Frontlight

lighttechie5948

Active Member
What ways are there to frontlight the stage?

I know there's dead on 90 degree frontlight, and the McCandles method.

How else can you frontlight a stage (with areas, not just washes)

Joe
 
There is pretty much McCandless and variations on it, straight on, three point (think of the person as the center of a circle and you place the lights every 120 degrees around them), and four point (same as above but divide it in four). Each of these has nuance and variance to it (with three point do you do it as actual three point front light (warm/cool/neutral) or do you do it with two front lights and a color). There are infinate variations on these, but really those 4 are the main ones.

Mike
 
What ways are there to frontlight the stage?

I know there's dead on 90 degree frontlight, and the McCandles method.

How else can you frontlight a stage (with areas, not just washes)

Joe

Um really there is no limit to the ways that you can frontlight, and even washes have areas. You can pick whatever front angle you like and hang lights.

The real problem is that people talk about the McCandless method like it is a law or the only way to do things. Lighting is an art, there is not wrong way unless you can't see the actors! Experiment, see what works and what you like.
 
I'm lighting High School Musical 2 next month.....initially I was thinking 90 degree dead on frontlight....because that's what I've always done. Is there something that would work better?
 
It all depends man. Straight on front light takes fewer units and dimmers, but it flattens out the face and doesn't provide any sculpting. You could start with a basic McCandless and work from there. if you have enough control to be able to push and pull cools and warms it really helps, expecially in the dance numbers for a show like High School Musical there you can do some funky dance numbers and such. I would start with McCandless front light and work from there, not knowing your show that is the best I can help you with.

Mike
 
90 degree frontlight was done at my high school for years before I came, I really developed lighting as it were there. This method is virtually fool proof, in that you always have light, but it tends to create real shadows on teh sides of actors faces. The reason I personally like McCandless and its variations is because you always get sufficient light on the front and at least one side of the actors face, and fill in the shadows with the fill light (cool).

My only real pet-peeves are a)Not being able to see the actors, given that its not a dramatic dim scene (which HSM clearly is not) and b) the designer does not utilize backlight to make the actors three dimensional.
 
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To echo what icewolf and esoteric said, there are several "methods" or "conventions" for lighting the stage that have pretty much become standard for front light because they are simple, effective and easy enough to execute in almost any venue with any equipment.

However, once the student of light (really, we are all students, because the learning process never stops - personal philosophy) has mastered and understood these methods, they are certainly free to design from whatever artistic or inspirational standpoint they find for the production at hand. Lighting is an art, there is no right or wrong way, but there is what works, and what doesn't work, and those are variables that are dependent on a whole host of factors.
 
I'm kinda against the McCandless method, especially for High School Musical. My reasoning is because Stanley McCandless created the McCandless method to create a realistic way to light shows. Nowadays, people don't want to see theatre for realism, they want to see a broadway piece. Especially for High School Musical 2, it is anything but REAL.
 
To echo what icewolf and esoteric said, there are several "methods" or "conventions" for lighting the stage that have pretty much become standard for front light because they are simple, effective and easy enough to execute in almost any venue with any equipment.

However, once the student of light (really, we are all students, because the learning process never stops - personal philosophy) has mastered and understood these methods, they are certainly free to design from whatever artistic or inspirational standpoint they find for the production at hand. Lighting is an art, there is no right or wrong way, but there is what works, and what doesn't work, and those are variables that are dependent on a whole host of factors.

I second that! At its heart much of my design can be traced back to those methods, much as in the same way that all computer languages point to machine language. But there are so many variations it would take thousands of threads to list everything all the designers on this board have done. But as an example I once had a traditional McCandless plot that I added a low level warm straight on front (from a sunset) from the balcony rail and purposefully used the spill to light the cyc (and filled in to cover any shadows by actors, which there werent many because I fuzzed out the ERSs), then added a hard edged second McCandless front wash from only one direction in a more saturate color.

