Color and Contrast

The Basics

Color refers to the colors we see on stage and how they interact with one another. This seems quite obvious, but gets a little more complex when we involve science into the equation. We’ll get there in a second.

Contrast refers to the difference and variation of two or more surfaces. If we want high contrast or variation, we might use the term complimentary – opposite ends of the color wheel. Two colors that are similar to one another, that don’t have a lot of variation, would be called analogous.

Controlling the Element

The art of choosing the right color, in my opinion, rests primarily on instinct and experience. First, instinct, It might sound silly to suggest that instinct matters, but I would tell you that often your gut knows the right answer and your brain will catch up as to the reason. Second, experience, having selected colors for hundreds of shows I now know which colors look good on which surfaces and what color combinations look good on stage — I even have my favorite colors and signature combinations. But what if you don’t have experience to lean back on? Well that’s where color theory comes in to play, we’ll talk about that next.

But first, one last thing, color is incredibly easy to change, so don’t fret over the choices you make — try it out in context and see if you like it. I would tell you that the work of the artist isn’t about making the right choice the first time, it’s about knowing when something is the wrong choice and editing it until it’s the right choice.

Hue and Saturation

Hue and Saturation are the primary two editable values to select color. When we combine them together, that’s how we choose our Pantone color, or our hexadecimal web code, or our Rosco gel color, or our RGBWA LED values.

Hue is the value in the rainbow, which color (or lighting wavelength) are we basing our color from, or usually it’s referred to as the angle around the circle of the color wheel.

Saturation on the other hand is how rich the color is, how much white exists. A very bold color would be referred to as “Saturated”, a color that leans towards white would be referred to as “Muted” or “Tinted”.

A final typical element of color would be “Lightness” or “Brightness” – are we leaning toward black or white – but that’s covered in a light board by Intensity so doesn’t need to be covered here.

Subtractive Color Mixing

The theory of subtractive color mixing brings us back to our elementary school days and is likely the version of color mixing you’re use to – where the primary colors are Red, Yellow, and Blue. Mix them together and eventually you get the secondary colors. Continue to mix colors and you’ll get brown or black. What’s actually happening here is that the pigment in the paint (or fabric or prop or whatever surface we’re looking at) is actually absorbing all the colors except the color you see – that color is actually be reflected back to your eye. Combine two pigments and you combine the colors that they absorb – which is why we move toward black. What happens to all that light when it’s absorbed? Well, it converts to heat. This is why a white car is much cooler in the summer than a black car – the white paint is reflecting all the light whereas a black car is absorbing all the light.

Additive Color Mixing

The theory of additive color mixing brings us into technology — and for me I also go back to my elementary school days — not in the classroom but at home playing Duck Hunt way too close to the TV. Cheating. I cheated at Duck Hunt. But while I was too close I observed that the TV had a bunch of little red, green, and blue dots – but when I backed up those dots combined into various colors.

What was happening? Additive color mixing. This is an adjustment of what colors of light are being emitted, which wavelengths of the visible lighting spectrum are being sent. We’re used to the entire visible spectrum being sent by the sun or by the headlights of our cars or by the lights in our houses or offices; however, when we send a smaller spectrum we only see that color of light.

When we start combining those spectrums, those sources of light, we can mix the colors. If we have a red light and a blue light – the colors being emitted combined will create the secondary color of magenta. Combine all three primary colors of light (Red, Green, and Blue) and you’ll get white. This is why the white color of the Duck in Duck Hunt had the Red, Green, and Blue emitters on and this is why a lot of LED lights are listed as “RGB” lights.

Subtractive and Additive Color Mixing Mixing

Alright, but stage lighting is way more complicated than just Subtractive Color Mixing or Additive Color Mixing on their own – stage lighting is actually a mixing of mixing – a combination of both Subtractive and Additive color mixing. Here’s a few examples of what I mean …

Gel Colors – An incandescent lighting fixture gives off a white light. To give it a color we put a piece of color plastic, called “Gel”, in front of it. This is actually subtractive color mixing, the gel is removing wavelengths of light as the light passes through. This is why really rich colors tend to burn out – all that extra light is being absorbed by the plastic and can melt the color or melt the plastic.

