe ssumptions ane ther nermation we {as auione use to make see of what we se, et, fs, ee. ths eae, someone who regulary attends a rane of perfomance types ‘ould zsume a ferent ste of presentation om anlopen stage withthe igtng gin cet ih an tom anaturaliticiteror sting. ih ull mast.Fue 4 Us Fu oH SHOES. ‘The more light a iter absorbs the less gets tothe stage. To some extent, all lighting fiters reduce the intensity of the lanterns that they are used in, and using deep colour in lighting fers can dramatically reduce the amount of light reaching the stage. Strongly coloured plastic fiters tend to absorb a lt of infa-ted (head from the light source, which makes the filter more prone to fading, and in some cases melting, overtime. ‘To some extent, this problem can be overcome by using specially dyed glass fiers, which ast much longer than plastic filters. However, glass Is more fragile and the Intl costs are much greater, as is the cost of the lighting designer changing ther mind about the colour they want Dichroe fiers, used in many moving light, work ina different way and as a consequence can produce adi Ferent quality of ight, Dichroic iters are usually made with heatproof glass coated with a very thin layer of ‘material. They allow some light frequencies to pass through Gust as in aplastic fits) but rather than absorb the rest, the other kequencles of light are reflected. A red dichroic fiter may look green on the surface and does nat look red unless you look through it.The band of frequencies passed by a dichroic fiter can be pre dselycontalled in the manufacturing process. Ths can result in much more achcomatic light — light of just a very Few frequencies — an effet which is impossible to achieve with dyed plastic or glass filters, hence the potential for a cltfeent quality of ight with dichroic fl. tering ‘Human response to colour ‘Our perception of colour is subjective, What we have Just seen, and what we see alongside a particular thing, hhasan effect onthe colour we perceive that thing tobe. When taking about light and colour on stage Its also worth rememberingthat we cannot cistinguish between 2 neutally-cloured object lluminated with coloured light and a coloured object illuminated with neutral ight. ‘Much of our response to colour is also subjective ‘and/or culturally specif, We may respond well to re with pleasant early experiences ‘These responses wil be unique to the individual and therefore unavallale to performance practitioners ‘wanting to communicate toa whale audience, However, colours we ass ‘the subtacve way in which colour firs work can ed to sme perhaps unexpected rests for example when using Iwo sheets of the same colour Ina single gel ame the chase te romoves 20% of albu ight pres, the it sheet avs 0% ofthe bie Ughtin the beam. Te second shee removes a further 20% of wha et no of what yu stared wih ~ so aiding 2 second sheet, of fiter usualy has «salle fect than you might suppose or easing the depth of the ler onstage whist offen removing moe ‘sei ight thus reducing intensity ts usualy beter choose a sige colourrater than dub up ies. 60scientific work has been done to show that some responses to colour are more general in the population, Here are some examples. 1 Heart rate speeds up in response to the colour ree, and slows in response to the colour blue. 1 Advertisers have found that yellow is often associ ated with fun, ed with passion, blues and greens with calm and security, 1 Purple is often associated with dignity, for example the regal purple of ancient Rome and the medieval rain Europe. in the Wes, black, brown and grey are associated with sadness and black is the colou of mauening. In some Easter cultures white is the mourning colout 1H Most people associate the adjective “warm with ‘colours near the red end ofthe spectrum, including orange and some yellows, and ‘cot with the blue end ofthe spectrum but. Warm and coo! ‘These two terms are frequent used to describe light in performance, the atmosphere and mood as wel as the colour. tis as well o be sure everyone understands the same things by these words before basing aciscussion around them, Here Is what | mean by warm and cool Warm — asin the comforting light fa domestic fe, the low of a sunset in fine weather, the atmosphere between contented lovers or amongst a happy family or {group of fiends. In performance lighting terms ! mean soft shadows, orange, red and yellow tins, perhaps relying on incandescent sources at lower intensity to Increase the proportion of red lght in the whit. Al kin tones glow and look healthy. ool ~ as inthe light ofa clear bright winter day, the light of clinical or sclentifc spaces, the atmosphere between recently separated lovers or amongst a family splitby arguments In performance lighting terms, harsh and revealing, lots of pale blue tints and no hints of reds ‘or orange, perhaps making use of fluorescent and white discharge sources, or incandescent lamps at full ‘Shadows where they are present are hard edged. Pale skin tones look starved of blood. Al kin tones begin to escribingpecfrmance lighting look lifeless, but tis ight can animate the facil fea tures wit ts harder stadows, Ime