Mike
 
Some comments were posted while I was typing a response:

McCandless is the standard, for good reasons. NOthing wrong with obeying his method, or going against it. In either case it should be a conscious decision.

As for back light, yes it's really nice, and something as simple as an R80 primary blue back wash can do wonders for a show, but some spaces just won't allow for it.

Talking about 90 degree front light, there are some different methods I have observed/employed. The most common is probably the R02 Bastard Amber front wash. Flat, single color one dimensional lighting. Probably the most common in the high school world, as somehow people get it into their heads that every front light must be bastard amber. A variation on this, and something that Esoteric was talking about, is a three color system. The basic method is to start out with a 90 degree light with a neutral color, and then, either using the McCandless two color system, from the Front of House position, the boxes or as high sides on the electrics/tormentors, one can tone and blend a scene using warm and cool lights from opposing directions. From this the limit is only your imagination.

So you are doing HSM. I would agree that visibility is the key. Especially in a high school show, parents want to see their kids, and directors seem to only know the phrase "I want it brighter". (Ok not all but I would hazard the say the large majority) McCandless will get your actors seen. If you are worried about color and flash for HSM, consider all your other hanging positions you may or may not have in your space. Top light, high side, side light booms, back light, foot light - all these and more are positions you can use saturated color from to give your show more interest. I have a bit of a personal vendetta against saturated colored front washes - i.e., an R26 medium red front wash in the same manner one might use an R02 bastard amber front wash. Both are flat and offer limited visual interest. Again, not saying they are wrong or should never be used, but in general, I dislike their effect.

When considering warm/cool filters for the McCandless system, you have a large selection to choose from. There is alot more than R33 no color pink and R60 no color blue. Get yourself a swatch book as look at color selections. See which are more saturated. Observe how a lavender gel can appear as a "warm" next to a blue gel, yet be a "cool" next to a pink gel.
 
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I evolved into using the McCandless method because it looks the most natural to me. It does not remove all shadows which is why I use it for most drama. If you remove all shadows you have lost a lot of the character in an actors face. I light the acting areas and try to keep the beams off the set as the stray light gives the set set enough illumination. If any light hits the set, I try to incorporate it into a picture or set decoration so the beam blends into the set. Once you start lighting the set it takes a lot more lights to do it evenly and the actors tend to blend into the set.

For musicals, I usually use 90 degree as I use a three colour wash so run short of lights and dimmer channels. However, I use a cyc, strong backlight and sidelight so the front light does not completely flatten the faces, but provides a fill light.

As the others have mentioned, there is no hard and fast method for lighting the stage, but the McCandless method is a good starting point.
 
I'm kinda against the McCandless method, especially for High School Musical. My reasoning is because Stanley McCandless created the McCandless method to create a realistic way to light shows. Nowadays, people don't want to see theatre for realism, they want to see a broadway piece. Especially for High School Musical 2, it is anything but REAL.

Do some research, while McCandless can be used to light a scene realistically it can also be used in a very unrealistic format. Also keep in mind that the point behind the font light is mainly (not totally, but mainly) visibility. SO you are looking for a light that sculpts the actors, gives them detail and shape, that can warm and cool the scene and makes them visible (all of which McCandless does). If you are in a proscenium space, three point it not really necessary, and four point is overkill. So McCandless gives you tons of options. Try using different colors in it, try different beam focus, etc.

Also keep in mind that your lighting for musical numbers will often look very different than the scene in the gym or classroom. In the case of HSM I would look to make the normal scenes very normal and then break out into a rock concert/dance concert for the music numbers. But that is just what I would want to do.

Don't pigeonhole McCandless, or any other lighting form (I have lit a play like a rock concert before).

Mike
 
Go Gaff! I love neutrals and what they can bring to the discussion. Yeah, I don't get the all font light being 02 either. Remember no color is a color!

The more saturate I was talking about was more like a R55 or R56 not R26. R26 front light? EWWWWWWWWWWWW....

