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the role of the LIGHTING designer

If you chose to serve on the LIGHTING DESIGN TEAM for this semester's Advanced Acting show, you are responsible for participating in design team meetings as well as growing as a designer during the rehearsal and performance process.

 

If serving on the Lighting Design Team, you are ALSO responsible for independently learning about the role of a lighting designer as outlined below. 

 

Please be sure you have your Process Journal to reflect on your process/journey.

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PART II: REHEARSAL & DESIGN PROCESS

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(LEARNING / APPLYING)

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Task: INDEPENDENT LEARNING/GROWTH  (Weekly Formative Grade):  Each week, you  must complete at least ONE reading/video, (or video series) listed below ​and respond in your Advanced Acting PROCESS JOURNAL.​

  • You don't need to complete in order. You can pick/choose what is most interesting and/or useful to you each week.

  • You MUST watch/read each learning activity with a star (*).  You can decide which week(s) you watch/do the starred items

 

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*Video "Series":  Watch these videos FIRST:

Stage Lighting: The Design Process (5:33)

 The Lighting Design Process (10:23)

Journal Title:  Lighting Design Terms 

  1. Take notes on the process (what you do for each step) and terms (new terms and definitions) that you need to know for lighting design.  (answer this question for the FIRST video)

  2. Take detailed notes on the process of creating light design - especially as it relates to our task of lighting this semester's show in the black box.   

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Video:  How Does Stage Lighting Work? (7:11)

Journal Title:  How Stage Lighting Works

  1. Describe useful lighting information you learned from watching this video.

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*Video: Working in the Theatre: Lighting Design (23:06)

Journal Title:  Main role of a Lighting Designer

  1. What is the role of a lighting designer?  (stated right away in several ways - jot down all of them)

  2. What information does the lighting designer need to work through with the director in order to do her/his job well? (4:30-)

  3. What does a lighting designer do (5:17) when she reads the script?  What is the next step after reading the script?  With what is the lighting designer helping the director?

  4. What factors, throughout this video, must a lighting designer have to consider when creating a lighting design?

  5. What do you feel, after watching this video, are the TOP 3 skills that lighting designers need/use most?

  6. (21:00)  What has to "drive the technical choices"?  

  7. What did you learn or what were you inspired by during this video?

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Video:  What I Do: Lighting Design with Alberto Segarra (7:16)

Journal Title:  Emotional Response of Lighting

1. What did you like and learn about this lighting designer's approach to designing lights for a show?  (He says a lot of insightful things and has interesting approaches - listen careful and to the whole video.)

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*Video "Series":  

THEATRICAL LIGHTING | Building a Complete Stage Lighting Rig (6:23)

2 Ways You Need To Think When Designing a Lighting Rig (7:45)

Journal Title:  Planning a lighting rig

  1. Describe what you learned about direction, focus, and types of lighting (and the effects each creates).  Don't worry about the names of all the fixture - just focus on what types of looks directional light and color creates on the actor(s) on stage.

  2. Think about our show and the different types of looks needed in each scene.  Determine what types of key, fill, and backlight are needed in each scene according to our set design and staged action.  Take notes on your initial ideas.  This will inform the decisions of where to hang fixtures, and how many will be needed.

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*Video: Lighting Design Feature: Lighting 101 (3:06)

Journal Title:  Hanging & Focusing light 

  1. Describe what you learned about hang and focus, and think through what you'll need to do in the black box to both hang and focus lights.  (What/who will you need?  What kind of time and supplies will you need? 

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Video "Series": 

The Genius of Dear Evan Hansen's Lighting Design (3:13)

WICKED Lighting: Lighting Plot (3:27)

Behind the Epic, Tony-Nominated Beetlejuice Lighting Design (3:10)

Journal Title:  Subconscious meaning of lighting

  1. What inspires you about the lighting design and meaning of lighting in these videos?  (be specific)

  2. What new things did you learn about the technical aspects of lighting from these videos? (be specific)

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Video:  Lighting 101: Direction of Light for Film (6:35) / Lighting 101: Quality of Light (7:24)

Journal Title:  Lighting Direction

 List the different directions/types of light and benefits/results of each.  (Although this video is for film, the same lighting principles still apply.)

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Video: The Basics of Stage Lighting (10:16) AND Intro to Stage Lighting by John Schmidt

Journal Title:  Lighting Fixtures 

1.  List the different types of lighting fixtures and benefits/characteristics of each.  (Although you will mostly be using LED's in the Black Box, you should know the names and benefits of various types of theatre fixtures.  You will be getting more one-on-one instruction from John Schmidt if/when he is available.)

2. What is the "best" way to light an actor on stage?

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EXPLORE MORE (optional):

 

(This list will be added to over time.  Let KP know if you find any helpful information that could be useful to future Advanced Acting students.)

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