LED pars as foot lighting for front lighting a stage ?

[stonehedge99]

Hi,

I am currently using 8 led pars (54x3w tricolor diodes) by using 4 on the left and 4 on the right from tree stands to front light a drama stage of size 800 sq-ft.

Now i have to do the same in another theater which has no space in the audience area to set up tree stands and fire the pars from the front right and left elevated 45deg angle which we usually use.

Can i put the led pars on the front apron of the stage floor like foot-lighting and use them to general light the stage. Will this cast any ugly shadows or is it being done in some setups as a standard ?

Thanks

 

[seanandkate]

The short answer is, I'm afraid, no. You will hit several problems--the direction of light will, of course, be completely different and not flattering to your actors. Lighting from below actors' faces is usually reserved for horror movies (because we usually see light coming from above). You will also get those shadows you mentioned. Instead of shadows being buried on the stage floor like you are used to, they will be splashed all over your back wall for all to see. Also, since you are reducing the throw distance of your lights, you will probably get very uneven light across your stage. If none of these things are considerations and you just need to "get light on stage," then you put the lights anywhere you can.

 

[carproelsofly]

You might have better luck setting up your stands on stage to do "high sides" - as far DS as possible, one SL and one SR. The shadows will at least be mostly in the wings.

HTH,
Jen

 

[stonehedge99]

Thanks Sean.

 

[stonehedge99]

Jen,

can you plz explain a little more. You mean the shadows will get lost into the wings at least, If i put them on the floor and towards extreme right and left ? I assume u meant keep them on the floor on the right and left ?

 

[carproelsofly]

You would place the stands on the stage (you said there was no room in the audience), at the far DL and DR corners.

Here's a crappy Paint illustration:

The shadows fall mostly against the legs, instead of looming above and behind the performers, which is what would happen with footlights.

HTH,
Jen

 

[mikeydoesstuff]

Scroll down, the images will help!
http://www.stagelightingguide.co.uk/

 

[stonehedge99]

Thanks Jen,

Now i understand what you meant. In fact i have heard that the extreme left and right corners are the best place to light from with stands ofcourse giving you a 45deg upward angle to light from.
You made that sketch just for me ??? Much Appreciated !!

 

[stonehedge99]

Scroll down, the images will help!
http://www.stagelightingguide.co.uk/

Ive read this article before. But since it didnt have much about footlighting except for one mention, i thought ill ask our friends here. Thank you anyway.

 

[n1ist]

Using them as footlights will also blind everyone on stage. Could you use boom bases instead of tripods? The footprint is smaller.

/mike

 

[carproelsofly]

Thanks Jen,

Now i understand what you meant. In fact i have heard that the extreme left and right corners are the best place to light from with stands ofcourse giving you a 45deg upward angle to light from.
You made that sketch just for me ??? Much Appreciated !!

You're welcome! And, to be clear, that is a "Ground Plan" view - straight down from above the stage. You should still put your stands and lights at whatever height you usually use (7' tall or so?). Here's another crappy illustration from the front:

 

[mikeydoesstuff]

Ive read this article before. But since it didnt have much about footlighting except for one mention, i thought ill ask our friends here. Thank you anyway.

Sorry, I was attempting to offer more shadow-visuals.

 

[JonathanHarpur]

As a fill light, in addition to a standard wash, footlights are great - at very, very low levels - to light faces under wide-brimmed hats (C&W music has other problems as well as the sound), and such. But footlights alone, unless it's for oldey-timey style, is to be avoided, generally, unless there's no help for it. (Plus, there's the heightened danger of the unintentional crotch special. But maybe that's just what the show needs?)

 

[stonehedge99]

Sorry, I was attempting to offer more shadow-visuals.

No problem at all. Nothing to apologize for. It did remind me at least to see the page. I had it saved as a pdf on my pc. You brought it to attention by pointing it out. And the looming shadow visual does focus on the fact of how ugly it can get.

 

[stonehedge99]

As a fill light, in addition to a standard wash, footlights are great - at very, very low levels - to light faces under wide-brimmed hats (C&W music has other problems as well as the sound), and such. But footlights alone, unless it's for oldey-timey style, is to be avoided, generally, unless there's no help for it. (Plus, there's the heightened danger of the unintentional crotch special. But maybe that's just what the show needs?)

Unfortunately no crotch show LOL. Its just a corporate stand up styled guest speaker scenario show, with some entertainment imbibed. Same as what you would do for a stand up comedian except he has some draw boards on the stage that he would like to be well lit also. But not looking for super-bright lighting. They prefer subtle adequate lighting. I used 5 LED pars on each side to front light this stage on my previous show and it sorta blasted the stage white. And people didn't like the white either.

This time i need to color set the led pars to be slightly warm. And i thought ill use just 4 led pars on each side. I was thinking id use the remainder 4 (since i have a total of 12 units) as back lighting by having tree stands on the rear stage with the leds pointing down as a rim light to add some depth and separation from the backdrops which are only 8' high panels. So actually the rear tree stands can stand behind the panels and only the top peeps out, making for a slightly better sight.

 

[Timothy A. Samuelson]

Unless the crazy shadows on the back wall are what you're going for. Did that a few weeks ago for the Mark Wood Electrify Your Strings program. Awesome effect!

 

[stonehedge99]

But generally will back lighting using 4 of my led pars help in the stage look but adding some depth to the stage ?

The stages again are not large ones. Average is around 400 to 500 sqft in size.

 

[seanandkate]

But generally will back lighting using 4 of my led pars help in the stage look but adding some depth to the stage?

It will help pull the talent out from the panels. This is why television uses tons of backlight--the longer lenses they use tend to compress distances, so the backlight offers separation. You can enhance this separation even more by keeping your panels and the light falling on them cooler in colour than your performers. Cooler colours will seem to recede.

 

[stonehedge99]

Thanks Sean.

Any particular colors that would be good to use from the back-lighting leds ? I mean any specific kind of colors to use for the rim lighting.

Will 4 of these 54x3w led (tricolor diodes) fixtures suffice as back-lighting for a stage of the size Ive mentioned ?

 

[JonathanHarpur]

That's a difficult question to answer without knowing the real dimensions of the stage, the trim heights, the specs for the fixture, and the requirements for the show.

(Four might work well on a 20'x25' proscenium stage, but not suffice on a 10'x50' corporate presentation deck in a hotel, nor a 60'x8' runway for a fashion show in a warehouse.)

In most cases, when it comes to coverage, diffusion is your friend - but it comes at the expense of the punch.