Mike
 
The more saturate I was talking about was more like a R55 or R56 not R26. R26 front light? EWWWWWWWWWWWW....


Yes right I was merely using the R26 front light as an example. It's something I see done often enough in high school settings, and, likewise, the use of such a saturated gel as a dead on front wash is something I have a hard time stomaching.

His post hinted to me that he might be concerning about the McCandless method eating dimmers that he would use for front color washes, thus the 90 degree system becomes more attractive for conservation of dimmers.
 
Yes right I was merely using the R26 front light as an example. It's something I see done often enough in high school settings, and, likewise, the use of such a saturated gel as a dead on front wash is something I have a hard time stomaching.

His post hinted to me that he might be concerning about the McCandless method eating dimmers that he would use for front color washes, thus the 90 degree system becomes more attractive for conservation of dimmers.

Certainly, its the age old debate. If I do this, what will I give up to get it done? I start out by making my ideal plot and then deciding what I can let go to make everything fit.

Of course, you don't have to have each light be one area. I often do areas that have to be covered by more than one light (bigger areas in order to have temp control) or you can give up temp control, and have more individual areas (not as big for me in musicals with follow spots).

Mike
 
First you learn The Rules. Then you learn how to break them.

Most of what I light is at an ill-equipped high school and in community theatre (also poorly equipped) -- in fact, after I get done typing this I'm off to watch a rehearsal at the community theatre. At the high school, I have (42) 2.4ks total. Six of them are downstage of the grand. No floor pockets that are useful for much anything, and so on. The overhead electrics have a dozen circuits each, both of the two electrics. Not a lot to work with.

I use some variation on the straight-fronts method with sides and bax. I usually will twofer areas together, because like I said, there are a dozen circuits on each electric, and if I eat up five with fronts and five with bax then I've got two whole circuits left on that one pipe to do anything creative with. I start, in my head, with an ideal situation like Mike was describing, and then once I figure out what things I want to be able to do, I get out a piece of paper and list them by lighting positions (which have N circuits on them), and trim it back until it fits into the space. Usually I'll have to make compromises -- for example, when I lit Little Shop some years ago, I had to decide between curtain warmers and the dentist special. At the time it looked like I'd need warmers more, so I did that instead of the dentist special. Guess which one I really needed later? The other one.

Another trick that may not be obvious to everybody, especially in fancy high schools: every light doesn't have to be on its own dimmer. If you foresee running them together on the board, may as well plug them into the same hole (within the limits of the circuit and the dimmer); that frees up more circuits (and probably dimmers) to do other things with.
 
First you learn The Rules. Then you learn how to break them.

Most of what I light is at an ill-equipped high school and in community theatre (also poorly equipped) -- in fact, after I get done typing this I'm off to watch a rehearsal at the community theatre. At the high school, I have (42) 2.4ks total. Six of them are downstage of the grand. No floor pockets that are useful for much anything, and so on. The overhead electrics have a dozen circuits each, both of the two electrics. Not a lot to work with.

I use some variation on the straight-fronts method with sides and bax. I usually will twofer areas together, because like I said, there are a dozen circuits on each electric, and if I eat up five with fronts and five with bax then I've got two whole circuits left on that one pipe to do anything creative with. I start, in my head, with an ideal situation like Mike was describing, and then once I figure out what things I want to be able to do, I get out a piece of paper and list them by lighting positions (which have N circuits on them), and trim it back until it fits into the space. Usually I'll have to make compromises -- for example, when I lit Little Shop some years ago, I had to decide between curtain warmers and the dentist special. At the time it looked like I'd need warmers more, so I did that instead of the dentist special. Guess which one I really needed later? The other one.

Another trick that may not be obvious to everybody, especially in fancy high schools: every light doesn't have to be on its own dimmer. If you foresee running them together on the board, may as well plug them into the same hole (within the limits of the circuit and the dimmer); that frees up more circuits (and probably dimmers) to do other things with.

