Quote:
Originally Posted by Les
Lastly, light the stage first. Then add the eye candy.
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What he said, except that IMHO it should be "Firstly" instead of "Lastly".
How I was taught was that your first job is to illuminate the action. Your second job is to provide the director what the director wants. Your third job is to provide what the script asks for. When you have all of those bases covered you get to make it arty.
Of course your goal is to do the first three things in a way that adds up to art. But if your art is getting in the way of the audience seeing what they need to see your art gets cut.
As a beginning designer, keep it simple. Illuminate the stage, cover the directors needs and make the space look like what the script asks for. As for art... don't worry so much about that. Usually it shows up somewhere in the mix. Try to pick a moment in the show that really speaks to you and if you can, make your statement there; but don't get married to any particular artistic idea of your own.
Theatre's a collaborative art form and lighting is as subjective as an art form gets so you're always going to be being asked to do it differently than you'd choose if it were just you. Remember that the audience doesn't know what you pre-visualized. They only know whether it looks professional or not, and if it does, well, that shade of blue that isn't exactly what you imagined... it'll do.