Stage Lighting Revealed: A Design and Execution Handbook

Lighting is a blend of the aesthetic and the technical that can create an infinite number of dramatic effects. Good lighting design completes the emotional and literal portrayals of any performance piece, accenting words, music, and movement. Stage Lighting Revealed explains what designers need to know when creating or executing an effective lighting design, including: understanding the basic functions of lighting and the qualities of light used to carry out these functions; understanding the equipment that will be used, including its mechanics and functions; deciding what they want to create, or say, with lighting; laying out the visual messages they wish to convey; creating original interpretations with light; determining how the design can be executed. Cunningham s reader-friendly introduction to stage lighting and design is ideal for getting prospective lighting designers started on their own journey. Readers are encouraged to experiment and tap their creativity by selecting from the processes and techniques detailed throughout the book. Many diagrams, charts, and photographs complement and enhance the concepts presented in the text. Among the topics discussed are: using color to play to the audience s emotions; what to consider when you place instruments in the five basic lighting positions; breaking a performance into lighting moments, laying the lighting design, and bringing that design to life; using and maintaining the many types of stage lighting fixtures; commonsense troubleshooting; stretching your lighting budget; pulling off a successful load-in, production, and postproduction.