Lighting designer training program. Well, what kind of lighting designer am I to you? Modern lighting equipment

Interviewed by Maria Medvedeva

Business card

Anna Makhortova, 20 years old. Assistant lighting designer at the Moscow musical theater "Monoton". Student at MGTT named after. L. Filatova.

We come across their work all the time: in the theater, at a concert, at a children's party somewhere in an ordinary cultural center. We encounter it, but don’t think about it, the result of this work is so natural and familiar. However, the absence of these people in the workplace is a nightmare for any director or actor. These people are lighting artists, “light specialists”. I was able to communicate with one of them, a very cheerful and enthusiastic student Anya.

What does a lighting designer do? What are his responsibilities?

The main and main task of a lighting designer is to provide the lighting component of a play, musical, or concert. The lighting designer comes up with what kind of lighting and at what moment will be on the stage, if the director does not do this. In general, directors often don’t understand anything about this, and then the lighting designer can completely design the lighting for the performance. If the director is an interested and versatile person, as he should be, then he and the lighting designer can discuss this, the director can write out the score, and then the lighting designer will be, rather, a performer. The entire performance is recorded as a sequence of turning on the “lights” on the control panel, and during the action there is no need to invent or experiment with anything - everything has been verified in advance. All that remains is to turn on a certain button in time. But the process of working out all this is quite long and labor-intensive, because you need to take a lot into account: color compatibility, lighting intensity, and so on.

Anya, how did it happen that you got involved in such a business? Does this have anything to do with your future profession?

I study at the Filatov Theater College, and the college has its own theater. I'm studying to become a social and cultural activities. When I was a first-year student, our theater's lighting designer was looking for a part-time assistant among the students. He offered it to our guys, but for some reason everyone refused. And then I started asking him, saying that gender is not important in this occupation, and that I would be very interested in working in this area. I entered college at the age of 16, so the personnel department could not register me. So I asked for this job for another two years. When the age reached the required level, I was immediately hired. I have already worked for three years.

I am not a lighting designer yet, but only his assistant. Although an increase is possible in the future. IN at the moment I don’t invent anything myself, my boss does it. He sets specific positions in the remote control program, and during the performance I monitor the proper execution of this program, switching buttons that are pre-programmed. Of course, I am taught all sorts of tricks and features of working with light, so that in the future I will be able to work as a lighting designer.

So this work was interesting to you in itself?

Yes. My older sister works as a film director. I often visited the set, and at that time I also wanted to work in cinema. I thought that for normal, high-quality work, it is important to try to learn as many areas as possible in organizing the process from the inside, so that you can then competently manage and set the right tasks for your subordinates.

Along the way, I became sincerely fascinated by the process itself, began to be interested in the nuances and what I did not need directly in my work, but for myself. Initially this was not the case.

Tell me, has your immersion in this profession changed anything in your worldview?

If we talk about worldview, then all these are not such subtle things. However, I began to better understand color combinations. When entering a room, I pay attention to the light. And if you think about it, yes, definitely professional deformation happened. Now, when I come to a play or concert, I pay attention first of all to the light. Then I ask my boss questions about what was done and how, why exactly. I can no longer calmly look at what is happening on stage. How my sister and I can’t go to the movies normally (laughs). In general, when you come to work in the cultural and entertainment sector, you begin to pay attention to all this, try it on yourself and on your future projects. So, when I come to a concert, I concentrate not on my feelings and impressions, but on analyzing what is happening. This is a different level, and it is much more interesting, in my opinion.

To be honest, my range of interests has changed somewhat. New devices, techniques. This is all so unusual, I want to study and understand it. I recently attended a concert of a foreign artist who came with his own equipment - I only looked at this equipment, at how color and light combined with the music, working in the same rhythm. I wanted to be able to work with all this, to touch and feel everything. So that you can then create something yourself so that the viewer can say: “Wow!”

What qualities should a person have who wants to work as a lighting designer?

Probably, all the subtleties will be learned during the work process. But there must be a certain sense of color and light, that's for sure. It is clear that a colorblind person cannot become a lighting designer. You must have a well-developed intuition to understand whether there is enough light on the main character, whether it is worth putting red and orange, or whether you need to add a little cold lighting.

