I feel like I have written an answer to this question for the forums before, but I can't find it...
I suppose one might consider my methodology for design to be "textbook" in style, but it works. This is a good question too, as, for the most part we stay away from telling people how a show should look in favor of encouraging the creative process.
To start any design, start with the script. Read it, then read it again and again. The first time you look at it enjoy it, and in the back of your mind think about the feelings and emotions that it evokes. As you go through the script subsequent times, look for any hints that the playwright gives you that can help with lighting such as time of day, location, time of year, period,
etc. At this
point I would start doing some preliminary visual research, mostly emotional response imagery. This will give you something to come to the table with for the first design meetings with the rest of the design team (director, scene designer, sound designer,
etc.).
I also do a basic script analysis before going into the first design meeting. This includes locating the themes of the
play, coming up with a basic
plot outline, exploring subtext or the connotations of the
play,
etc. You may also want to get some notes down on the characters, and how they interact with eachother. This is a way to see how your reading of the
play aligns with what the playwright is trying to convey.
The first design meeting should be the time to get the design team aligned to one
vision and goal for the production. The meeting should hopefully be a time where all the members of the design team can voice their ideas, the themes they see, and what they feel the story is about. This hopefully will lead to a unified
vision for the production. This may not be the same as the
vision you had reading on your own, it may be a conglomeration of ideas rolled into one, or the director may say "this is how it is going to be."
Once you know where the team is heading with the script you can mold your ideas to work into the show. Now that you know where the director wants to go with the show you can start doing more specific research. If it is a period piece you might start by looking for images from the period if it is abstract you might continue looking for images that show emotional response. Find images that show the quality of light you feel fits, the angles or harshness, the colors,
etc.
When you have figured out what the lighting needs to do for the show then you can start working out rough ideas for how you are going to bring those ideas to the
stage. What is the motivational light source for each scene, what do you need to make it happen? Are you outside with the sun or moon shining, or are you under s streetlamp? Are you in a church with light streaming through stained glass? Once you figure out those things you can start setting up systems. Maybe you need a
system of back light with crushed glass gobos to look like stained glass, or maybe pools of orange light from the streetlamps. I usually put in the systems that set mood and feeling first, and then work in the systems that you need to make sure the actors can be seen. At this
stage through in everything that you think you might need, it is easier to cut back later than it is to add.
After you get the scenery drawings you can start to
lay out lighting areas and figure out what kind of equipment you need to light in the set. This is where you will probably start pruning out ideas so that you can fit into the inventory/budget of the people you are working for. You may also have to rework ideas to fit the equipment on
hand. Then you can put it all down on a
plot and
hand it off to the ME, show up for focus, and then be off to your next gig.