CONCEPT PROJECT – Composition

This next concept project breaks away from lights surrounding a single subject and is more akin to a full lighting system in a theatre. This will allow you to use utilize groups and palettes, texture and size, foreground and background. All this to help you understand the lighting design function of “Composition”. Here, I want you to paint the stage with light.

Remember to utilize the first four tools of lighting design, and now we’ll add a fifth …

Intensity and Shadow (read more here)
Line and Direction (read more here)
Color and Contrast (read more here)
Texture and Quality (read more here)
Dimension and Focus (read more here)

The files you’ll need can be accessed from the Up and Running with ETC EOS folder you hopefully already downloaded, otherwise you can access it all from this link. In that folder you’ll find …

An assignment sheet providing your project task
An EOS file to utilize, play, and experiment
A magic sheet to help you understand the purpose of each system of lights and each individual light itself

About the Assignment

As with the first two concept projects, it’s nice to have a muse. In this project, because you are now wanting to fill the stage it’s helpful to have a story – so a scene from a play, a moment from a movie, or a chapter from a book would help. If you’re a visual person, this would be a great chance to be inspired by a painting from the Realism or Impressionism art. movements.

A quick note – I find the people tend to design one of two ways …

Light the people first and the space around them second
Light the space first and the people second

Which is correct? I would say, “Yes”. Both are right so long as you don’t forget the other half and ensure that you’ve given full weight to both parts. I love to start by putting a base layer of color and texture on the stage, then lift the actors off of that backdrop – but I find that sometimes I allow the actors to get lost in the grandiose stage picture. Always know where you need to drive focus.

About the Magic Sheet

If you are planning on fully investing yourself in this assignment (and the next one, it’ll be the same setup) I would recommend printing your magic sheets. It’s nice to have it to your side, separate from your computer screen.

Most of the magic sheet should make a lot of sense, especially after having stepped through the previous lessons. An addition in this project is the usage of moving lights. Most of the fixtures are static. They can change color and all that, but they’re static. That’s great for a system of light. But here I’ve appended that model with a series of special movers that can be used for whatever purpose you see fit.

The one very odd element is the section of “Figures” – these are channels that control the individual figures on the stage. EOS treats them like moving lights and allows you to move them around the space on the X, Y, and Z access. Their location will then be saved in a cue and they’ll even move to a new position if the cue asks them to do so.

Have fun! Oh … and maybe avoid rotating them on the Z axis …

About the EOS File

Once you open the file, begin by running Macro 1 ( [M] [1] [Enter] ). This will reset the environment for this particular assignment.

This is a pretend scenic design I created for class purposes and some illustrations from a stock website (because I can’t draw that well). This will allow you to play both director – deciding how and when the actors move – as well as lighting designer.

I would encourage you to begin by deciding what the characters are doing in the ambient light, recording a cue for each of those movements, and then add light on top.

If you need a little bit of help seeing what everything looks like in practice, I’ve crafted a handful of looks for you.

Cue 101 – Preshow / House Open
Cue 102 – Blackout
Cue 103 – Scene 1
Cue 104 – Blueout
Cue 105 – Scene 2
Cue 106 – Blackout
Cue 108 – Curtain Call
Cue 109 – Postshow / House Open

One Last Note

Before you go off and play, I want to encourage you to continue thinking about the first five elements of lighting design – intensity, line, color, texture, and dimension. How can you use all those elements in tandem to compose a compelling stage picture that tells a story and allows the actors to grab focus.

Here, for example, is an opening monologue from the main character. She’s telling us about someone important to her, standing in the back, lightly lit, while the rest of the townsfolk look on in the ambient style of the stage.

Also … there’s a dog … because why not?

Up and Running with ETC EOS

Curriculum

CONCEPT PROJECT – Composition

About the Assignment

About the Magic Sheet

About the EOS File

One Last Note

Modal title