Inlet Theatre Tech Tour - Lighting Grid Info

In the middle left side of the image there are a pair of lights. One cool, one warm. They are focused across the stage, to add side lighting to the performers on stage. We call these lights “tips”. They can provide effects such as a light shining through a window on stage or a similar effect, to a silhouette. Tips are focused at an approximately 45 degree angle from the subject.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt_lighting#:~:text=Rembrandt%20lighting%20is%20a%20standard,with%20a%20minimum%20of%20equipment.

We sometimes add gobos to these types of lights. Gobos allow us to “break-up”, or add texture or images to the light projection. The gobos we have available for a production are featured here.

For some perspective, the fixture at the top of this box is lighting the midstage, the bottom of the box is front lighting from midstage to upstage. The light in the center of this image is one of four “curtain warmers”. Our theatre’s front curtain is a smoke grey IFR velour traveller.  

The fabric running through the middle of this image is the “teaser”, a piece of curtain that matches the main curtain, and hides all the lights, and electrics. The mid-house catwalk is the hanging instrument for most of the lights pointed at the downstage half of the stage. What is that diagonal object? Good question, that's a plexiglass partition which is a recent addition to our stage equipment inventory due to a certain coronavirus we all know about.

Cyc Lighting – the rectangular lights spread out across the furthest upstage pipe contains 12 matching ETC Selador Vivid R fixtures. The fixtures are focused on a white cyclorama drape that stretches from one side of the stage to the other, allowing for some amazing backdrops, projections, and mood lighting.

Upon close inspection a few items may stand out in this image.

Do you see the flat black border hanging between the midstage electric and the front house catwalk? That border hides almost all of the overhead lights from getting in the eyes of the audience, especially those lucky folks in the front row.

Do you notice the catwalk itself? By hanging the lights off pipes accessible via a catwalk, we are able refocus, re-color and even replace lights on these electrics. The majority of our specials are split between the front house, and mid house catwalk electrics for this reason.

The light in the middle of this cell looks different than the others, it should, it is a worklight. There are four worklights (2US/2DS) that the stage crew use to light the stage without powering on the lighting console each time. Even better, last summer we converted these Par64s to LED bulbs, reducing power consumption by 90%. Can you spot the four lights that look out of place? (Answer: middle of B2, middle of D2, split on A1/A2, and spot on E1/E2)

Ever wanted to get a better picture of where the lights are pointing, and what they are all used for? Another tool we use to keep it all clear is our “Magic Sheet”.  It’s really as useful as it sounds.

The upstage pipe contains a mix of three fixtures, the seven blue LED wash lights are ETC Colorsource Par, the four fixtures emitting a warm white glow are 1000w tungsten Fresnels. And the hidden, nearly impossible to see special hung center (but pointing towards the downstage edge) is a Source four Leko focused downstage center. It is a key light for a center stage performer. This is just one hint of the elements that Inlet Theatre tries to incorporate in its modern lighting design.

Sometimes the type of light you need isn’t available, so you make what you can from what you have. Understanding ways to rig and hang lights is incredibly helpful when working in a limited design budget. Take a look at this helpful article to learn a bit more - http://www.theatrecrafts.com/pages/home/topics/lighting/lighting-rigging-positions/

A common challenge for any performer is the light in the corner of their eye, sometimes blocking the view of the audience. The reason that one light looks so much bigger than the others, and so much brighter? It’s because it’s pointed right at you. The focus is where an instrument is pointed. The final focus should place the "hot spot" of the beam at the actor's head level when standing at the center of the instrument's assigned "focus area" on the stage. The lighting designer doesn’t have it out for you, they are just making sure everyone can see you!  

The very top edge of this box includes one of the most recent additions - one of Inlet Theatre’s moving light spots, an Elation Platinum Spot III. A pair of these fixtures were added to our inventory in early 2019.

Would you like to learn about stage lighting, design, and the art of lighting in general?  An amazing free online resource is available right here.

This row of the spliced up image shows four pipes (or electrics):

The furthest upstage pipe is CYC LX

In front of CYC LX is LX4

Slightly in front of LX4 is LX3

and at the bottom of the square, just in front of the midstage border is the LX2 pipe

Have a look at the overhead lighting plot aka "house hang", to see one of the resources we use to keep track of where everything is.

Learn a bit more about one of the hardest working lights in show business - The Fresnel!