stage lighting design how many footcandles

If everything in a space is lit to 300 fc, the eye has no focal point and there’s nothing to draw the eye or compel it to stay focused on the subject. (Bruce Springsteen 2009 Lighting design by Jeff Ravitz.)įocusing attention is as much a function of lighting contrast, or the difference in illumination levels between the areas of interest and the areas of less importance, as it is a function of overall illuminance levels. If you’re lighting a stage with a band or an actor, then the subject(s) should be illuminated sufficiently for the audience to see ( Figure 1).įigure 2: A lighting system can help compel the eye to stay focused on the subject by illuminating it more than its surroundings. Visibility is one of the most important goals of a lighting design.

Some of the more common lighting design criteria are outlined in the following sections. Before beginning a new lighting design project, you should know exactly what your goals and objectives are and how you’re going to achieve them.īefore ever putting pen to paper or laying out a plot, you should have a list of priorities. No one would begin a journey without first knowing where they want to go. The way Anne Militello of Vortex Lighting expressed it was, “Just because it can move doesn’t mean that it has to move.” The corollary to that might be that all movement and color change isn’t necessarily good use them with purpose and discretion. Since automated lighting first became commercially available, the same adage about using automated lights or some variation of it has been uttered many times. The flip side of the coin is that indiscriminate use of automated lighting can be utterly disastrous. The difference is that the capabilities are greater, the possibilities virtually limitless, and the results can be more spectacular. The same design goals typically apply, the techniques are very similar if not the same, and the results, if the designer has met the goals of the design, can be similar. – James Turrell, artist known for his use of light in artĭesigning with automated lighting is really not much different than designing with conventional fixtures. Seeing is a very sensuous act there’s a sweet deliciousness to feeling yourself see something.

I like feeling the power of light and space physically because then you can order it materially. With a little more exposure to light, you feel part of things physically. We eat light, drink it in through our skins. This article is excerpted from the author’s “Automated Lighting, 3rd Edition,” published by Routledge and available here.

Stage lighting design how many footcandles