From intricate theatrical performances to concert venues that seat thousands, every venue is physically molded to fit a creative vision. As a marriage of numerous artistic subdisciplines, technical lighting design plays a key role in shaping both physical and emotional space.
“(Lighting is) a collaborative art form,” said Zhanna Gurvich, a Colorado State University theater instructor. “It primarily helps to tell a story, and it does so by using light to … manipulate the space and manipulate emotions with the movement of the light and the intensity of the light.”
Following Thomas Edison’s invention of the practical electric lamp in 1879, the modern era of stage lighting emerged, with London’s Savoy Theatre installing the first system of electrical theater lights. While technology continued to advance throughout the following centuries, the directorial usage of the art form has remained strong, as CSU Assistant Professor of Lighting Design Jackie Fox explained.
“I always say that the lighting designer is the (director of photography) of the theater world because we sort of get to have control over what the most important thing visually is on stage,” Fox said. “So whenever you kind of, like, walk out into the real world, you’re always looking through a curated lens. And then lighting in the theater sort of forces our eye to what the most important thing is, or what we should be looking at and what we can kind of let go into the background.”
To craft these atmospheres, lighting directors utilize a variety of light categories and types, ranging from highly technical to others that have been used for centuries.
“There are ellipsoidal reflector spotlights, which are kind of like your most common lights in theater because they have what’s called shutters,” Gurvich said. “And the shutters are able to shape the beam so it can be a square (or) it can be a triangle.”
Other types include floodlights, which are designed to light painted clothes or white backdrops, known as cycloramas. To shape the beam, the lights use asymmetrical reflectors to evenly distribute the light onto the entire span of the cloth.
Fresnel lights allow the user to size the beam to varying degrees, from narrow to wide floods. Gurvich said that Fresnels resemble the “lights that used to be in old lighthouses.”
Several staple techniques for lighting stages were popularized by Stanley McCandless, who taught theatrical lighting at Yale University. He popularized the McCandless Method, a front lighting technique that uses two lights, set 45 degrees above actors, 90 degrees apart, to create a “cube” of lighting.
“He came up with it in the ’50s, and it was consistent to help students just be able to quickly get into coming up with a design that would work,” Zurvich said.
Understanding angles and their effect on how light falls on a subject is a fundamental corner of technical lighting.
“So much of my job is secret trigonometry because I’m always thinking about how the angle of light will interface with the performer,” Fox said. “Meaning, like, if a light comes from the front at a 45 degree angle, that will mean something different than if it comes at a 70 degree angle and it’s coming from the front, or if it comes from the side at a 70 degree angle versus a 30 degree angle.”
Lighting directors also rely on an understanding of color. Lighting tone can be adjusted on a color temperature scale ranging from warm to cool, while techniques can also be blended to change between complementary and monochromatic shades.
While the traditional methods continue to stand strong, technological advancement has allowed for a higher degree of control and precision. All elements of lighting systems are controlled from lighting consoles, where operators can select specific lights, adjust intensity and color and program cues to different timing notes.
Fox’s students at CSU utilize products from Electronic Theatre Controls, like grandMA and HOG consoles. Regardless of the software utilized, students are trained to be dynamic users across the console’s full spectrum of applications and capabilities.
“We run the gamut between things that are sort of very-close source and very open-source,” Fox said. “But, essentially, you are constantly programming; you are providing the lights with information because, whenever lights flash, they don’t know to do that unless you’re telling them to do that. So the console is the means that we as humans provide the lights with a language that they understand.”
Fox said her approach to teaching lighting techniques and fundamentals is designed to give her students a strong foundation to stand on once they enter the industry while still encouraging curiosity and experimentation.
“There is no universe where I could teach the kind of technical skill that students will need to go into the field and know everything that they need to know,” Fox said. “So much of this job is an apprenticeship. So you learn what you can in an educational institution, and then you go out and you’re an apprentice basically for the rest of your life.”
Reach Katie Fisher at science@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.