are to use these rations as signifirs ina lighting design, everybody concerned has tobe using the words inmoreor less the same ways. Its worth thinking about what your version Is, and what others you are working with mean by these terns. Red and blue and focus (Our eyes have a single kn. From Chapters, we saw that different wavelengths of light bend by different amounts ina lens o aris ~ that is behind the form tion of @ rainbow, the splitting of white light into ‘component colours by a glass prism and chromatic aberration in cheap camera lenses. For our eyes, the physics means we canrot focus both red and blue light from the same distance at the same time, in technical terms, theresa ciference inte focal length of re and biue tight fora simple lens system, This shows up in Some moving light aplicatons. For example, a gobo focused sharp in blue nay look sof in ed, requiring a {ens adjustment between the two colours if sharpness is required for both This effect is what can make the stage of a rock ‘concert, bathed in pure deep blue light fom moving lights with dichroic filters, seem slighty fuzzy and out fof focus when we are coking at the solo artis ina fol- lomspot. tis quite fun play with the effect and with bit of planning can be used in ather places than the rock stage. To get the full effect, the saturated back _round light has tobe dose o one end ar the other of the visible spectrum (blue seems to work best) and other frequencies of light (e. other colours of light) have to be removed — dichrole fiers do this better absorptive filters. Then ou need a strong central image to focus audience atertion, Ii to provide good visual acuity, Colour theories ond complementary colours The colour of light can be described in a number of ways, We have seen that the different colours of the spectrum have different equencies, However, coloured light fs usually composed of a mix of frequencies. i is possible to define a colour of light by the relative 61performance lighting design Intensity of each frequency present, as some Miter ‘manufacturers do in thelr swatch books, ‘Another way of describing a colour is the CIE colour model. Developed in France by the Commission International de U'Eclairage (CE), in the frst half of the last century this model relates more directly tothe way ‘ur eyes work. It uses thre terms to describe colour: hue, saturation and value, The system was designed to describe the colour of pigments rather than the colour of light, with value representing the relative lightness or darkness of a pigment. In light terms, value can be replaced by Intensity. Hue is closest to what we ori nary call colour: red, blue, green, yellow, magenta, cyan, orange, purple, turquoise, etc In this system, sb colours ar called the primary and secondary colours; forlight, ed green-blue are the primary colours: cyan = magenta — yellow are the secondary colours. Saturation is @ measure of how much hue Is present. Deep red ishighy saturated, deep pinkisless saturated ‘while pale pnk has avery low saturation, vate 62 ‘50 how does this relate to the practice of perform: ance lighting? Many moving lights are able to mix colour, using a varley of systems. In theory these units can produce any coaur of light fom the two-dimen sianal CIE glagram. In practice there are 8 number of limiting fsetors, Including the colour temperature and colour rendition Index (CRD ofthe light source, and the precision with whichthe ters are manufactured. Many ‘moving tight consoles are now offering practitioners the ‘opportunity to pick and adjust the colours they use with controls for hue and saturation. The hue control selects the base colour and saturation control the depth of that colour Warm fiom one sie, cool from the other It is common practice in theatre lighting to fil the shadows created by the main light sources with less dominant sources in complementary colour, but what are complementary :olours in light? For most perform- ance lighting practitioners, complementary colours of light are those that, when added together, make some- thing close to white light. The complementary for anycolour of ight should be on a straight tne though the achromatic point ofthe CIE colour diagram. However, ‘ur visual perception does not function quit tke that, and the bes esults are obtained by experiment, For the practice of lighting performers from either side in different colours, we are usually looking for complementary tints which don't look too unnatural on thelr own These alts wil be found near the achromatic point. This technique enables fuller illumination of the subjects, without losing too much of the definition created shadows (see figure 7). Back lights often more strongly coloured than front light and this can tit the performers away from the set- tings, providing @ degree of colour contast. Because back tight does not generally all on the faces of per formers, there i less chance of disturbing the audience with unnatural colours. As we have said, back tight ilu- rminates the fringes of people and objects, soit has a strong colour, objects can appear fringed in that colour \e are used to seeing the blue of the sky as a back: round