Thanks for your reply,
Im asking how do you approach reading a script for the first time and looking for reasons and places to execute LXQ's?
I understand how to place the Q's (such as LX27
etc). I just don't know how to organise my script or how to portray my ideas into the script.
TLDR alert in place.
@RyanP.Joll Hi Ryan, this could turn into a very long thread. I'll begin by saying 'It depends' and then list a number of points to ponder in your equation.
- Am I lighting a straight
play, a musical, classical dance / ballet, yada, yada, etcetera.
- Am I lighting a static box set, a series of different
flat, flown, drops or actors emoting on a bare
stage?
- Am I lighting a 'two-hander' with an actress and actor who never move from their respective stools or something with more traditional areas and
blocking?
- If a box set, does it have light switches that are important to the production? Do actors enter and seemingly turn lights on / off as they enter / exit, move from the living room into the kitchen then into one or two bedrooms? Are there doors or windows from the exterior where it's important for sunlight to flood in or moonlight or the darkness of a starless night? Are there "
practical lights"; wall sconces, table lights, floor lamps, lights over picture frames? A light in the refrigerator that lights the murder scene in the near black-out when the
blind girl's psychotic killer suddenly realizes he'll be able to see where she's hiding in her
pitch black kitchen. [That's actually from a script. The title was: "Wait Until Dark" based on a 1967 film with Audrey Hepburn and a 1966 book.]
- Am I working in a prosc'
house with a
house curtain or a set that's always in view in a black-box space sans
curtains /
masking?
- What options, hanging positions, angles, instruments, et al are available to me? [I won't hang, focus and Q a curtain wash if there's no curtain]
- Does the script / designer / director
call for an interior or exterior scene?
- Is the passage of time; sunrise, through mid-day, to sunset and darkness of night important to the script and motivate my design?
- Are we passing through various seasons, the budding of spring, through the scorching heat of summer, the changing colour and falling of leaves to the falling of snow and the
reflection of the sun up from the whiteness of the snow? [It's great to be writing to a Brit' and able to spell colour with a 'U' in it again]
- Strictly from the perspective of design; There are no rules. Your design is YOUR design, to YOU it's correct subject to the options available to you and limitations imposed upon you. Others may not agree with your choices, perceptions and perspectives but your design is YOUR design. That's not to say there aren't techniques that have been proven to work along with a few that definitely don't but welcome to the world.
I'll list a few points I personally feel are basics, not everyone will agree and optimistically others will chime in and not leave me out here blathering on my own. [Give me enough rope and I'll blather myself.]
1a; Light the performers first. Patrons won't go home whistling the lighting no matter how great you're sure it is.
1b; Lighting the performers will vary radically between straight plays, classical dance, modern dance, musicals, et al.
2a; Light the set second. Clearly this will vary greatly depending upon the physicality of the set.
2b; If you're lighting musicians who need to read music, or performers working from written scripts, they need to be able to clearly see their scores / scripts without troublesome glare. Keyboardists will despise you if you light their keyboards in a way that they have difficulty distinguishing the black keys from the white.
Some things that work:
- Comedies always tend to be bright.
- Dramas and murder mysteries, less so; often gloomier, more sinister.
- Some things that don't work: Performances in Black-Outs. The production MAY demand a black-out but it's an
effect and not something to be utilized for minutes on end. If your director thinks she/he wants to do a major set or
props change in a black out, if they take more than about seven seconds to accomplish it, the folks in the front rows' eyes will have adjusted and they'll be giggling at seeing the set pixies
tripping over themselves as they try to rearrange the furniture. Such changes are often best accomplished in a dark blue or purple back light where we can't recognize the features of the people effecting the changes but the pixies have zero trouble seeing themselves, their co-workers, the furniture and
props their re-positioning / pre-setting and their all important
spike marks on the
up-stage sides of the items they're moving.
Set and prop shuffles accomplished under back-light achieve several goals:
- They occur much smoother, faster and quieter.
- The patrons realize it's a scene change and NOT time to hastily exit to be first in
line at the bar or washroom.
-
Stage management can tell when the change is complete, the 'body' has exited, the actress with the opening
line is in position, WITHOUT tying up the
headset incessantly asking: "Are they done yet? Are they done yet? Is Fred off
stage? Is Jill in position? Can I
call the light
cue? [Shut your yap! Look out your window. Don't stare at your script with your reading light at 100% closing your irises down and call your cues when the change is complete] Biased? Moi? Say it's not TOO obvious.
I'll relinquish the
lectern, descend from the
podium and trust others will have posted while I've been typing.
@GreyWyvern There's another chapter for you.
EDIT 1: I omitted the second 'C' from
sconce.
EDIT 2: I omitted the 'T' in script.
EDIT 3: Added details regarding a 1967 murder mystery film starring Audrey Hepburn based upon a 1966
book.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
, with caret markers for the actual 
