Yep, avkid is right. Think of the table lamp as your
key light of soruce of light in the room. By
stage convention the audience will accept more lighting from other sources, but it’s still good to have the table lamp as a easily referenced source of light. (
clear lamps have more graphic output for the intensities on a lamp shade, but if the lamp is seen you will need to go frosted and lower wattage. After the main light from the lamp, what lighting reflects off the walls and ceilings will provide fill lighting in addition to the shadows of blue as another
stage convention from the lighting not provided from the room given it’s the only source and it has a key
role in the story to design around.
Table lamps are low thus you might have to balance the supporting lighting from above with what you can position to light from below or low angle without being blocked by actors on
stage. Light up a table lamp only on someone and study what
effect in shadows and harshness or softness it has on who you study. Than re-create that
intensity, direction and
effect on
stage as possible reasonably to do.
The eyes and shadows on the
face and body are the primary focus and goals of lighting. If the talent cannot be seen, they will also not be heard. Should the actor be
down stage of the table lamp, than in order to hear them you will have to either top rear light them well in addition to ambient lights on them as reflected off the fourth wall, or break with motivating source of light and light the talent so they shine as necessary.
Than look at the actual light from the table lamp. Perhaps some high and side soft
wash lighting will provide the soft look
thru a lamp shade, but what’s reflected at them from below is a
bit more directional and harsh. Thus
Fresnel types from above and the sides, but Lekos or PARs from below to provide a similar look to the lamp in sculpting those around it. That’s a realistic approach at least to the key lighting provided by the source. At some
point lighting the talent in at least blue will have to override it in visibility and getting the idea of a source, but still being able to see what’s going on.
Do the best job you can if the motivating source is a table lamp, but once you show it’s general location with key lights, don’t be too locked into having that as your primary source. Remember that light reflects even off a single light source room from all over the place. It reflects off the ceiling, walls, carpet or
varnish of furniture. The primary source of light is from the table lamp, but the
wash plus the blue
stage convention shadows are from other directions still unless the goal is only to light from the shown source.
Do a study in your parent’s living room with one
fixture and one actor revolving around it, than really look again upon it’s effects. Once you get those, you can increase, color and decrease the
intensity upon what’s watched, but you will still have the more important beam angles needed.