One of the most important functions of light, and sometimes the most difficult for a young designer to accomplish effectively, is the ability to sculpt the people and objects on stage so that they appear to be three-dimensional. But wait- in live theatre, aren't the actors and objects already 3D? Why does the lighting designer need to make them appear to be 3D?
Modeling (also sometimes referred to as revealing form or sculpting) is the art of lighting an object in such a way that the details of its shape can be revealed to the viewer. You may have heard of the concept of 'popping the actor out from the background', or perhaps that actors 'look flat' in the lighting. These are both phrases that are related to modeling.
Modeling is primarily a function of the direction, or angle of the light source. Front light, especially straight-on front light coming in at a shallow angle tends to be the source that flattens out the subject. Sometimes this is a desired effect- if we're lighting a newscaster in HD, we often don't want to have dramatic side lighting that shows every skin wrinkle. A front light coming from roughly the same viewing angle will fill in all of those little crevices, helping to reveal the actor's face, while hiding some of the less desirable details. The further a designer pushes that light away from the viewing angle will start to reveal more and more of those little details, because each of those details casts its own individual shadow, creating texture in the composition.
We can use this principle of pushing the angle of light away from the viewing angle to reveal the form of our subjects. A top or back light focused on a person will create contrast between the subject and the background by creating a 'halo' or 'glow' on the head and shoulders of the actor. The function here is that you are creating a highlight to make the edge of the object stand out from that which is around it.
When lighting dance, modeling the dancers' form is one of the most important functions of lighting. Choreographers work with dancers to create visual shapes with their whole selves. Lighting designers for dance will usually place lighting fixtures in the wings of a proscenium theatre, either mounted on the floor or on booms to create strong side light. This side light is effective in highlighting both sides of the dancer on stage, allowing for excellent modeling of the forms they are creating. By using side light, the highlighted outline of the dancer moves along with the dancer as they change their form.
Modeling (also sometimes referred to as revealing form or sculpting) is the art of lighting an object in such a way that the details of its shape can be revealed to the viewer. You may have heard of the concept of 'popping the actor out from the background', or perhaps that actors 'look flat' in the lighting. These are both phrases that are related to modeling.
Modeling is primarily a function of the direction, or angle of the light source. Front light, especially straight-on front light coming in at a shallow angle tends to be the source that flattens out the subject. Sometimes this is a desired effect- if we're lighting a newscaster in HD, we often don't want to have dramatic side lighting that shows every skin wrinkle. A front light coming from roughly the same viewing angle will fill in all of those little crevices, helping to reveal the actor's face, while hiding some of the less desirable details. The further a designer pushes that light away from the viewing angle will start to reveal more and more of those little details, because each of those details casts its own individual shadow, creating texture in the composition.
We can use this principle of pushing the angle of light away from the viewing angle to reveal the form of our subjects. A top or back light focused on a person will create contrast between the subject and the background by creating a 'halo' or 'glow' on the head and shoulders of the actor. The function here is that you are creating a highlight to make the edge of the object stand out from that which is around it.
When lighting dance, modeling the dancers' form is one of the most important functions of lighting. Choreographers work with dancers to create visual shapes with their whole selves. Lighting designers for dance will usually place lighting fixtures in the wings of a proscenium theatre, either mounted on the floor or on booms to create strong side light. This side light is effective in highlighting both sides of the dancer on stage, allowing for excellent modeling of the forms they are creating. By using side light, the highlighted outline of the dancer moves along with the dancer as they change their form.
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We reveal form not only on actors, but also on physical objects. When you are lighting a play with scenery, it is important to pay attention to the textures that the scenic designer has employed. Some objects, if lit only from the front will flatten out in the same way as an actor's face will. But if the light is swung around to skim across the surface, shadows are created, and the lighting can reveal the physical depth of the object.
In this image, there is a wrinkled paper cyc behind a translucent curtain. By skimming light across the cyc from the side, each part of the cyc catches different levels of highlight and shadow creating a dynamic texture for the scenic element. |
A subset of focus and intensity is composition. If you have studied set design, you are probably well aware of the idea that the arrangement of objects on the stage is just as important as the objects themselves. Likewise, the director must place the actors in position on stage in order to create the intended 'stage picture'. The same is true in lighting. By adjusting the intensity on actors and areas of the stage, the lighting designer has a large amount of influence on the composition of the physical environment.
Images on this page: Kinky Boots, Shooting Star, UTDC Concert 2022, Dancing at Lughnasa 2022