Partially Based from the "Awareness of Light" of Shoko Matsumoto. What is Lighting Design for Technical Theater? What are the common tools that we should remember for a lighting set-up? After learning these, we cover how we can do effective Lighting Design from scratch, or simply a pen and paper!

1. EL Abquina

2.  Based from the THE AWARENESS OF
LIGHT 2007 workshop c/o Shoko
Matsumoto
 Compressed for Teatro Tomasino
participants

3.  Provide a background to Stage
Lighting and its functions
 Introduce the basic lighting terms
and equipment.
 Be familiar of the technical aspects
of Stage Lighting
 Show the Lighting Design process

5. University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music
Lighting Design & Technology

6.  To make the actors clearly visible so
that their expressions and emotions
can be easily projected to the
audience
 To give actors and action a suitably
dramatic appearance within the
play’s mood and setting
 To compliment and highlight the sets
and costumes.

7.  Illumination: The simple ability to see
what is occurring on stage. Any lighting
design will be ineffective if the viewers
cannot see the characters, unless this
is the explicit intent.
 Revelation of form: Altering the
perception of shapes onstage,
particularly three-dimensional stage
elements.
 Focus: Directing the audience's
attention to an area of the stage or
distracting them from another.

8.  Mood: Setting the tone of a scene. Harsh
red light has a totally different effect than
soft lavender light.
 Location and time of day: Establishing or
altering position in time and space. Blues
can suggest night time while orange and
red can suggest a sunrise or sunset. Use
of mechanical filters ("gobos") to project
sky scenes, the moon, etc.
 Projection/stage elements: Lighting
may be used to project scenery or to act as
scenery onstage.

9.  Plot(script): A lighting event may
trigger or advance the action
onstage.
 Composition: Lighting may be used
to show only the areas of the stage
which the designer wants the
audience to see, and to "paint a
picture"

10.  Intensity
 to measure the amount of light output.
 Unit of measures are lumens or lux
 Can be described as Brightness

11.  Color
 Determined by the use of colored gels
or color filters (Known brands are LEE,
Rosco and Apollo.)
 To mix colors in order to produce desired
effect

12.  Pattern
 Refers to shape of the lighting output
(gobos)

13.  Focus, position and hanging
 Point of Lighting Fixture
 Measured in Degrees (Angle), Height
from Stage Floor, sharpness and size of
beam

14.  There instruments to produce light,
sometimes called as Lights, Fixture
or Lantern
 Old stage lighting use Candles, Fire
torches with mirrors, or the Sun

15.  Housing
 Known as the BARREL, BOX or CASING
 Lens or opening
 Reflector
 Yoke
 U-Shaped bar (C-Clamp)
 Attachment apparatus
 C-Clamp or G-Clamp
 Lamp or arc source
 The bulbs, lamp, or device that produce light
 Accessories
 Gels, screen, gobo, barn-door, hat,

17.  Flood Lights
 Spot Lights
 Intelligent Lights
 HMIs
 Other special lights
 Lighting Control
 Dimmer Pack
 Dimmer Control

18.  Flood Lights
 To generally illuminate a wide area
 PAR Lights, Strip Lights, Cyclorama, LED lights

19. Designation
Nominal Dia.
(inch)
Intensity
PAR64 8 2000 – 1000 W
PAR56 7 1000 – 500 W
PAR46 5.75
PAR38 4.75 150 – 75 W
PAR36 4.5
PAR30 3.75
PAR20 2.5
PAR16 2

20. Description Suffix
Very Narrow Spot CP60
Narrow Spot CP61
Medium Flood 1 CP62
Wide Flood CP95

21.  Spot Lights
 to create a pool of light. Aka Profiles
 Fresnel, Ellipsoidal Reflector (ERS), Follow
spots

22.  Intelligent Lights
 Aka Moving Lights.
 Remotely controlled fixtures (via DMX control)

23.  HMIs
 Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide lamp
 Mostly used in Films but now used in large
theaters

