Technical Theatre - Lighting
Lighting Part 1:
History of Lighting:
The first know form of stage lighting was used in Grecian theatres. Their theatres would face south so that the stage would be fully lit throughout the afternoons. Naturally lit theatres were then used by the Romans, who built more amphitheatres as their empire expanded, eventually bringing roofless theatres to England. Artificial lighting was developed, and continues developing today, to allow theatre to be performed indoors. At first candles were used for stage lights, however these were very dim and meant that performers had a very limited amount of space before they lost their light. In Europe chandeliers were made to be suspended above the stage to provide more light. This worked but risked performers being burnt by dripping wax. The invention of limelight was revolutionary in theatre, as it meant that a brighter light could follow an actor on stage because of differently positioned lenses and reflectors. Electrical lighting has displaced limelight in all theatres and continues to develop to this day.
Learning + Health and Safety:
During our first technical theatre lesson we were given a demonstration on how to correctly add fixtures to the rig. It was explained to us that the use of PPE is mandatory when undertaking tasks such as this. Meaning that steel toe capped shoes and rigging gloves must be worn. We were also shown the lighting console and were allowed to control the fixtures for the first time. As we were allowed more time in the gallery we gained further experience and learnt how to use different types of lighting correctly and how to use the moving lights.
Different types of lanterns and their uses:
Fresnel's: Fresnel lights are used
Par-cans:
Profiles:
Battens:
Moving Lights:
Health and Safety:
Use of Attachments:
Lighting Part 2:
Lighting Installation:
When it came to designing our lighting installations I was already quite confident on how to use different effects and how to use the moving lights to create a show that worked well with the given music, "Relight my Fire" by Take That. In total the entire installation took me approximately 4 lessons to complete. In my spare time I watched videos created by ETC on how to use effects. Once I found a few that I liked I added them to the installation but found that they didn't work well with the theme. Therefore, I replaced them with ones that worked better. Including a linear effect to allow the movers to travel in circles. This was a preset effect on our Gio numbered 901. I also decided to use a step based effect for our side lights to create a cycle from top to bottom on each set of 3 to give a feeling of being in a retro 90's style club.
Coming forward from this I have further developed my skills and have realised that a few processes that were used could be simplified with the use of submasters, groups and palettes. Not only does this save time when programming in the future it may also help when teaching others about the techniques which have been used.
History of Lighting:
The first know form of stage lighting was used in Grecian theatres. Their theatres would face south so that the stage would be fully lit throughout the afternoons. Naturally lit theatres were then used by the Romans, who built more amphitheatres as their empire expanded, eventually bringing roofless theatres to England. Artificial lighting was developed, and continues developing today, to allow theatre to be performed indoors. At first candles were used for stage lights, however these were very dim and meant that performers had a very limited amount of space before they lost their light. In Europe chandeliers were made to be suspended above the stage to provide more light. This worked but risked performers being burnt by dripping wax. The invention of limelight was revolutionary in theatre, as it meant that a brighter light could follow an actor on stage because of differently positioned lenses and reflectors. Electrical lighting has displaced limelight in all theatres and continues to develop to this day.
Learning + Health and Safety:
During our first technical theatre lesson we were given a demonstration on how to correctly add fixtures to the rig. It was explained to us that the use of PPE is mandatory when undertaking tasks such as this. Meaning that steel toe capped shoes and rigging gloves must be worn. We were also shown the lighting console and were allowed to control the fixtures for the first time. As we were allowed more time in the gallery we gained further experience and learnt how to use different types of lighting correctly and how to use the moving lights.
Different types of lanterns and their uses:
Fresnel's: Fresnel lights are used
Par-cans:
Profiles:
Battens:
Moving Lights:
Health and Safety:
Use of Attachments:
Lighting Part 2:
Lighting Installation:
When it came to designing our lighting installations I was already quite confident on how to use different effects and how to use the moving lights to create a show that worked well with the given music, "Relight my Fire" by Take That. In total the entire installation took me approximately 4 lessons to complete. In my spare time I watched videos created by ETC on how to use effects. Once I found a few that I liked I added them to the installation but found that they didn't work well with the theme. Therefore, I replaced them with ones that worked better. Including a linear effect to allow the movers to travel in circles. This was a preset effect on our Gio numbered 901. I also decided to use a step based effect for our side lights to create a cycle from top to bottom on each set of 3 to give a feeling of being in a retro 90's style club.
Coming forward from this I have further developed my skills and have realised that a few processes that were used could be simplified with the use of submasters, groups and palettes. Not only does this save time when programming in the future it may also help when teaching others about the techniques which have been used.
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