direction/angle |
The direction of the light is based on two points in space: The point at which the instrument is hung and the point at which the light reaches the stage. Carefully consideration of these factors by the designer can determine visibility of the actor, depth and detail of the scenery, as well as other areas such as given circumstances and mood.
Systems are most often described based on the direction or angle that the light reaches the stage. If an actor is standing on the stage facing the audience, and a light hits her from the front, it is Front Light. Likewise, if that light is pushed off to the side of the front of house lighting position, therefore hitting the actor from a diagonal, rather than straight on, it is a Diagonal Front Light. And so on. Occasionally, though, we may describe the light based on its position. This is most common for lights that are on the floor rather than above the stage. Dance uses a lot of side light- so much that simply calling it 'side light' is not descriptive enough. So Dance sides are often described based on the position on the boom: Shinbuster or Shin for the light at the bottom (named in honor and memory of countless bruises on the lower extremities of dancer and stagehand alike), Mid and Head High for lights hung higher.
See the images below for a rough equivalent of what each of these angles may look like:
Systems are most often described based on the direction or angle that the light reaches the stage. If an actor is standing on the stage facing the audience, and a light hits her from the front, it is Front Light. Likewise, if that light is pushed off to the side of the front of house lighting position, therefore hitting the actor from a diagonal, rather than straight on, it is a Diagonal Front Light. And so on. Occasionally, though, we may describe the light based on its position. This is most common for lights that are on the floor rather than above the stage. Dance uses a lot of side light- so much that simply calling it 'side light' is not descriptive enough. So Dance sides are often described based on the position on the boom: Shinbuster or Shin for the light at the bottom (named in honor and memory of countless bruises on the lower extremities of dancer and stagehand alike), Mid and Head High for lights hung higher.
See the images below for a rough equivalent of what each of these angles may look like:
Front lightFront light is specifically in the rig to provide visibility for the actors. Lights are hung in the Front of House positions: catwalks, truss or beam positions over the heads of the audience, and pointed at the stage so that actors can be clearly visible to the audience.
So the advantages are clear- with front light, the actors on stage can be clearly seen. However, the downside is that too much front light tends to flatten out the three dimensional shapes (including the actors). In other words, front light does a lousy job sculpting objects in space. So designing with front light is always a balancing act: use enough front light to make faces visible, but balance that front light with enough other angles to make the actors look like 3-dimensional objects.
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Top/back lightLights hung above and/or behind the actors on the stage is valuable to create the environment around the actor. Additionally, depending on how the designer chooses to use these angles, it is also a good way to shape the actors, give them depth and to pop them out from the background.
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Side Light
Side light is also very useful in giving shape to the people on stage. Side light hung on overhead battens are called "High Sides", while side light hung on booms are sometimes called "Low Sides" or "Dance Sides" (even when used in non-dance productions).
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other common angles
These angles (specifically pertaining to the actors) are a very good start when thinking about lighting direction, but the direction of the light is ultimately defined by the infinite possibilities of places you as a designer can place an instrument. Here are a few more common ways to use the element of direction in your design:
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The McCandless Method
Early in the 20th century, Dr. Stanley McCandless- who was a design professor at Yale University published a couple of books about lighting. A Method of Lighting the Stage has been used as a reference for hundreds of lighting designers since that time, and is a good start when creating 'realistic' lighting designs.
The basis of Dr. McCandless's system is a system of diagonal front lights arranged 45° forward from the subject, and 45° up in the air. If one of these front lights is colored with a warm color filter, and the other is in a complementary cool color filter, the designer is able to achieve a good facsimile of 'natural' lighting. Adding in additional lights from top, back or side directions, this remains a popular method to light the stage. |
Often when a designer builds a plot using the McCandless method, the intention is to create compositions that rely on the concept of key light and fill light. The idea here is that the brightest light in the composition defines the motivational light source, (e.g. the sun, a window, an electric lamp), and then 'fills' in the opposite side with reflected, or diffused light. This is an over-generalization that will be adjusted to whatever situation you're lighting, of course, but it is a good way to start thinking about composing a lighting look.
