I only ever use scene change lights on really complex sets. For example, when I did Diary of Anne Frank, the set consisted of 5 different levels, each one a room, and then a
trap door out over the pit for entrances through it. Both Meip and Kraler spent the whole show under that space, as well as Dussell
unit he comes in. The whole cast actually entered that way too for the 2nd scene as well. Dimable rope light on my
console for them
. Anyway, with 5 different levels, the highest being 8 feet in the air with no
rail around it, and going from a trashed room to a clean room, on
stage costume changes, and then at the end going from clean back to trashed, scene change lights were a must. I used R83 running at about 6-8% in selective areas so as to not light the set as much as the
ground. Since the whole
stage was above audience sitting
level, this helped a lot.
Glow tape was also heavily used on the set.
Everything else, never use them. As stated, the glow from the
house is generally enough. Coupled with the fact that back
stage is dark, the crew's eyes are fairly well adjusted when they go on. For me to see, I generally stand out of my seat, and turn off my work lights or
cover them. It helps a lot. I also try and run my work lights as low as possible, or
gel them heavily with blues and/or purples. IR cameras are great as well if you have them.