Lighting is as much a part of the concert, musical, or theater experience as sound. Light is an incredibly important tool for creating the right atmosphere on stage. But light is also a crucial tool for helping the audience focus in the right place at the right time.

In this article, we will discuss what you should pay attention to when lighting a stage, large or small, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of different types of lamps and lighting!

What do I need for equipment

This is a question we often get when customers are setting up stage lighting. The answer will always be, what do you need the light for? There are extremely many factors to consider when choosing light for your stage, and here we will discuss the three we believe are the most important.

 

What to illuminate

There is a big difference in the types of events that require lighting. Depending on whether it's a small concert, a musical, or perhaps a comedy show, there are different requirements for the equipment you need. Furthermore, you should also clarify what type of lighting is desired on the stage. If you want a calm, subdued, and even lighting of the entire stage, there's not much point in using two follow spots.

 

Stage Size

Stage size is somewhat related to what you need to illuminate. It goes without saying that larger stages require more light to be illuminated. Therefore, it's important to determine the size of the stage so you can plan the amount of light needed. Many lamps today can be controlled via DMX where you can adjust the brightness, etc., but it's important to remember that you can't increase the brightness beyond the maximum. When it comes to stage lighting, it's better to be on the safe side so you don't end up with too little light for too large a stage!

It's almost self-explanatory that a large stage also has more space to be illuminated. Therefore, more "layers" of light are needed. Have lights for both the foreground and background, as well as spots to focus on what's important, so the audience doesn't lose sight of the vast space.

- If you want to read more about DMX and lighting control, you can do so here: Get started with DMX.

 

Lighting Conditions

Stages can be set up in many different places. Outdoors, in sports halls, concert venues, theaters... the list goes on. The most important thing is to consider whether there is natural light from outside that needs to be taken into account, or if the lighting conditions change during the event. The optimal scenario would, of course, be to have a completely darkened room where you have 100% control over all light.

Unfortunately, the optimal situation is not always, or actually rarely, what you're dealing with. Therefore, it's important to consider whether there are windows that can let light into the room, or if it's an outdoor event, how the sun shines on the stage. It's a difficult exercise, but if you have carefully planned the lighting, the result will be commendable despite the difficult working conditions.

 

Different Types of Lamps

As with everything else in the event industry, lighting should not be simple either. There is a wide range of different types of lamps, each with its own...

In this article, we have chosen to stick to stage lighting itself and will not go into effect lamps for creating light shows.

 

Theater Spots & Fresnel Lamps

Theater Spot

A theater spot or Fresnel lamp is essentially just a regular theater lamp. They can be used for everything from front lighting to illuminating the background, or to illuminate stage elements. Nowadays, many theater spots are equipped with LED bulbs. This provides great flexibility in light. The LED bulbs allow you to adjust how warm or cool the light should be, as well as how powerful the output should be on the light cone.

There are also RGB versions where you can change the color of the light. In the past, this was done manually, using colored pieces of transparent plastic (filters) placed in front of the lens of the lamps.

Barn Doors

Barn Doors

On theater spots, you often find four movable plates. These plates are called barn doors and are used to shape the light. Simply put, the plates are used to shield the light and control how much the light spreads. Barn doors often come with most theater spots when you buy them, but they can also be purchased separately and added to your existing lamps if more control is desired!

 

Profile Spots

Profile Spot

If more powerful light than theater spots can provide is needed, then one can look into profile spots. The profile spot is a more powerful light source that creates a more concentrated light than theater spots. Additionally, many profile spots have the ability to create different light patterns, which can add an extra dimension to the stage show. While follow spots are intended to follow individuals around the stage, profile spots are stationary and intended as a fixed light source.

 

Follow Spots

Follow Spot

Follow spots are the big guns. The powerful siblings used for large setups. While profile spots are powerful enough for small and medium-sized stages, or to fill the stage with light in different patterns, follow spots are the heavy artillery. Follow spots are used to highlight the main character or "the most important" in the performance. As the name suggests, follow spots follow the individuals around the stage, requiring a spotlight operator to constantly adjust the spot's position. This also means that the follow spot is often designed with a handle and a bracket that can be placed on a stand, making it easy for the spotlight operator to operate.

 

I hope with this post you have gained an idea of what is required to deliver reasonable stage lighting. There are, of course, many techniques and a lot of theory behind how the lighting becomes perfect. That part you must practice on your own!