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If you are new to the world of Theatrical Lighting, here is a basic rundown of the terms and ideas used in lighting design. The basic idea when lighting a show is to have the entire stage fully and equally lit during all parts of the show. To do this you must pay careful attention to light placement and gel color. (If there is something not listed here that you feel should be, even if it is somewhere else on the site, feel free to let me know.) Barrel - the main part of a light, the shaft/front of the light. On most ellipsoidals, it can be rotated and shuttered to allow for more accurate aiming. Board/Console - this is the main control for your lighting system. It is hooked into both your dimmers and light channels. This controls which lights are on and how bright they are. You can also use it to create submasters, cues and other lighting effects. Channel - each plug where you can hang/hook-up a light should be labeled with a number. This number is that plug's Channel Number. This number is programmed into your lighting board/control console and is how you control each light. If you want to adjust the brightness of a certain light, then you do so by calling up the channel number of the plug it is hooked up to. (Note: depending on how your lights are "patched," this may not be the same of the Dimmer Number) Chase - a lighting effect that is programmed as a cue. A chase involves a series of repeated lighting changes using one or more lights. A very simple chase would be one light flashing on and off at set intervals, a more complex chase involves multiple lights coming on and off in a pre-set sequence of Steps. Each change in lighting is programmed as a step. (see your console manual for specific directions) Cue - a programmed lighting sequence. Can be either just a certain combination of lights or an effect. You can adjust the up and down time of each cue to control how quickly it comes on or off (Most shows are a series of cues) Cyclorama/Cycloyde - referred to as "Cyc's" for short. Very large/wide lights, cannot be shuttered/focused. Great for lighting back-drops/large set pieces from below or above (extremely bright/hot, can be gelled) Dimmer - the power supply for a stage light, stored in racks. Dimmers work much like circuit breakers for stage lights, they get their name because Dimmers are what allow you to "dim" or adjust the brightness of your lights by controlling the amount of power flowing to each light. Dimmer Number - corresponds to a power supply. Usually "patched" or linked to a corresponding channel of the same number. However, if you are using moving lights or would like to use a specific dimmer with a certain channel, you may manually patch each dimmer to each channel using their respective numbers (see your console manual for specific directions). Ellipsoidal - a light with a longer barrel (as opposed to the shorter and less complex par/fresnel) usually has 4 shutters and can be focused, shaped and has slots for gobos, gobo rotators and gels (I have three sizes 19°, 26°, and 36° The greater the degree, the wider/larger the beam of light and the closer you should hang it. The smallest degree (19) should be hung the farthest from the stage unless you want a small, concentrated beam to create emphasis. Focus Point - a specific portion of the stage that you aim lights at, each part of the stage should be included in at least one focus point and they can overlap. (Each focus point should be small enough that one light beam can cover it entirely) Follow Spot - or spotlight. This is a large light that is manually operated by a lighting tech. Used to follow a soloist/other point of emphasis around the stage. Can be focused, shuttered and gelled. Fresnel - a small, floodlight-ish light, can be "focused" by adjusting the slider on the bottom to make the light wider/narrower (should be hung close to the stage, can hold a gel, great for hitting specific spots from a close location) Gel - a thin sheet of plastic/cellophane type material. colored/frosted that colors/diffuses the light that passes through it. Comes in large sheets (50 x 61 cm) that can be cut down, placed in gel holders, and inserted into most lights Gobo - placed in a holder and inserted into an ellipsoidal class light, the pattern on the gobo will be projected onto the stage (hint: put the gobo in the light backwards so it is projected properly on the stage) Lamp - fancy term for the light bulb of a stage light (Do not touch the glass on the lamp when installing, oils from your hands can shorten the life of the lamp) Litho - a small almost gobo like disk, can have a colored patter/image on it that will be projected on by a light (most often found in moving lights) Pan - refers to the horizontal (left to right) positioning/aim of a light Par - a glorified flood light. Like a fresnel, only slightly wider and you cannot adjust the beam size. You can however get different lenses/patterns to change the shape of the beam and you can rotate these patterns (can hold gels, should be hung very close to the stage, great for flooding a wide space) Shutters - these are available on most ellipsoidals. They allow you to shrink/constrict the beam of light. There are usually 4 of these positioned on the top, bottom, left and right of the barrel. Adjust them by pushing them in or out and up or down (NOTE: these are inverted, meaning that if you push the right shutter in, the beam of light will shrink from the left. It takes some getting used to) Submaster - a submaster is a bunch of lighting channels programmed into one slider. Very helpful for washing the stage in light or creating a certain look with out having to bring up each individual light every time. Turn on a bunch of lights and program them into a "sub" and the sub will then bring up all of those lights together (see your console manual for specific directions) Tilt - refers to the vertical (up and down) positioning/aim of a light Gel Basics |
Created By: Jeff Stoller |
