Lighting Class in Dallas?
- Thread starterchouston
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chouston
Member
I'm looking to learn mostly about design. That's my weak point. I can hang, circuit, focus, and run a light board, but choosing which lights to use, where to put them, and what colors to use escapes me, a bit. I'd also like to get more info and practice using the light board. I have an ETC Express and a couple of NSI 7500 boards. Hope this helps a bit. Let me know if there is more info that you need.
That's not a class, more like a series of university courses (Stage Lighting 101, 301, 501), or a four year degree (BFA in Lighting Design). Even working professional lighting designers are still struggling to learn these things. See the collaborative article Theatre Books - ControlBooth for some text recommendations, or the threads
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/3462-excellent-books-lighting-design.html
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/6123-best-lighting-book.html
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/general-advice/6226-textbook-advise-needed.html
See also Lighting Concept/Lighting Statement - ControlBooth .
chouston
Member
That's what I was afraid of. I was hoping that there was a workshop somewhere in town or weekend class at a community college. I tend to do best with hands on experience, so that's why I was looking for more of a class type setting where I can ask questions and experiment. For some reason, the concept of lighting design has been hard for me to wrap my head around. Guess I'm too much of a knuckle draggin' carp. 
jmabray
Active Member
The thing I find most people find daunting is that they think its a big mystery. It's not. Design is just choices you make. You make them for a reason, but those reasons are your reasons and my choices would be different and I would have my reasons for making those decisions. There is usually no "Right" or "Wrong" way to do a particular show. As long as you function as a team member of the production team, work with the director or producers vision of the show (or whatever you want to call it - concept, etc) and put out something that works for you.
Sure, particular lights do particular things and some colors mean some things (blue can equal night) but those are not that hard to learn from just about anywhere. An ellipsoidal gives a hard edge. A fresnel gives a soft edge. Would you use an ellipsoidal for back light or front light? My answer to that would be whichever you wanted to do. What effect are you trying to acheive? start with the bigger picture and then figure out the details. Play. Fail glouriously. Its the only way we really learn.
Sure, particular lights do particular things and some colors mean some things (blue can equal night) but those are not that hard to learn from just about anywhere. An ellipsoidal gives a hard edge. A fresnel gives a soft edge. Would you use an ellipsoidal for back light or front light? My answer to that would be whichever you wanted to do. What effect are you trying to acheive? start with the bigger picture and then figure out the details. Play. Fail glouriously. Its the only way we really learn.
shiben
Well-Known Member
That's what I was afraid of. I was hoping that there was a workshop somewhere in town or weekend class at a community college. I tend to do best with hands on experience, so that's why I was looking for more of a class type setting where I can ask questions and experiment. For some reason, the concept of lighting design has been hard for me to wrap my head around. Guess I'm too much of a knuckle draggin' carp.
Oh come on. Read a few books and you will at least have some idea of whats going on. Although interetingly enough, most books either discuss how to create a design or how to draw pictures of said design or what various lights do in a design. Very few actually talk too much about art. However, your probably not looking too hard at the art side, just how to make better decisions with your work. That you can learn from McCandless and a few other books. Then you learn to break all the rules you learned in the book by experience.
As for the knuckle dragging carp bit, I firmly believe that there is no need for that. Everyone apreciates a pretty sunrise, a accidently well composed moment on the street corner, or the other occasional stunning beauty in daily life. So you already have at least some level of artistic apreciation and ability in you. Developing that is probably a lifelong persuit, but is what will make you a better designer in this sense. Even if you only can make a really technical design, the ability to say "make it look like this photo" is extremely beneficial. The real skill, in my opinion, is developing the ability to choose which photo you want to make each scene look like, and when your going to create something never photographed before.
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