Help!

[marcusianl]

Hi everyone,

I'm a rising Junior at a suburban high school. We had a renovation this past January of our auditorium and received a good amount of Source Four 19 and 36 degree fixtures, along with 6 tri-color strips and a whole slew of PARnels. We are still using the Cyc lights from before the renovation since they function pretty well for the size of our theatre (about 700 seats). We have one teacher in our drama department who knows next to nothing about technical theatre.

I'm extremely interested in tech, especially lighting design, but I'm not really in a good place to learn much about it educationally. Myself and two other students are the only people in the entire school who know how to run the boards (For lighting that would be an ETC Express). We can set up and run everything pretty well and we do some trial-and-error lighting design, but we don't really have any sort of official procedure or anything. It's usually one person up in the catwalk yelling down to a person on the stage who in turn yells to someone in the booth to change the dimmer and see if that wash has any black spots.

I guess what I'm asking is: Where should I start? What resources and/or programs should I be looking into to make up for my lack of formal education in high school? I've read most of the Lighting Design 101 website but other than that have had no actual education in any sort of lighting design. Any tips or tricks or just general advice would be a great help since really I'm working with the assumptions I've made about how light behaves and what I've picked up from designers at other shows.

Much appreciated,
Marcus

[NickJones]

Well, here is a good start, (by the way, introduce yourself in the new members section) you will be amazed how much you learn just by reading the posts.

A lot can be learned from books, websites, but probably the best way to learn would be to enrol in a dedicated course or just get as much hands on experience as possible. Contact your local theatres, tell them your situation and they might take you on as a volunteer, or they might be able to put you in contact with local amateur theatre groups. Amateur theatre is great because you meet a lot of like minded people, offer to do a follow spot, or help bump in or bump out a show. Don't be too cocky, and be open about how much you know, as you don't want them to ask you to re-weight the flies, and you to guess, ask any questions that come to mind, there is a good corroborative article about this.

All of these things will get you hands on experience in learning how to do lighting, maybe contact whoever did your renovation and ask nicely for a training day with one of there guys. A few of the local hire/sales guys around here do that, free for schools. Also teach your drama teacher, if they have no idea explain to them, it makes you look smarter, helps them out when they have problems, and also increases your chances of getting more new stuff.
Here is a list of books you might consider getting:

• A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting - Steven Louis Shelley - IBSN 0240803531
• Basics - A Beginners Guide to Stage Lighting - Peter Coleman - IBSN 1-904031-20-X
• Stage Lighting Design- Richard Pilbrow - 0-89676-235-1

Nick

[NickJones]

Oh, just found this Book List another epic post by Ship. All the books you could ever want are there.
Nick

[derekleffew]

Not quite "all the books you could ever want." The Collaborative Article, Theatre Books is slightly more complete, although "ship's list" was the impetus.

One of CB's long-term projects is to create a search-able bibliography of research material. Stay tuned.

[NickJones]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

One of CB's long-term projects is to create a search-able bibliography of research material. Stay tuned.

I thought we already had that, his name is Ship

[seanandkate]

Or if both those lists are a bit daunting lengthwise, I would also add Designing with Light by Gillette to Nick's list. It's short enough to get your head around. Good luck, and welcome to the game!

[gafftaper]

Make some phone calls to your local community theaters and tell them you would like to volunteer to help their lighting crew, so you can learn how to use what you have at your space. You can learn a ton if you find the right theater with the right people.