A lil bit of lighting advice please?

[ValleyTheaterKid]

Soooooo i need to figure how to properly wash the stage. My director tells me that there is a certain pattern of gobos that, if put together right and in the right order, washes the stage perfectly. he cant remember what the pattern is lol. Anyone know what hes talking about? Thanks and much appreciated.

 

[echnaret]

To me, a stage "wash" indicates a lack of gobos. As far as using gobos, it really depends what kind of breakup you're trying to achieve. For instance, you could use a bunch of leaf gobos to create a full stage forest scene. What kind of look are you going after? For more information on the common meaning of "wash" (and other words) click on the underlined words to go to the wiki.

 

[ValleyTheaterKid]

AAAAAAAA IM STUPID. Replace gobos with gels please....i cant believe i typed that.......

 

[derekleffew]

...My director tells me that there is a certain pattern of gobos that, if put together right and in the right order, washes the stage perfectly. he cant remember what the pattern is lol. Anyone know what hes talking about? ...

No. And neither does your director ("know what he's talking about").

See also Slinky Method, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting - Google Books.

...Replace gobos with gels please. ...

Your teacher is most likely thinking of The McCandless Method. See http://www.controlbooth.com/wiki/Collaborative+Articles:McCandless+Method . But there's no secret, magic formula for choosing gel color or lighting a stage "perfectly".

 

[ValleyTheaterKid]

Whats a good combination of gels to wash a stage with?

 

[derekleffew]

Fatherless Amber and Steel Blue.

CB Google search results for gel color.

 

[Les]

Whats a good combination of gels to wash a stage with?

Honestly, read the link that derekleffew provided. I don't mean this the wrong way, but at your skill level, it would be safer to follow the Mc.Candless Method until you are more comfortable with design and color theory. Then, you can branch out.

Hint: Gel selection depends largely on the colors in the set and costumes as well as the overall "mood" of the show.

 

[WooferHound]

For a basic general wash without regard to anything else
I like to use Rosco 33pink and 60blue
and to make things stand out from the background
I'll use pink from house right and blue from house left

 

[AhClem]

From the depths of my memory, I seem to remember the basic lighting for my college cave dwelling (theater) usually started with a lite pink and a lite blue coming from either side (pick your pinks and blues from the suggestions to suit your taste). Haveing both the pink and the blue coming from each side gives a nice color balance and still allows you adjust the level to "warm" or "cool" the stage.

 

[JLNorthGA]

If you like Lee Filters (as opposed to Apollo or Rosco):
Bastard Amber
Steel Blue
Surprise Peach
Light Lavender
Surprise Pink

In addition to the colors of the costumes and set, also consider the skin tones of the people.
People with olive skin tones and African/Americans require different lighting colors from people with lighter skin tones. You may have to mix your colors to make everyone look reasonable.

 

[MrsFooter]

You aren't referring to frost, are you? Dropping R132 into fixtures will get rid of the hard edges and make for a smoother wash. That's the only single product I can think of that would help make a better wash.

Though while you're here, reading Derek's link wouldn't hurt ya either...

 

[gafftapegreenia]

To me, a stage "wash" indicates a lack of gobos.

I think one can certainly "wash" a stage with gobo'd instruments. I've done it.

 

[shiben]

You aren't referring to frost, are you? Dropping R132 into fixtures will get rid of the hard edges and make for a smoother wash. That's the only single product I can think of that would help make a better wash.

Though while you're here, reading Derek's link wouldn't hurt ya either...

I think that is what the director is thinking of. However, I doubt even just throwing in frost (or Gobos) would make a stage wash perfect, thats usually done at the focus stage of the design...

I think one can certainly "wash" a stage with gobo'd instruments. I've done it.

I seem to remember having done it once or twice, or every show I do...

 

[DrPinto]

I sometimes use R02 (Bastard Amber) for my warm and R60 (No Color Blue) for my cool. If you have a blue and an amber, it's easy to light a day scene and night scene.