In the best situation, when using the McCandless method, you should have both a warm and a cool coming from each of the diagonal front light positions to give yourself maximum flexibility. What we typically find, when using a conventional lighting rig, the numbers of fixtures in the inventory, and the multitude of other priorities elsewhere in the rig, we often find that we can only devote one of these systems to each side of the stage. Obviously, this is an area that color changing LED fixtures are a great advantage.
This leads to a major flaw in the practical use of the McCandless system. In most realistic plays, the actors spend a lot of time facing each other in conversation, therefore placing themselves in profile to the audience. This leads to compositional challenges with the warm/cool McCandless system. See the next set of images for an example:
In the best situation, when using the McCandless method, you should have both a warm and a cool coming from each of the diagonal front light positions to give yourself maximum flexibility. What we typically find, when using a conventional lighting rig, the numbers of fixtures in the inventory, and the multitude of other priorities elsewhere in the rig, we often find that we can only devote one of these systems to each side of the stage. Obviously, this is an area that color changing LED fixtures are a great advantage.
This leads to a major flaw in the practical use of the McCandless system. In most realistic plays, the actors spend a lot of time facing each other in conversation, therefore placing themselves in profile to the audience. This leads to compositional challenges with the warm/cool McCandless system. See the next set of images for an example:
In these images, the warm fixture is coming from audience left, and the cool fixture is coming from audience right. The actor on the left has a warm hotspot on the back of her head, and her face is largely illuminated by the dimmer fill light. Even though the two actors are essentially being lit by the same fixtures, and are physically close to one another on stage, the actor on the right draws significantly more focus, and there's not much that the lighting designer can do within this visibility based system to fix that.
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This is perhaps a symptom of the changes that have happened in theatre over the last 100 years since McCandless developed this system. With the advent of more realistic action on stage, and also the increasing use of microphones in large auditoriums, actors 'cheat out' less than they perhaps did in the past. With a slight cheat to the front to aid the projection of the voice, the actors would also move their faces more into the diagonal front light systems.
One of the ways that lighting designers have begun adjusting their method of lighting faces in response to this change in convention on stage is to shift away from a diagonal front light method of creating visibility to a system that relies more on high side light.
One of the ways that lighting designers have begun adjusting their method of lighting faces in response to this change in convention on stage is to shift away from a diagonal front light method of creating visibility to a system that relies more on high side light.
High Sides Method
One of the major weaknesses to the McCandless system is that it relies so heavily on front light that it is sometimes difficult to provide enough other angles to really sculpt the actors. Therefore, another way to approach lighting has become more popular. The thinking is to not begin from the front, but from the sides. Because actors are not always facing front, high side lights help to light actors' faces well in many situations. By lighting the actors with high side lights, and then using just enough front light to fill in the shadowy line that tends to appear on the forehead and nose of an actor, the designer can achieve good visibility and good dimensionality in the same three point system.
These two images demonstrate how using high side lights to key your composition, you can create a conversational look in profile that gives equal emphasis to both actors. The light comes in at a high enough angle to avoid shadows from the other actor (if these actors were full-body, you would see one actor's shadow falling on the body of the other actor, but below the face).
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Direction in non-proscenium spaces
Most of the theory about lighting angle assumes that the audience is looking at the subject all from roughly the same direction- such as sitting in the house of a Proscenium theatre. However, lots of productions take place in non-proscenium spaces, and the standard descriptions of 'front light', 'side light', and 'back light' tend to lose meaning quickly! (Top light stays the same- whew.)
When working in a non-proscenium theatre, you always need to consider all of the seats in the audience, but also realizing that different people get a different show. A front light for one audience member is a back light for another.
When working in a non-proscenium theatre, you always need to consider all of the seats in the audience, but also realizing that different people get a different show. A front light for one audience member is a back light for another.