Design Noises Off lighting design

I'm doing the design for Noises Off at my High School and I'm wondering if anyone has some tips. i was going to go with a basic R02 or R304, maybe R05 with R60. I was trying to look at colors on stage today (I didn't have any No Color Blue (60) so I used 63) but the blue was really bright compared to the 304. It could have just been the fixtures, though. I just used to source fours pointed at center stage. When I added a second s4 with 304 in it pointing straight down center to act as a make shift top it seemed to even out a lot.

Any help is appreciated.
 
Read the script a bunch, make a decision about what story you want to tell, and use the color, intensity, and angles to tell a story. Put your cues where you want them to make a point. I suppose I could tell you what colors to use and where to put your lights and how many to use, but then I would need to send your HS a bill for the design fee. Hate to be a pita or pill or whatever the kids call it these days, but its kind of your job to do the lighting design bit. However, if you maybe wanted to know "how do I make more intensity in this color, or make it look similar to the 63 in terms of brightness, I can tell you that you will probably want more instruments on the amber. Also, as a general rule, those light blues will appear brighter than those light ambers. Its got to do with how your eye sees the light or some thingger like that. And if you want colors that go nice, R302 and R60 will make a nice pair.
 
Remember, half the show takes place backstage. Have you ever been in a backstage that was brightly lit like daylight?
 
From what I recall, Noises Off! Doesn't have very many lighting requirements. Of course, that's not to say that you can't add your own artistic elements. The only time I saw the show, the interior house side of the set was lit in your run-of-the-mill McCandless-esque amber and blue wash, and back stage was lit fairly dimly (though not as dark as it would be for an actual show). The neat thing was that they had blue clip lights everywhere.

Sometimes the set is built on a revolve, while others simply lead the audience to risers back stage if possible. The show I saw took us back stage. I liked this because most of the visual elements were already there. Obviously, there are venue-specific concerns as to whether or not you can do this, from a practicality and safety standpoint. There were also times when the stage was lit while the audience was backstage, which was interesting, because you could see the FOH lighting positions through the windows and (many) doors.
 
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My advice is don't forget to light the set. Devote some lights to just the set, and play with colors that look good on it. I almost always use a breakup (in soft focus) for set lights. Also, with realistic interiors, shooting light in from windows, putting light behind doorways, and using practicals with stage light coverage are very important. Observe real-life locations and pay attention to what the light looks like.
 
Yeah, the biggest thing for me was using light bouncing through windows and doors. And lots of practicals.

Also, enjoy the back stage feel with work type lighting (it can be harder than you think to make something look like someone just flipped some lights on).

I tend to go with a regular 2 or 3 light per area system with fairly basic colors.
 
I did lighting for Noises Off just last year. Although my first inclination was to use blue gels for "backstage", i actually ended up using lights gelled with a very low beige tint, and had them at about half intensity. When I had the "onstage" lights on on the other side (which I put at nearly 100%), you could really see the contrast between the two, and it was easy to distinguish between the backstage and onstage (especially since in our set, the middle wall was nearly all one large window).

Our set was a revolving set, and due to the small height of our theatre, it went nearly right up to the ceiling. This made hanging fixtures kinda hard, but well placed fresnels as overheads worked well.

Also, one thing I love about Noises Off, is that it is a play about a failed show. So any "mistakes" or inconstancies are all part of the show.
 
We finished a production of Noises Off last year, we had a two-story revolving set, and the number one issue we faced was trying to light below the second story balcony, and the heads of the actors while they were standing under the balcony as all of our lighting positions FOH at on the catwalks.

The directors primary request was to keep it simple, so we had 5 lighting states:
- On-stage
- Backstage
- Backstage with On-stage (rear of set) lit up
- Spot for Kim's Introduction to Act 3
- On-stage with Backstage Blues lit up
 
Woah. So many replies. Thanks for the advice. Someone mentioned having the set come right up to the ceiling, the same is true here, hanging lights is becomeing very interesting, we actually had to take down our cycs so it coudl rotate.
This is my first solo lighting design so all the replies are actually giving a ton of insight into what I'm supposed to be doing here.
Backstage lighting seems to be a dim blue tint with a little of RR4490 (it's kind of Pyrex green), to tint the stage a little, give it the feel of an old backstage area.
On stage I was thinking just basic Mccandlles, but that doesn't seem like it will work, so far I have one row of tops and the front of the set is right at the proscenium line, so All of my lighting on the apron and thrust is going to be fronts.
Lighting under the balcony has definitley become a large problem, My only batten low enough has a wall in the way so the lights won't turn that far. I was thinking of trying to get an i-cue to attach to a few fronts from that posistion to angle the light so it hits.
 
My school did noises last year and we had that problem as well. We used leko's placed very low on the booms we have in our house. we also hung pars on our back walls to light the doors looking like outside or stage lights when they were backstage. Even though we used sconces just as special decorations they actually helped a little with our problem of lighting under the balcony. Also, if you do hang lights behind the set (if ur not thats cool too) the set just might knock your pars out of the wall we lost multiple instruments that way last year. GOOD LUCK!
 
Woah. So many replies. Thanks for the advice. Someone mentioned having the set come right up to the ceiling, the same is true here, hanging lights is becomeing very interesting, we actually had to take down our cycs so it coudl rotate.
This is my first solo lighting design so all the replies are actually giving a ton of insight into what I'm supposed to be doing here.
Backstage lighting seems to be a dim blue tint with a little of RR4490 (it's kind of Pyrex green), to tint the stage a little, give it the feel of an old backstage area.
On stage I was thinking just basic Mccandlles, but that doesn't seem like it will work, so far I have one row of tops and the front of the set is right at the proscenium line, so All of my lighting on the apron and thrust is going to be fronts.
Lighting under the balcony has definitley become a large problem, My only batten low enough has a wall in the way so the lights won't turn that far. I was thinking of trying to get an i-cue to attach to a few fronts from that posistion to angle the light so it hits.

You could also probably build a pseudo balcony rail system using boom bases and pipe, or truss, or DJ tripods or something. I have seen tours do MLs for this purpose on road cases in the back of the house on the mez or orchestra level. You could do something similar. Or you could screw your fixtures into the balcony ceiling, or onto the booth window rail, or some other sort of position. Or actually hang them off the real balcony rail... Just make sure if your adding lights in odd places you keep them safe.
 
Just make sure if your adding lights in odd places you keep them safe.

And make sure that patrons can't "accidentally" mess with them.
 

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