For the electrician or the student on the book
Theatre lighting basics, angle before colour
Theatre lighting is a different craft from concert lighting and it is built in a different order. Concert work leads with colour and movement; theatre leads with angle and area, because the job is to make a face readable and a space believable from every seat. Level and colour are the last two decisions, not the first.
The order to do it in
Step 1
Divide the stage into areas and cover each one. An area nobody can act in is a hole an actor will find on opening night.
Step 2
Light each area from two front angles rather than one, so a face has form instead of being flattened.
Step 3
Add back and side light. Back separates the actor from the scenery, side gives the body shape, and between them they are most of what makes a stage look three-dimensional.
Step 4
Only now choose level, and only after level choose colour. Colour is the last decision because it modifies a picture that has to work in white first.
Step 5
Build the cues as a stack that tracks, so a change in one cue carries forward rather than needing to be typed into every cue after it.
Step 6
Block the cues that must not track, which is the other half of understanding tracking and the half that ruins runs when it is skipped.
Drills that practise this
Focus Session
Build the Look
Track Edit
Cue Stack Builder
Try it before you read more
Three briefs on a real club rig, scored on the stage you made, and you keep the picture. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.
Questions
Why two front angles instead of one?
One front light flattens a face into a mask. Two, from either side of centre, give the nose and cheekbones a shadow to work against, which is what makes an expression readable past the first few rows.
What does tracking actually mean?
A level you set in one cue stays until something changes it, so cues carry forward rather than each one restating the whole stage. It saves enormous time and it is also why an edit in cue 12 can surprise you in cue 40, which is what blocking a cue is for.
Is this the same as lighting a band?
No, and the difference is the order. A concert leads with colour, movement and energy. A theatre show leads with angle and area because the picture has to read as a place with people in it, and colour comes last.
More lighting guides
Stage lighting setup, in the order that actually works
Work out the order to aim and level a stage so it looks right from the seats and on camera.
DMX lighting explained, without the jargon
Understand what a DMX address is, why fixtures fight each other, and how to patch a rig without overlaps.
How to program a light show
Understand how a programmed show is built and why edits to one cue leak into later ones.
Stage lighting for small venues and bars
Make a small handful of fixtures in a low room look deliberate rather than thrown at the stage.
How to light a band
Know where to put light on a band so it looks like a show rather than a lit rehearsal.