Lighting designer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about lighting design in theater. For lighting design in architecture, see Architectural lighting design.
The role of the lighting designer (or LD) within theatre is to work with the director, set designer, and costume designer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost. The LD also works closely with the stage manager on show control programming.
Some eminent lighting designers working in the US today are: Ken Billington, Marc Brickman, Howell Binkley, Peggy Eisenhauer, Jules Fisher, Paul Gallo, David Hersey, Donald Holder, Natasha Katz, Chris Kuroda, Allen Lee Hughes, Brian Mac Devitt, John McKernon, Kenneth Posner, and Jennifer Tipton, many of whom have been honored with a Tony Award for Best Lighting Design.
Pioneers in the industry include: Stanley McCandless, Jean Rosenthal, and Tharon Musser.
[edit] During pre-production
The role of the lighting designer varies greatly depending on whether a production is professional or amateur. For a Broadway show or a touring production the LD is usually an outside freelance specialist hired early in the production process, but most smaller theatre companies will have a resident lighting designer responsible for most of the company's productions. At the amateur, Off-Broadway, or Off-Off-Broadway level the LD will often be responsible for much of the hands-on technical work (hanging instruments, programming the light board, etc.) that would be the work of the lighting crew in a professional theatre.
The LD will read the script carefully and make notes on changes in place and time between scenes - such changes are often done just with lighting - and will have meetings with the Director, Designers, Stage Manager and production manager during the pre-production period to discuss ideas for the show and establish budget and scheduling details. The LD will also attend several later rehearsals to observe the way the actors are being directed to use the stage area ('blocking') during different scenes, and will receive updates from the stage manager on any changes that occur. The LD will also make sure that he or she has an accurate plan of the theatre's lighting positions and a list of their equipment, as well as an accurate copy of the set design, especially the floor plan. The LD must take into account the show's mood and the director's vision in creating a lighting design.
Because lighting design is much more abstract than costume or scenic design, it is often difficult for the lighting designer to accurately convey his ideas to the rest of the production team. The lighting designer's chief tool, the light plot, is an very technical document that means almost nothing to someone unfamiliar with stage lighting. In some instances, a lighting designer may be expected to provide rough cue sheets or storyboards during pre-production. This non-technical document gives the rest of the production team a way to understand the lighting designer's vision without having to immerse themselves in the technical details of theatrical lighting. These cue sheets will typically include descriptions of each "look" that the LD has created for the show, using artistic terminology rather than technical language, and information on exactly when each look changes to the next.
While cue sheets or storyboards provide the lighting designer with a means of communicating his ideas to others, it is of little value to the lighting designer himself. When designing a show, the most important document for the lighting designer is the light plot. The plot is a scale drawing of the theater, with the lighting positions and instruments used in the show marked on it, also to scale. Next to each instrument will be information for any color gel, gobo, animation wheel or other accessory that needs to go with it, and its channel number. Professional LDs usually use special computer-aided design packages to create accurate and easily read plots that can be swiftly updated as necessary. The LD will discuss the plot with the show's production manager and the theatre's master electrician or technical director to make sure there are no unforeseen problems during Load-In.
[edit] During fit-up(Load-In/Focus/Cue to Cue) and technical rehearsals
The lighting designer is responsible, in conjunction with the production's independently hired "Production Electrician" who will interface with the theatre's Master Electrician, for directing the theatre's electrics crew in the realization of his or her designs during the technical rehearsals. The LD will direct the focusing (pointing, shaping and sizing of the light beams) and gelling (coloring) of each lighting unit. Then the LD usually sits at a temporary desk (tech table) somewhere in the theater where they have a good view of the stage and work with the lighting board operator/programmer, who will either be seated alongside him or her at a portable control console or talk via headset to the control room. After hang and focus, if scheduled, and depending if the production is following closely on schedule there is a period of one to two days that might be allowed for pre-lighting. At an arranged time the actors arrive and the play is worked through in chronological order, with occasional stops to correct sound, lighting, entrances etc. The lighting designer will work constantly with the board operator to refine the lighting states as the technical rehearsal continues, but because the focus of a "tech" or "cue-to-cue" rehearsal is the production's technical aspects, the LD may require the actors to pause ("hold") frequently. Nevertheless, any errors of focusing or changes to the lighting plan are corrected only when the actors take a break.
Once the show is open to the public the lighting designer will often stay and watch several performances of the show, making notes each night and making desired changes the next day. Normally they only make changes during the preview process of the show; once it officially opens hopefully the lighting designer will not make further changes.
Changes should not be made after the lighting design is finished. Sometimes the design is finished before the opening of the show, but most of the time it is after opening. Such situtations occur for a number of reasons: casting changes, changes to the show after reviews, or the tech and/or preview period (if there was a preview period) was too short to accommodate as thorough a cueing as was needed (this is particularly common in dance productions). The goal is often to finish by the opening of the show, but what is most important is that the LD and the directors belive that the design is finished to each's satifaction. If that happens to be by opening night, then after opening no changes are normally made to that particular production run at that venue.
NB: There are different protocols between European technical theatre and American technical theater.