to our world, and perhaps this is why audiences appear to accept blue back light so easily. Whatever the reason, blue back ight is almost ubiquitous in Western performance lighting. Using complementary tints fom each side of stage ‘and mare strongly coloured back light Is primarily a functional sign tia technique that helps the audience to see better without really being conscious of how much visual acuity would be lost without its use. This is not to say that the use of tints from the sides, or stronger colour from the back light, cannot be used to indicate other things the cooler ight of winter against the warmer light of summer, the yellow tint of candle light against the white of sum light, the naturalness" of blue backlight against the ‘magicalness' of say purple back light. Al ofthese can be employed as signifles of ing performance lighting time and place and mood, along with aiding visual acuity, Each ofthe colour signifiers above is presented as part of pal, and this comes back tothe way we per- Celve each colour in comparison to the other colours around at the momert of perception and in the immediate past, We have to have some other colour to Compare each newly perceived colour with. There appears to be no colour equivalent to perfect pitch, where some individuals can hear @ musical note and Immediately place it accurately on a scale. This fact has Some fundamental impications for the performance lighting practitioner. Here ae just three things to co: sider. Looking at lighting stztes out of sequence can give @ false impression of wnat the audience wil perceive. (hiss true for intensity too) 1 Some tints, such as pale lavenders, can be made to ‘seem warm or cool depending on what ather colours are dominant atthe tin. 1 Large areas of strong colour, For example from the set, oF even! moreso fom a brightly lit cyclorama, will have a significant infuence on the audience's p ception of other colous. Colour clealy plays an inportant role, but for now here sa brief description of two potentially disruptive colour elects, Colour fatigue This effect leads to the apparent ‘lution’ of strong colour overtime ~ aslittle asa minute — even when no actual change in the colour occurs, Several conceptual artists have used this effect. For example Dan Flavin®= and Olafur Eliasson® have both used arrays of dis- charge lamps whose colbur cannot change, and yet an “ravin has used fuorescent and other old cathde amps for example neon igh) rate rt wos that hough unchanging appr to he observer to changeover tine "The weather poet instal a he Tat Moder in Landon in 2003/4 ha a lage sun, powered by ow pressive sodium amps ofthe ‘ind used in tet iptng. They emia very nom ban of yellow ligt uray ais laut este ts mot observers peresied the clouro Elassors sun to change aver tine, de In partto the effect af clouraiueMeme ttt | performance lighting design | ‘observer perceives thatthe colour (and intensity) does _asticaly taken up by lighting designers working in many change. genre of performance. Gobos™ are usually cut from metal or etched on to glass, and placed in the gate of Colour adaptation the lantern. The image etched or painted on the gobo is Thisis the effect where our perception ‘te-sets the white then projected int balance’ ofthe eye to help to make sense ofthe world ‘This happens when we wear coloured sunglasses. Very ‘quickly, we perceive faces and other objects we know well to look a natural colour. if you take a photograph through (non-prescription) coloured sunglasses, you will see how distorted the colours rally are, but your brain refuse to be ‘fooled’ by tinted glasses. eam ofthe lantern. Colour asa signifier For many traditions of performance lighting, colour pro vides only subliminal cues, aiding audience perception of space when used in conjunction with other variables. Important forthe variation and depth that it helps to add tothe stage picture, the use of strong colour can be problematic due to the subjectivity of audience response, and the perceived ant-natualism it evokes. Generally we do not see strongly coloured light in nature, so when we do se it, we become aware ofboth | the light (which most people hardly ever notice except wien itis not ‘satural) and its colour. As with other ‘ways in which ight in performance makes its presence lirectly Fel, strongly-coloured light needs to be handled with are, To use the formal language signs, semiotics, whichis further explained inthe appendix, the gobo has become a prominent signifier in much of British and American performance lighting. Hard focused and thus clear and Beam and movement distinct, o soft and impressionistic, these pattems pro: jected in light have been used in many diferent ways, to 6 be Ged eee ee “paint New York fire escapes onto a plain brick wall, to Pied Beauty. Gerard Manley Hopkins depict flashing neon sign, to signify the sun shining Long before the birth of moder moving lights, Adolph through a tall windcw (all iconic signs) or to provide the Appia was trying t0 persuade the great opera com- gently moving dappled light signifying a forest (perhaps. poser Richard Wagner that dappled light could be a a more complex sign