New to lighting design in theatre

[Braindrain2019]

I am plotting a play in which there are 5 light sets, all of which are inside one room. 1-afternoon warm natural light. 2- natural light mixed with fluorescents. 3-fluorescents. 4-Dusk. 5-dawn.

I am just curious on how to chose what gels go into what fixtures. for example, should I put warms in front lights, cool in side lights. I have 9 spots in which I need to light.

Thanks to everyone.

 

[texskittles]

There are several ways to go about this (and by several I mean countless). What you probably mean is that you are trying to get five distinct "looks" for your stage. I think you are saying that you have nine areas. With some smartly picked gels, you should be able to handle the natural light, and will have a start with the dusk and dawn. The trick is to pick a color that will come out warm on stage without tinting people's skin to an unnatural color. Some abhor the use of Rosco's line of bastard ambers (I say, if it works for the situation, use it) but they will give you a nice controlled warm color with little risk.
The fluorescent lighting can be done with some top light. Fluorescents can have a range of color temperatures (which you will notice if you've ever worked in an old building) so you can have a little bit of choice picking a color. I've had good luck with stuff in the Rosco #3315-3317 range before, depending on how nasty you want it do look. If you really want to go for a full out fluorescent, hang a few similarly gelled instruments in your front lighting position as well.
Do not forget your backlight. Backlights and sidelights are killer for making dusk and dawn happen. Dusk and dawn do look different so be sure to look at some pictures (or actually look outside) before you pick. Stick with saturate colors.

Out of curiosity, is the show 12 angry men?

 

[NickVon]

If you have doorways or windows to work with, doing 2 colors of saturated Orange/reds through windows can help with evening sunset/sunrise type effects. Then Cool Blues like Rosco R60 nocolor blue/ or Steel, for night/moonlight through a window.

 

[Braindrain2019]

It is a play called 'The Treatment.' I have 9 lights on each side (S/L, F/L, etc.) to cover the areas. And lights shining through the windows for the effect of natural light. Thanks for the gel suggestions, now that I have an idea of that, how do I pick which colors go into each side of the stage. Should I add all warms to the front lights, and the cools to the set of side lights?

 

[shiben]

It is a play called 'The Treatment.' I have 9 lights on each side (S/L, F/L, etc.) to cover the areas. And lights shining through the windows for the effect of natural light. Thanks for the gel suggestions, now that I have an idea of that, how do I pick which colors go into each side of the stage. Should I add all warms to the front lights, and the cools to the set of side lights?

If you only want the front light to be warm. Choose where you need various colors of light coming from, then put the gels there. Most people will use cools and warms from the front, or they will choose a color that can do both, such as surprise pink, and only use that, or just use a single closer to white color or whatever you like there.

 

[Braindrain2019]

so with my 9 areas of front lights to cover, and if I want both warm and cool lights. would I need 9 lights with warm gels and then another 9 lights with cool gels? (gels cannot be changed during show)

 

[texskittles]

Again, it depends on what look you want. If you have just one light for each area we will assume that it is coming from pretty much straight on. To anyone looking at an actor in that area straight on, they will look pretty normal, but the guy 15 feet to the left is going to see some shadows along the side of the actor's face as well as from the actor's nose and eyes. The use of 2 lights, even of the same color, from different angles can help fill in these shadows. This is very helpful for making general lighting look "natural".

But it sounds like you may have a shortage of instruments?

You could just stick with the 9 light setup you have now using warm, or:
here are a couple of options
A. Hang one warm instrument for each area and one cool instrument for each area. Total of 18 lights. Pros: more color choice for your front light. Cons: could produce undesirable shadows on actors.
B: Hang 2 warm instruments for each area, using more of a McCandless** method. Total of 18 lights. Pros: better overall coverage and fewer shadows. Cons: less color choice
C: Punt the warm and cool idea and pick a color that will work for either: most likely a lavendar (possibly R51?). Pros: less things to think about. Cons: is a compromise on look
D: if you have enough instruments, take option B and add a duplicate set of lights, but with cool gels. This will give you the most flexibility, but may not be feasible due to the number of lights available, the number of circuits available, or the amount of space in your front lighting positons. Total of 36 lights (I said it was a lot) Pros: Most color choice. Cons: most setup and most instruments.

**A lot of designers (NOT ALL), especially for box sets like it sounds yours is, fully utilize, or take ideas from the McCandless method of lighting. There is more information here: McCandless Method - ControlBooth While it is a proven and good method (and not a bad thing to learn starting off), it is not the only way to light a stage.

 

[Braindrain2019]

Thanks for all your help. I figure I will use warm front side light, and then match it with a warm, opposite side, side light. Doing the same with the cools.

 

[texskittles]

I hope everything goes well

 

[avery]

The best way to learn and know for the future is to experiment.

I don't blame you for looking for assistance, especially if time is a factor, but when you get some free time I suggest just trying out different gel combinations.

Good luck

 

[tk2k]

One thing to keep in mind, you can often dramatically change the look of a gel by running it at 80% instead of full. Often times your 'high noon' warm can be dimmed and turned into a passable late afternoon. Esp if you have 9 lights make sure your cools mellow well. if you pick them correctly, a 'blue-white' cool will turn a very nice amber at a lower percentage.

Best of luck

 

[shiben]

One thing to keep in mind, you can often dramatically change the look of a gel by running it at 80% instead of full. Often times your 'high noon' warm can be dimmed and turned into a passable late afternoon. Esp if you have 9 lights make sure your cools mellow well. if you pick them correctly, a 'blue-white' cool will turn a very nice amber at a lower percentage.

Best of luck

Thats why Im a huge fan of surprise pink. At full, its a nice cool lav and it just dimms down into this excellent warm pink.