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How to Choose Lighting for a Small Production
HOW TO 
Tags: Lighting, Stage Production, Small Projects
Lights, Camera, Action! Lighting can be one of the most important aspects of a production. When putting on a small one choosing the correct lighting can be a little more challenging. Here are some great tips to make sure that your show is a hit!
| 1. | Try to find a place to buy or rent lights. Local rental shops will have lights as will theatrical supply companies. Many local theatres and auditoriums might have lights available to borrow. |
| 2. | Do the fixtures have compatible power connectors? There are three types of plugs in the lighting world: Edison (like the ones in your house), stage pin, and twist-lock. |
| 3. | Do they fit your performance? You don't want to buy huge instruments when you have nothing but stands to put lights on. |
| 4. | Do they need to be dimmed? Some lights are not able to be dimmed. |
| 5. | If you are renting or borrowing, how long can you keep them? The more time you can spend experimenting with your lights, the better. |
| 6. | For theatre or dance productions you will need to accommodate for scene changes with different light levels, colors and angles. You may need additional lights or lights that can change their color and/or position automatically. |
| 7. | Automated lights need special control consoles and are quite complex. Make sure that you have everything you need to support an automated fixture. |
| 8. | Don't forget effects! If you are doing an awards show or lecture, you will probibly need just white light in the same spot all the time at the same level. Lights for this type of production do not have to dim. |
| 9. | For just straight white light, you can use any of the three basic types of instruments: ellipsoidal, fresnel, and PAR. Ellipsoidals can produce a hard edged beam that is concentrated in one spot. Fresnels produce a "soft" type light. PARs are a cheap alternative to Fresnels. They produce a nice, round, even wash of light. Only ellipsoidals can project patterns and effects. Rock bands should get a lot of PARs. |
| 10. | Think about the size of your event. Events using only six or eight lights need to get some PARs and maybe some small fresnels or small ellipsiodals. You don't need big lights for small venues. For shows using over 15 lights, it is a good idea to expand and have a variety of lights, especially if your event is dance or theatre. |
| 11. | Test to see how bright they are and how far they will shine without losing too much light. See how wide the beam is. Most Fresnels and some ellipsoidal instruments have a "focus variable" where a lens can be moved to get a wider/narrower beam. |
| 12. | For awards shows, don't add any color. |
| 13. | For rock bands, keep no color on the performer lights, and very deep and primary colors for accent light. |
| 14. | For theatre, you will need to add color very carefully. Try talking to someone who knows what they are doing. |
| 15. | For dance, on the sidelights, use medium tones and experiment with warm and cool colors. |
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