Good stage lighting can add a lot of things to your productions. First, it helps the audience
to see the actors, sets, costumes, and props clearly.
It also helps to make things like stage lights, curtains and other backstage items that we
don't want the audience to see kind of vanish onstage.
This is called lighting the stage for visibily, or seeing what needs to be seen.
Good stage lighting also helps the audience figure out what time of day it is, where the
play takes place, and other aspects of the physical environment the director wants to
establish.
This lighting lets the audience know that the play takes place inside a house, probably
at night, since the lamp is on. This type of lighting where there is an obvious source
of light visible to the audience, in this case the lamp, is called motivated light.
This lighting suggests an outdoor scene shortly after daybreak in a wooded area with the sun
shining through trees. This sort of light, where the audience can't see a source of lighting
on stage is called random light.
This lighting is evening, outdoors. With a night sky and stars. It's another example
of random light.
Establishing the environment on stage is when we use lighting to help the audience figure
out what time of day it is, where the play takes place, and other aspects of the physical
environment of the play.
Hi. Welcome to this introduction to stage lighting. My name is Marti Fowler. And I'm
Bob Fowler.
Good stage lighting does several things. As we've seen, it helps the audience see the
actors, sets, props, and costumes clearly. And can also tell the audience what time of
day it is, where the play takes place, and what environment the director wants to establish.
Good lighting also helps the director show the audience where to look on stage, where
the audience's attention should be drawn. This is called placing the action. Generally,
the audience's attention will be drawn to the brightest area of the stage.
One of the most used lighting instruments is a fresnel. A fresnel is a medium throw
spotlight that uses a special lens to give a soft edged light.
See the circles in the lens of the fresnel? These circles help to give the fresnel a controlled,
yet soft light.
It can be focused by moving the lamp and the reflector closer or farther from the lens.
The edges of the light from a fresnel can be squared off somewhat by using a barn door.
Fresnels are usually used above the stage from the electrics to light the midstage and
upstage areas.
