How the hell do you effectively light a comedy?

I'm really screwed i have an exam soon and i am lighting a fast paced comedy, by Dario Fo, called the accidental death of an anarchist, anyone know about this specific play or jsut comedy plays in general, my main problem is that the lighting is very open white and i need to include more to get good marks.

thanks
 
Welll you could add strobes and moving lights but that would take away from the show. I think some shows just dont need all that much. So specails to highlight key areas or if you throw in a deep color wash like a blood red or dark green to add an effect.
 
Study the script and the set design - talk to the director about the blocking. The lighting should complement the set design, fit the mood of each scene and subtly follow the action around the stage, highlighting it without calling attention to the lighting design - i.e. your purpose is to help the audience focus on the story, rather than drawing their focus to the lighting.

John
 
I heard direct frontlight is useful...
 
Adding gobos for texture is usually not a bad idea. You can use some gobos for part of the scenic elements as well. Example, when I did Beauty And The Beast, (which I realize is a completely different genre) I created an entire forest out of tree gobos. I also used a 'reel FX' for a moving cloud effect, and I was also able to create the interior of a castle out of gobos. Just goes to show how you can turn an empty stage into an elaborate set with lighting instruments. I would also suggest working on some color theory (i.e. archetypes: green=innocent, blue=pure, red=evil, etc...). I do agree that strobes would take away from your show. We used moving lights in Beauty and the Beast for the transformation, but that was children's theatre. What your doing sounds much more mature. Good luck in whatever you decide.
 
yeah cheers guys, i'm gonna be adding a lot of side lighting and floormounted lanterns so i should get some good marks.

i was gonna use gobos as breakups but it's set inside an office so it would look really odd, i've managed to create a huge window and i've got a moving 'cloud-scape' onto it, looks great. thanks for all the help.
 
you could use a "blinds" gobo that looks like the ones you put over a window. it will look as if the light is shinning in the window
 
There are so many Gobos, I would just pick 2 or 3 and use them at different time throught the play.
 
yeah cheers for the tip, its been bout 3 months since that exam, it all worked out fine, got an A for it, i did use window gobos in the end, looked pretty sweet.
 
Sorry i am slow but i dont check the dates on this stuff.....maybe i should. :evil: :twisted:
 
They're in order by date...you have to really dig to get to the old ones.
 

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