conc of light in a forest, index of ‘more powerful sign of a forest than any number of ‘hidden’ trees and often symbol of something else — painted cloths, ince then this notion has been enthusi- fruitless searching or pastoral tranqullty perhaps). "Adolph Appia 62-1928] worked wth Wagner at the composers hate a Bayreuth He agued thatthe scenoraper should create thie Smerslonl world forthe pefrmars to nab athe than a eto tw dnertonal ainted cath forte performer to standin tonto Along with Gordon Cag 8724966), Appia Hequeny ced asthe one of the fates af made Scnograpty. obes reeled 125 templates in North Aneta, 64- The lighting industry provides several ways to animate the image projected from the gobo, so we can create the gently rippling light through trees dreamed of by Appa, or imitate light reflected from a canal, without any water onstage. umes. EAI Aree re Te pratt nae ateeee eee an sino m cob wv acon, aman Bs Ot To ae uh ARETE ot tO UT ROMA nA en Putt TOA FOREST OT. The present generation of moving lights have mul Uple gobos, often able to rotate, and often on two oF ‘more wheels, so that patterns can appea ta dissolve, or morph, from one image to another. Some moving lights Incorporate an animation wheel, which can be selected remotely The promised next generation of moving lights vill have a video gate. This technology offer the poss bility of lanterns projecting virtually any image, stil or moving, onto the stage, or wherever the beam can ‘each. This concept, sometimes called dial lighting, is covered later inthe book. Shutters ‘Shutters, the beam shaping blades of profile luminaires, have recently been added to severat hard edged moving lights. The ability to remotely and dynamically shape a box of light on stage is an exiting prospect for many Performance lighting practitioners. Accurate remotely escribing performance lighting controlled shuttering alows the possibilty of creating and manipulating spaces on a stage with much more fluidity than is possitie with conventional flown of trucked scenery. toers anew dynamic on the perform: ‘ance stage, potentially more powerful than anything ‘moving lights have brought us sofa. The round edge of 4 beam on stage remzins just that — the edge of a beam. A sharply- defined square or rectangular beam, however, can signify tte edges of areal or imagined ‘pace — and when those edges can move, mare possi: bilities present themsdves. This is a rapidly-evolving atea of performance lighting practic. There is sure to bbe some resistance to tis vety naiceable use of light, and itis a technique that could easily be overused, The potential in many gerre of performance is exciting however, whether remotely-contolled shutters are used ta compensate fr lst-ninute changes to blocking oto dynamically manipulate the audlence’s perception of space, Quaity Beam quality Is used wth at least two diffeent mean: Ings in performance lighting. The fist we have already touched on and refers more tothe colour composition of the beam, how much of each frequency of light is resent. We tlk about te quality of ight from an inca descent lamp being diferent to that from a discharge lamp, and by that we usually mean thatthe balance of light frequencies in eact beams different. Architectural lighting practitioners use the colour rendition index (CRD of a source to give a measure of how ‘complete’ the spectrum ofthe sou'ce Is and how simiarits lights to idealised sunlight, CRI is often quoted in lamp data sheets and on the packaging of some lamps. In light froma source with CRlat or very near 100, colours look as they would doin sunlight n anything else there will be some citferences fer some colours number, the more noticeable the cfferences. ‘The second meaning fers tothe pattern of intensity across the beam ofa luminaire, how the intensity falls of towards the edge ofthe beam, and the erspness of the shadows produced ay that luminaire. This gives us words to describe the diference between the ight fom, for example a Fresnel luminaire and a profile luminaire, 65 the lower theperformance lighting design between a unit with a lens anda sft ight, and between profile luminales focused in several diferent ways. In this context, we use the words “focus ito mean how the lens or lenses af the profile lantern are adjusted, as ‘oppaced to how the light hits the stage and objects on it angle of incidence) or the path the ight takes tothe stage (row). Soft and hard edges are Important in performance lighting. Soft-edged beams are easier to blend into one another, hard-edged beams stand out, drawing atten tion to themselves. Hard-edged beams seem brighter than sot-edged ones because we are more sensitive to the sharp changes in intensity that occur atthe edge of 1 hard-edged beam. Most performance lighting will make use of both, for example, the soft edges for lanterns used in a wash and the hard edges for those sed as specials. In a proscenium theatre, soft-edged ‘beams front of house can lead fo to0 much spill ar Rare, Unintended ight illuminating the auditorium and causing distractions. Describing performance light - a summary ‘Once again we have covered a lot of ground in this chapter, about the mechanics of lanterns and lantern placement, alitle ofthe history of performance lighting, someusefulstuffon humanvisual perception — whatwe might cal the psycho-physics af human perception ~ and the beginnings af how choices of lantern and pos- ition impact the images we produce on stage. Here are ‘some points to cary withyouinto the following chapters. 