This is what I do Wayne. It is a good way to do things. Sometimes I get into tech and figure out I need the dentist special more, so I grab a kid (or myself or my ME) and during notes rehang or refocus the fixture. You don't want to do this too often, but I will do it usually once a show.

I don't know of any school really where you can get the ideal. Heck oftentimes at the PAC I still couldn't get the ideal (usually more dimmers means a bigger space, bigger space means more to light, which means more dimmers for what you have to have, which means less dimmers for what you want).

Mike
 
If you foresee running them together on the board, may as well plug them into the same hole (within the limits of the circuit and the dimmer); that frees up more circuits (and probably dimmers) to do other things with.


All of my areas are twofered whether it be PAR cans DS of the Proscenium, or Fresnels US. Conveniently, our circuits are all doubled RIGHT (18" apart) next to each other making this an easy task. Our acting areas tend to be around 12 feet wide or so.
 
An important thing to remember is the limitations of your space. I'm designing two shows at the moment in two very different spaces. One is at my high school. Our proscenium is about 40' wide, but the FOH pipe is only 25' wide and comes in at a very shallow angle. I can just barely get straight-on front light to all downstage areas, so full-blown McCandless on the sides is out of the question. Also, our "box booms" are just pipes mounted to the walls that come in at about a 20 degree angle. So we don't have lots of choices for front light. Generally what I do is use two straight-in systems for a warm and a cool tint, then load up the sidelight with saturated colors to help add more dimension. When I design, I tend to add the toning lights (sides, tops, backs) first, and then add in FOH only as much as is needed. Just because your entire ensemble is on stage, does that mean you need to shoot the place full of front light? I generally light the ensemble with tops and sides, then add just enough fill from the fronts to get rid of any annoying shadows - basically, like designing for dance. Then I just have a follow spot track with the soloist(s) and it looks pretty good.

I just got hired to design another show at another local high school. This theatre just got renovated, and it's very nice (except that its all Strand :twisted:). The box booms are large and easily accessible and in a perfect position for washing the stage. The FOH cove is at a perfect 45 degree angle, but you cant' hang instruments wherever you want. There are five windows cut into the ceiling where the catwalk is, and these are the only places you can hang lights if you want them to hit the stage. That effectively limits you to 5 front light instruments. For that show, I'm using 5 areas across and lighting them straight-in gelled in a neutral color. Then I'm loading up the box booms with color washes, and I will use these as a variation of McCandless. I can wash the stage in different colors from the two sides if I wanted to, or just from one side, then add in the neutral fronts to get rid of shadows. Or just use the neutral fronts with some saturated sidelight and toplight to get a specific effect.

Personally, I don't find myself using McCandless very often. For a straight play I will usually use some form of McCandless to get the proper relationship of key and fill light. But the main limiting factor that I have found is that your directions of key and fill are pretty much set. For most musicals, you have drastic changes in time, place, and mood throughout. In one scene I might need a bright sunrise, while I might need a dark night in the next. If I had enough instruments to double hang then I would love to use McCandless, but I've found that it's generally best for me to shoot fairly light tints straight-in from the FOH and then shoot the actors full of saturated side and top light. Having said that, I do want to play around more with the McCandless system and see if I can use it better than I am. Am I thinking too inside the box here? I love the modeling effect McCandless can make when I set it up just to play with it, but I just can't see it being practical in the shows I do.

(Side note: Something kind of interesting is that Wicked uses just one system of straight-in front light, gelled in a neutral color. That's it. And these linstruments are only used in two scenes, one for a very short time if I remember correctly.)
 
I personally love the Jewel Box method, I use it for most of my shows, especially good for musicals.

Jewel Box ideally would contain

Straight on front light
Sidelight 90° to the Front Light
Backlight 180° to the Front Light
Toplight Straight Down

I often leave out the top or backlight but not both.
 

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