11Lighting and Sound

© Geraine Lewis

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education.  All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Brief History

• Originally outdoors with daylight/sun as illumination• Torches and candles onstage as theatrical devices• 1600s-1700s, theatre moves indoors with candles and oil

lamps• 1803—gaslight installed in London, adding control

element to lighting• 1879—Thomas Edison and the electric light begin the

era of imaginative lighting• Growth of the electronics industry—better lighting and

better controls• Computer industry—revolutionizes control of lighting and

expands potentials for creative application

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Objectives of Lighting Design

• Provide visibility• Reveal shapes and forms• Provide a focus onstage and create visual

compositions• Assist in creating mood and reinforcing style• Help to establish time and place• Establish a rhythm of visual movement• Reinforce a central visual image

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Process of Lighting Design

1. Read the script2. Meet with the director / other designers to discuss ideas and

concept3. Observe rehearsals to see blocking patterns4. More meetings with the director5. Develop a lighting plot (location of instruments in the theatre

space)6. Move into the theatre, hang and focus lights7. Write cues to create the finished piece and “tech” the show

• This is a mutable process that changes with every director/designer relationship as well as different production needs.

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Properties of Stage Lighting

• The controllable aspects of stage lighting:– Intensity—relative brightness

• Dimmers

– Color—use of gels to create colored light • Warm vs. cool colors

– Distribution/direction—the way the source is placed on or near the stage, forcing the light into a certain angle

• Downlight / backlight / frontlight

– Form—also known as texture or pattern of the light • Gobos

– Movement—create a sense of this by shifting the audience focus by adjusting the visual composition of the stage picture

• Cross-fading

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Types of Stage Lights

• Types of stage lights:– Sharp, concentrated spotlights

• Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight

– Soft-edged spotlights • Fresnel

– Floodlights – “Scoops”– Strip lights / border lights– Practicals– Automated or moving lights

• Intelligent fixtures

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Lighting Controls

• Types of lighting cues:– Blackouts– Fades– Cross-fades

• New technologies in lighting:– Automated or moving lights

• Computer controlled• Can shift color, pan, tilt, iris, gobo during the show

– Rock-concert lighting commonly uses this type of technology

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The Collaborative Process

The lighting/sound designer The lighting/sound designer does not work alone in the does not work alone in the

theatre process…theatre process…

And this is only a basic crew with no special effects…

Director

Scenic designer

Lightingdesigner

Sounddesigner

Costumedesigner

Propsdesigner Technical

director

Make-updesigner

Costume shop

manager

Stage manager

Mastercarpenter

Sceneshop

Runningcrew

Soundtechnician

Masterelectrician

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Areas of Sound Design

• Sound is relatively new as a “recognized” design field.– Amplification

• Manipulating the level of reproduced sound against the level of the live sound source

• Controversial subject—How loud is too loud? Should speech be amplified for dramatic production?

– Sound effects: • Originally created by devices specific to particular types of

sounds (wind machines / thunder sheets), sound effects are considered a vital part of creating the “illusion” of reality in a theatrical performance.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Process of Sound Design

1. Read the script2. Meet with the director / other designers to discuss ideas and

concept3. Observe rehearsals to experiment with design choices4. More meetings with the director5. Develop a sound plot (location of speakers in the theatre

space)6. Write cues to create the finished piece7. Technical rehearsals to integrate the sound into the

performance

• This is a mutable process that changes with every director/designer relationship as well as different production needs!

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© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Sound Technology

• Sound reproduction – Use of motivated or environmental sounds

• Sound reinforcement– Amplification of the sounds produced by a performer

or a musical instrument• Technology and sound

– Microphones (shotgun mike, general mike, body mike) and loudspeakers

– Analog vs. digital recording and playback devices– Computers and digital sound have revolutionized the

concept of design, allowing designers to mutate and manipulate sounds creatively with greater ease and less expense.