24.  Other Special Lights
 Black Lights (Ultra-violet Lights)
 Rope Lights
 LED Pins lights

25.  Lighting Control
 Dimmer Packs, Dimmer Boards (or Control
Board)

26.  Dimmer Control
 Uses the term CHANNELS. 1 channel, means 1 line in
the Dimmer Pack.

27.  Dimmer Pack
 Set of dimmer modules with a circuit breaker. Can be
defined as the “switch” for the lighting fixture

28.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_li
ghting_accessories

29.  Modern stage lighting uses electricity
as a source of energy to produce
light
 The crew and the designer should
plan out the electrical details of the
stage
 The technical director shall oversee
the resources of the stage along its
safety measures

30.  Wattage
 the amount of electrical power
expressed in watts. (1000W PAR64,
500W PAR56)

31.  Voltage
 Known as Electric tension
 Measured in Volts (220V AC, 12V DC)
 Alternating Current and Direct Current
 Auto-volt AC 100V – 240V

32.  Amperage
 the strength of an electric current
expressed in amperes (10amps)
 20KW running over 220V is equal to
90amps
 Everyday use examples:

33.  Portable gadgets
 Hearing aid (typically 1 mW at 1.4 V): 0.7 mA
 Motor vehicles – 12 V DC
 Instrument panel light (typically 2 W): 166 mA.
 Headlights (typically 60 W): 5 A each.
 Starter Motor (typically 1–2 kW): 80-160 A
 US & Canada domestic supply – 120 V AC
 22-inch/56-centimeter Portable Television (35 W): 290 mA
 Tungsten light bulb (60–100 W): 500–830 mA
 Toaster, kettle (2 kW): 16.6 A
 Immersion heater (4.6 kW): 38.3 A
 European domestic supply – 230 V AC
 The current drawn by a number of typical appliances are:
 22-inch/56-centimeter Portable Television (35 W): 150 mA
 Tungsten light bulb (60–100 W): 250–450 mA
 Toaster, kettle (2 kW): 9 A
 Immersion heater (4.6 kW): 20 A

34.  We use different cable sizes for
different amount of LOADS.
 The computation of Wattage, Voltage
and Amperage will determine the
required Wire and Plug size

36. Wire Use Rated
Ampacity
Wire
Gauge
Microdevices 5 Amps 22 Gauge
Small electronic devices 7.5 Amps 20 Gauge
Low-voltage Lighting and Lamp Cords 10 Amps 18 Gauge
Extension Cords 13 Amps 16 Gauge
Light Fixtures, Lamps, Lighting Runs 15 Amps 14 Gauge
Receptacles, 110-volt Air Conditioners, Sump Pumps,
Kitchen Appliances
20 Amps 12 Gauge
Electric Clothes Dryers, 220-volt Window Air
Conditioners, Built-in Ovens, Electric Water Heaters
30 Amps 10 Gauge
Cook Tops 45 Amps 8 Gauge
Electric Furnaces, Large Electric Heaters 60 Amps 6 Gauge
Electric Furnaces, Large Electric Water Heaters, Sub
Panels
80 Amps 4 Gauge
Service Panels, Sub Panels 100 Amps 2 Gauge
Service Entrance 150 Amps 1/0 Gauge
Service Entrance 200 Amps 2/0 Gauge

37.  Automatically operated switch to
protect electrical circuits to be
damaged from overload, and short
circuits

38.  It is important to compute your total
LOAD for stage safety
 The best practice is to give allowance in
case of sudden power surges
 Ex. 30 1KW PAR64 at 220V will
require 136.37A.
 You will need a 200A Circuit breaker
 Use 10A Plugs and Gauge 16 or 18 wires
 Total power is 35KW (+ control)

39.  Complete an extension cable with
5M in length, using a male and
female plug
 Make a Parallel Y Cable
 Make a Series Y Cable

40. How do you use
your lighting
equipment and do
lighting design
properly?

41. Control Room/
Tech Booth
Stage Area
Audience/ FOH
Avoid Placing equipment that will obstruct passage of audience and
performers

42. Lighting
Fixtures
Dimmer
Pack
Dimmer
Control
Circuit
Breaker
Main Power Source
(GenSet or MainLine)

43. Moving
Lights
DMX Link
Dimmer
Control
Circuit
Breaker
Main Power Source
(GenSet or MainLine)
Direct Outlet

44.  Make a list of required fixtures and
accessories
 Determine the required crew
headcount that will operate the set-
up
 Compute the length of cables to be
used
 Coordinate with the Master
Electrician and Technical Director