1 Its useful to consider performance light in terms of four interrelated properties, intensity, focus, colour and beam, but remember that time as a variable Impacts on everything we do 1m The mechanics o* human visual perception are just asimportant asthe physics of ight and light produc tio, 1m Humans are able to concentrate on detail in a rela tively small atea of our visual feld — we can watch the show from te back of lage theatre or stadium, Unfrtnaely this mle ue he wor fuse deepen In perormanc iting pracice, amongst ative English speakers and beyond, Context il sully define which meaning ended but tee wl be occsiane when becomes necessary to dstingush Detween focus the nt meaning change is an att, nd agus the ete poston of ese and other opal elements. 66eventhough the ation only occupies a small propor. tion of what we can see, 1 It helps if the rest ofthe visual field is dark so dim those houselight, especially n large auditoriums. We are distracted by small areas of light, and especially movement, atthe edge of the visual field — keep an eye out for flickers fom faulty emergency lighting and extraneous ight spiling from the lighting Fotures. 1m Human eyes can make more use ofboth lower and higher intensities than many cameras, but there are limits, We are nt great at dealing with both very low and very high intensity atthe same time (out we are better than most cameras are at this). 1 Humans don't perceive absolute intensity A candle flame that is bright in a windowless cellar is barely Wisible outside in daylight. Perceived intensity depends on what went before. Ablack-out i usually only relative. f the audience has become accus tomed toa bright state onstage they will perceive a stage with enough light for a scene change as blacked out 1 We don’t have an absolute reference for colour either for example, lavender light can appear warm In comparison to blue tints and cool in comparison to amber tits 1 Aaing colours together in light tends towards white. (Overlapping the beams of three lanterns each with a ferent primary colour fier wil result n white light (providing the intensity ofeach beam is matched), 1 One way of describing complementary colours inlight Isto sy they add upto something close to white, This is useful when It comes to combining light from two Sides of a performance space to achieve a natural colour where the two sources combine and the shadows that help with modelling where they dont. 1H Dimming the intensity of an incandescent lamp changes the colour of the light it emits. Lower inten sities have proportionally more red light ~ they look warmer. At or near fll power, not only is there more intensity, thete fs proportionally more blue in the light — and the light looks cooler. describing performance lighting 1 The closer a luminaires tothe stage, the brighter is ‘beam on stage. Generally if you halve the cstance between stage and luminaire you get four times the Intensity, 1 Different angles of incidence allow different propor ions of light to be reflected towards the audience, thus affecting percehed intensity. Front light usually Presents the audience with most usable intensity, and backlight with least. 1 Light from some angles can counteract the effect of light fom other angles. For example, light from directly above a performer can make them seem squat, and cam hide thelr eyes. When sufficient light from below is added, eyes are revealed, andthe per- former can be made to seem gaunt. Our eves have a aifferent sensitivity to aifferent colours, so a patil intensity of yellow light wil ‘seem brighter than the same intensity of blue light 1 Almost any change ve make tothe beam of alumi: naire will affect its intensity, that is the amount of usable light that hts the stage and the people and objects on it Including introducing a gobo or changing the edge quality Focusing the lenses). 1m Fitering white ight with glass or plastic lighting Filters or dichroic ftess reduces the intensity of light reaching the stage. AAs we saw in the last chapter, what we are used to seeing we percelve as natural and generally dor’ con sciously notice. Things we perceive as unnatural can draw attention to themselves, Performance lighting ean ‘make use of this, and canbe tripped up by ittoo, When the lighting fora performance creates shadows that are too cifferent from those the audience perceive as natural, when the colours used are toa far from those seen in nature, the audience wil begin to read the lighting I that is the intention, then alls wel. IF itis not, then the lighting practitioners on the production may be in trouble. As alvays, anyone concemed with performance lighting must take care to ensure that what is read by the audience Is in harmony with what is Intended by the wiole creative team working on the production 67