FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!

Today we started focusing the lights. In stage lighting, focusing is the location onstage where the light from the instrument is directed. We got through most of the lights--we only have 14 more lights left to focus after Easter. It was a very productive day! Here are some pictures of the set, focusing lights, and some of the gels used in the lights. Enjoy!

Professor Casey directing Dale on where to focus the light.


Me getting ready to focus my first light!


Up on the ladder!


Focusing my first light!


The gels, or the color, that will be used during the show. Gels are inserted color media into color frames that are placed in the lighting instruments. Gels are made from gelatin.


Part of the set: I helped make this building look old and dirty by using vinegar, scratching the metal, and painting "dirt".


Another view of the stage.


We have two and a half weeks until opening night! So far everything is coming together really well. In addition to being assistant lighting designer (which means keeping all of the lighting paperwork in order, hanging and focusing lights, and so forth), I am also working on a black and white movie that will play at the beginning of the show. My projection will focus on Apartheid in South Africa. We will start tech week next week, and begin the finishing touches on the show. Next Saturday we will have an all day workshop so that the tech crews and the actors can meet and work together for the first time. Then we will have two full run-throughs, and then opening night! It will be a busy 3 weeks-but a lot of fun!! Stay tuned!

Information taken from:
-Designing With Light: an Introduction to Stage Lighting, J. Michael Gillette

Hang the Code and Hang the Rules... They're More Like Guidelines Anyway...

The lights are hung! We finished hanging all of the lights this afternoon and will begin focusing tomorrow! What an accomplishment!

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Today I helped with the set crew for a couple of hours. The set takes place in South Africa in a small, run-down town. The buildings are meant to look dirty, aged, and worn. It is so interesting to see how many techniques a person can come up with to make a building look old. Today, I got to rub vinegar on sheet metal, which takes away the shine of the metal. Then "rust" was added to the building with a reddish-brown paint, and then I went back and added "dirt" to the building, which was a dark brown paint. After we "treat" all the buildings in this manner- we will have achieved an old, run-down, poor town.

Pictures soon to come!!

"YOU'RE THE ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER??"

Imagine everyone's surprise when they find out the Assistant LD has never been in a lighting class or has no experience. That's what I experienced yesterday. For the past two days, we have been hanging lights in the theater. My professor asked me, "Erin, are you comfortable with telling people what to do and assigning them jobs? Because I need you to be the Master Electrician." Master Electrician?!? I barely know what I'm doing as it is! However, I told her I didn't have a problem being in charge (of course not!) and then I prayed that everything would miraculously fall into place. The first day, I was timid, until I got into the rhythm of things. Of course we had some kinks- such as me not being one step ahead of everyone and keeping them busy, or other students not sure of what to do. But once you get going, you start understanding the terminology, know where each circuit is, know how to change light barrels while on the ladder, and so forth. I had begun to feel a little bit comfortable in this new world. Then yesterday, I was explaining a task to a student volunteer, and he asked the most obvious question, "You're the assistant lighting designer and you have no experience?? Wow- you have guts!" I had never thought of it like that and I had never realized how crazy it was that I didn't know anything... until then. But I am still enjoying this new world that I've entered, and I feel like I'm becoming semi-good at what I"m doing. It all takes time and practice!

Some pictures of our light hang:

Take Two!

Over the past month, I have been busy learning how to create my "own" lighting show for My Children, My Africa!, as well as preparing paperwork for the real show. My professor has done a great job of teaching the step-by-step process for a lighting designer. One of my tasks was to create a cue sheet as discussed in the previous post:


After the light cue sheet, digital lighting keys (drawings that indicate the plan angles and color of the various sources that illuminate the image of light) need to be created. The light keys are great learning tools that help the designer establish what direction the light is coming from and how the light will hit the actor. An example of a lighting key we will use in My Children, My Africa! looks like this:


After the cue sheet and the keys are drawn, the lighting designer can begin to design the light plot. The light plot is a "scale mechanical drawing that indicates where the lighting instruments should be placed." The main purpose of the light plot is to depict the exact location of each light being used in the production. The plot shows the location of the sets in relation to they physical structure of the theater and includes a legend describing each of the symbols used on the plot. In order to draft the light plot, several drawings from the production team are needed: ground plans of the scenic design, sections of the scenic design, a scale ground plan of the stage, a scale section of the stage, and a layout for the stage lighting system of the theater. Here is the final light plot for My Children, My Africa!:



When determining the lighting instrument size for your plot, you need to know the maximum throw distance of the light. The throw distance determines how far light from the instrument travels from its hanging position to the center of its area focus. This is important, because each size of light carries a certain distance.


As you can see, there are many different steps that go into designing the lights of a production. Now that the light plot is completed, we will begin hanging and focusing the lights on the stage!

Information taken from:
-Designing With Light: an Introduction to Stage Lighting, J. Michael Gillette