45. How can you make a
good stage lighting
design?

46.  Discuss why you chose that as your
most favorite picture. (A4 sized
picture)
 Study the image and create a story.
 Define the character in the image
 Describe the setting of the picture
 Provide more details about the image

48.  Discuss and share with everyone
your story for this image

49. • In Stage Lighting, the following are involved
• Lighting Designer
• Lighting Technician
• Master Electrician
• Creative Pool (Director Designers)
• Technical Director
• Stage Manager
• Production Manager

50. Make lights breakdown
Rehearsals, record in
moving sheets
Start create Lighting
Plan
Focusing and Lighting
Plot
Final Cue Sheet
Show proper

51. Moving Sheets
▪ Identify Areas, Cue timing, Color, atmosphere
and priority scenes
Lighting Plan with Focus Notes
▪ Instrument list, Gel color numbers, positions,
focus, channel and dimmer number
▪ Focus notes can be a separate document for
complex lighting plans that includes precise
angle and height computation

52. Cue Sheet
▪ A chart and list for the timings, order,
intensity for each lighting equipment for
every cue.
Sequence sheet
▪ List and sequence of cues throughout the
performance marked the cue number, with
scene descriptions

53.  The THEATER PLAN is a very
important requirement of the
lighting design.
 It is crucial to obtain the correct
measurements of the stage and the
specifics of the theater
 The layout should include the SET
DESIGN

54.  Required to obtain the stage
measurements and make the floor
plan, elevation and equipment
locations. (Ocular Inspection)
 Exercise:
 Make a sketch for the layout of this
theater (or room)

57.  Be familiar of the symbols to be
used for the Lighting Layout
 The Layout should be SCALED as it
will be used strictly for the
positioning of equipment

59.  Using the story you created, make a
lighting layout with a limited amount
stage resources and equipment
 Indicate you focus notes

60.  12 Channels, 2KW each
 8 PAR 56 500W
 8 PAR 64 1000W
 4 Ellipsoidal Spot
 2 Follow Spot ERS 2000W
 16 PAR 38 150W
 2 Cyclorama lights (3 color)

63.  Discuss each design

64.  For rehearsals, record the
movements of the performers, and
changes in the scenes via the
Moving Sheet along with planned
focusing and positioning of lighting
equipment
 Example:
 Circle = Cue Number
 Box = Step Number

66.  Organize each movement in a list of
timings, and which equipment will be
used, channel number, and
description of the action via the Cue
sheet. Arrange the list in a
sequential order

69.  Complete all paper-works
 Make an itinerary and schedule for
stage rigging
 Coordinate with the Production
Manager regarding budget, what to be
outsourced (rentals)
 Print out copies of Lighting Layout for
all technical crew
 Provide a copy of Cue sheet to the
operator and Stage Manager
 Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse.

70.  Transfer your design and translate to
you cue sheet and sequence sheet.

72.  Once in theater:
 Ingress
 Lights Rigging
 Focus Lights
 Cue Plotting
 Technical Rehearsal
 Technical Adjustment
 Lighting Crew Practice
 Dress Rehearsals (with Technical
Adjustments)

73.  After Dress Rehearsal;
 LIGHTING DESIGNER work is finished.
 LIGHTING CREW handles the show.

74.  Lighting Designer
 Assistant Lighting Designer
 Board Operator
 Follow Spot Operator
 Stage Electrician
 Stage Hand (for lighting cues)
 Master Electrician

75.  Lighting Designer
 Color Filter Samples (LEE)
 Scaled Rulers
 Lighting Templates
 Flashlights
 AutoCad, Vectorworks, SketchUp,
Lightfactory
 Print-outs

76.  Stage Electrician
 Gloves (mandatory)
 Wrench (adjustable)
 Longnose Pliers and Screwdrivers)
 Flashlights (Headlights)
 Magnetic Clip (for Lighting Plan)
 Electrical and Masking Tapes (always!)

77.  Shoko Matsumoto
 Sinag Arts Foundation
 Rene Cubar
 Jonjon Villareal
 Light Fantastic by Max Keller
 Philippine Education Theater Assoc.
 Tanghalang Pilipino

78. also by EL Abquina