Color Correction – Incandescents are a little fickle. When a 750 watt lamp is at full – it’s nice and white; however, when the light is dimmed to perhaps 25% of what it can do, it will shift its color towards amber. We’ll often use a tinted blue color (amber’s complimentary color) to offset that shift and make a dim light white again.

LED Lights – What a wonderful invention. These work using additive color mixing. They multiple “Light Emitting Diodes” of various colors. When they emit at various intensities we can mix them to create almost any color under the sun. The most common are Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) but several lights also have Amber, White, Lime, Indigo, and more. These extra diodes help create richer colors and look better on skin or other surfaces.

Colorful Surfaces – All of our additive color theory goes out the window if the surface that’s being lit isn’t white. A white surface will reflect whatever color we through at it; however, if a surface absorbs the color of light hitting it, that surface will appear brown or black. One of my favorite ways to illustrate this is to put a handful of M&M candies on a black fabric then light the candies with different colors from an LED light. Here’s a video of what that looks like …

Multiple Lights – Using LED or Gel, we can now use multiple light sources in tandem with one another. These multiple sources will mix with one another to create different colors. This is especially interesting on 3D surfaces such as a face – the two colors combine on flat surfaces but are seen in the shadows created by the opposite light. Like here with Mr. Lincoln.

Color Key

At this point in the discussion of our elements, we now have the framework to talk about Color Keys. This is a simple part of the design process in which a designer will decide which colors should come from which directions. This is a combination of Intensity (which light is our key light), Direction (which lights are filling in shadows and creating form), and Color (how can these lights work in tandem to create contrast, form, style, and mood).

Below is an example of a color key. Imagine looking down from the catwalks on top of a person – the arrows then represent the direction, color, and purpose of each light. If an actor walks around the stage, anywhere they stand, they should be lit by each of these lights. Similarly purposed lights are then called a System of lights and are usually made up of several fixtures of the same color and similar angle around the theatre. If they’re all turned on together, it should feel as though the whole stage is being lit by one single light – no dark spots, no drop offs of light.

What do we do next with our color key? Well we’ll discuss that in one of the next sections – Dimension and Focus.

Connection to the Functions

Visibility – Color, especially saturation, can have a huge impact on visibility. While an actor might be under a very bright light, if the color of the light is deeply saturated, the perceived visibility will not be great. Similarly, if an actor is surrounded by saturated light, any amount of white light will pop that actor off from the background.

Composition – Here, contrast is king. A set lit with bright white light might look flat and boring, but add color to the mix and all of a sudden everything is interesting; especially when various angles and colors help enforce the three dimensionality of the space. Further, if the set isn’t three dimensional, it could be painted such that certain color of paint pop in certain colors of light giving the scenic design extra interest and texture. Finally, as with visibility, using saturation to separate background from foreground is a great way to honor the whole stage picture, but drive the audience’s eye to one specific location.

Form – It’s truly incredible how quickly color can create form. If you have two front cross lights at the same intensity, a face will look quite boring and flat – but if you place a color in even just one of those two lights, all of a sudden you have form, dimensionality, interest. It’s like magic. Yes! You are magic.

Mood – Boy howdy! Can color ever drive mood?! Of course mood is relative – so it’s less about having a saturated bold look, it’s more about being different than what we’ve seen before – meaning – the absence or presence of color can create a shift in mood. If we see something different than what we’ve seen before, then we know this moment is special and unique.

Style – Is your style theatrical? Use bold colors and as for forgiveness later! Is your style natural or realistic? Then use bold colors only if they’re motivated. Either way, no matter your style, your colors should be informed by the story and the world you’re trying to create not just as a lighting designer but as an ensemble of artists.

Up and Running with ETC EOS

Curriculum

Color and Contrast

The Basics

Controlling the Element

Connection to the Functions

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