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- You need to figure out what the lights available to you are and what they do. Have someone explain the uses of Source Fours, PARs, LEDs to you, as well as what gels are. See the page /page not created yet/ for some some of the references for more of this information.
- You should be familiar with the idea of a light plot and the information people expect on it - readability and actual content. See the attached example plot, and ask people for plots in the same space as you're working. Generally, you should try to at least be able to light people from the front and the back. Colors, side light and other things are even more exciting. Make sure you have light in all the places people walk (go to Designer Run to find out where that is).
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There are various types of lighting instruments available to you. In Sala, you have Source 4 ellipsoidals, Source 4 PARnels (mostly like a fresnel, but in the formfactor of a Source 4 PAR), scoops, strip lights, and a few miscellaneous fresnels and other things. In KLT, you'll have Source 4s, Source 4 PARs (the normal interchangeable-lens ones, not PARnels), fresnels, cyc cells (both hanging and ground-row), and strip lights. (Beware: the KLT strips are notoriously unreliable. We recommend not using them.) See "references" below for some more information about the functions of these different types of fixtures, if you are just learning or if you'd like a refresher.
Jake Gunter wrote: "Use VectorWorks for your plot, unless you have a really good reason for using another CAD software. (VectorWorks offers a free student version; they may ask you to send them a picture of your student ID in order to download it.) Whatever you do, don't draw your plot by hand. Hand-drawn plots stopped being cool before you were born. VectorWorks template files of both Sala and KLT are attached to this page, for your use. If you're new to VectorWorks, a quick googling should bring you some good tutorials. (An in-person training from a competent experienced drafter is always a better option, though.)"
In my (Christopher Cassidy's) opinion, Vectorworks is not worth learning how to use if you are just starting out, or if you don't think you are going to LD multiple shows (read: there was no LD for this show so you got forced to do it), or if you are not a hardkore 1337 LD (read: <50 lights, <50 cues, and that's just fine), or if you have an even remotely weak computer (Vectorworks takes like 2-3 minutes to boot up on an average PC laptop). I (LD for multiple shows, done lights for years, E33 President) don't like it and don't really use it. It also has egregious compatibility issues (if someone makes something in VWX 2018, you can't read it in VWX 2017, etc.). There should be plots (.vwx and .pdf) attached to this page. I find hand-drawn light and cable plots very helpful, at least in the planning stages, so you don't misclick something in VWX and then spend 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get back to the view you had before. If your plot is simple, a hand-drawn plot is just fine. If you want a slightly more elegant plot, importing a screenshot into the glorious meme-studios of PowerPoint and MS Paint and just using circles/squares etc. for your instruments could work.
While creating your plot, you should decide channel numbers for every instrument. A "channel" on the light board represents a complete connection of instrument(s) to dimmer(s), or addresses for intelligent instrumentsWhile creating your plot, you should decide channel numbers for every instrument. A "channel" on the light board represents a complete connection of instrument(s) to dimmer(s). During focus and afterwards you will probably refer to channel numbers (example: “bring up channel 19”). As such, it is important that the channel number arrangement makes sense to you so you can refer to the correct instrument/s quickly and easily. Some designers organize their channel numbers linearly along pipes; others organize their channel numbers by purpose (for example: front light is chs. 1-10, back light chs. 11-20, etc.). When working with intelligent instruments (LEDs, moving lights, etc.), allocating the way channels and addresses can become a bit complicatedwork is slightly not-obvious. If you don't know/remember how DMX addresses work, see the Master Electrician Master Electrician page and the patch section of this page. Don't leave figuring out addresses for later, because it will cost a lot of time and pushing scaff around to fix.
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Before starting put-in you should have some paperwork done. A channel sheet that tells what channel corresponds to what instrument, the focus of that instrument and which gel or gobo (if any) and any extra notes. Additionally which circuits (or addresses) correspond to a channel is also stated on this sheet. You should also make a magic sheet that shows each instrument organized by purpose. This sheet shows the lights in their general positions and which direction their beams will point.
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Picking general the colors of your light is not difficult however deciding which particular gel to use is. Rosco, Lee and GAM (which is also happens to be quietly owned by Rosco) are the three major types of gels used, with Rosco being the most widely used. Some of the questions you have to ask when picking a color are: what effect will this color have on stage? (Example R02 is warm but not overpowering, the feel will be sunny but not yellow). How will the set/costumes/actors look under this color light? (No one looks healthy in green light). Picking through hundreds of various gels is fairly frustrating, advice can be found on the Rosco website (they have good descriptions of what effect each gel has) and by asking those who know (again Karen is a good source). Color is part of what makes lighting design an art form; don’t leave the decisions to the last minute. The Ensemble has a collection of gels: you can buy more at Backstage Hardware or order from ALPS. Someone will probably have to go to Backstage Hardware for something else at some point: coordinate with the TD to save trips.
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Focus is the time for the LD to be the star. You are responsible for each light being focused in the correct position, you make sure that each lamp is casing light in the way and in the area you intended when making your plot. However you decide to run focus is fine as long as you get each lamp light to do what you want in a reasonable amount of time. Remember to minimize how long you keep each light on, because they get hot rapidly.
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Having appropriate lighting backstage is a big help. This includes a lamp at booth (there should be a clip lamp with a blue gel over it in the office) and light for actors backstage (especially near the props table). On some occasions we've had a dedicated stage light for the backstage area that's just on dim for the duration of the show. Alternatively you can use the lights under spacedock. They're controlled by the lightswitch on on the column north of space dock (just the normal switch, not the panel. That controls the house lights). If half of the spacedock lights are blacked out (paper or black foil taped over the light works great) and half are gelled blue (gel the light not the waffle) that is incredibly useful.
Equipment the Ensemble Owns
As It is the job of the lighting equipment manager (term job) to keep track of these things and update this list. As of 2/27/18 the Shakespeare Ensemble owns and stores in its office:
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- e33: a student run production company. You can rent instruments from them (like 19 degree Source 4 ellipsoidals or color-mixing LEDs, which do not exist in Sala inventory). Email e33@mit.edu.
- ALPS/4Wall Boston: A lighting company located in Randolph MA, about a 20-30 minute drive from campus if you leave at noon, a 1.5 hour drive if you leave at 4PM. Useful if you want to rent more exciting equipment: like a black-light, strobe, etc. Visit their website here.
- High Output: A lighting company with an office in Brighton MA, from whom you can buy gels and rent other stuff (like ALPS).
- Josh Higgason: a wonderfully nice nice.
- Meredith Sibley, CAC Manager. She can help you with any logistical issues you run may run into. Email: mfsibley@mit.edu
- Mike Bromberg: Class of 1970, does lighting for G&S and MTG. Can be spotted in the wild by his tie-dye plumage. Extremely knowledgeable; also owns lots of equipment and will rent to student group for cheap. Here is his price list and inventory as of Spring 2012. As of 2018 we don't particularly like him anymore for personal reasons, and he may be banned from MTG/G&S.
References and resources
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