In terms of training: of course, there are courses. I know that VGIK has courses. But, for example, I didn’t complete any courses, I started with little things, like an apprentice before. My boss taught me a lot and continues to teach me. I gain experience from hand to hand. Yes, there are mistakes and blunders, but I immediately have practice. In general, a lighting designer is an ordinary profession. Few people are eager to get into these. It’s much more interesting to be in the public eye: as a director, as an actor.

How serious are blunders?

Lighting is an integral part of the performance. Anyone. In the dark, the viewer will not see anything. But modern equipment allows much more. Light sets the mood. With the help of light you can depict rain, fire, violent emotions of characters or sadness. I had a case. Since I don’t set up anything myself, during intermission I went to the buffet to have a snack. I return to my place at the beginning of the act, the curtain opens - and there is the so-called main lighting, as at a rehearsal. The actors all stand, they don’t start the action, they wait for the right lighting. But he’s not there. And the audience is waiting for the actors to do something. I rushed around, pressed the buttons - nothing changed. Somehow, by the middle of the act, the lighting started working, and I had to restart the remote control. Then until the end of the performance my hands were shaking. Fortunately, it was possible to blame everything on the technology, which, as you know, tends to glitch. This is not an egregious case, but I have encountered situations where poor lighting greatly spoiled what was happening on stage and prevented the viewer from being completely immersed in the world of the performance.

A lighting designer is truly an artist. It adds an extra dimension to the performance. It's like a magic trick in a movie - foreground, background. Emotions, mood, weather. Release smoke or soap bubbles at the right time.

What, is the lighting designer also responsible for this?

Of course, the director comes up with this idea, the lighting designer can come up with an idea, but all the equipment is connected to one remote control. So yes, if necessary, I make smoke or bubbles or do other special effects.

Is the profession promising? Is there a lot of competition?

There are quite a lot of light workers now, but nevertheless, the prospects of this profession cannot be denied. Every small theater, every little-known group they want to have their own lightmaker. So you won't be left without work. The entertainment industry is growing and so is the need for lighting designers. It’s clear that it’s difficult to get into some cool places, there’s a completely different level, although there’s no exorbitant competition there either. But even an average-level lighting worker receives a very good salary, without risking losing his job, unless he constantly screws up.

Do you plan to continue this work after graduating from college?

It's hard to say. Plans are constantly changing. If at the beginning of my studies I planned to become a producer, now I want to be a cameraman. In this profession, understanding light is very important, so my current experience will definitely come in handy. I don’t know how much longer I will work in our theater, because everything in my life is changing very quickly. But for now I’m definitely not going to leave: this is experience, this is experience, this is practical knowledge. And it's just interesting.

One of the problems of the Russian theater lighting designer And illuminator, believes main artist lighting designer at the Mariinsky Theater Vladimir Lukasevich.

What lighting designer- this is not a person who knows thoroughly only lighting technology, it became clear to Vladimir Lukasevich a few years after starting work in the theater. Therefore, he and his friend Mikhail Mikler, now the chief lighting designer Small opera house, came to the production department of the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography (LGITMiK) in 1977 and asked to teach them according to the program that they had compiled for themselves. To the general subjects traditional for production designers, they added color theory, electronics, physiology of vision, and psychology of perception, which were not previously available at this department. Now this and much more will be taught in the new course of the production department at the Theater Academy. On the course " Lighting designer", created on the initiative of Lukasiewicz and the head. Department of the production department of V. M. Shepovalov.

Other people's mistakes

Lighting designer creates his own “role” Sveta” in the performance, which in theory should (like all other components of the “role”) make the viewer both cry and laugh, which is what the theater as a whole serves. How, in fact, will you make the viewer cry if you do not know how to press his tear glands, if you are not familiar with the psychology of perception? There is the physiology of vision, for example the law of dark adaptation. How to make a change when “cutting down” on stage so that the audience does not notice it? Maybe just turn it off light, but it will not be enough, since there is no complete darkness in the theater - after all, there is an orchestra pit, lamps emergency exit, etc. It may be more correct in this case to adapt the audience’s vision to some increased brightness in order to prolong the viewer’s feeling of “darkness” until the onset of dark adaptation. These are very real tools... What if you don’t want complete darkness, but want a state in which the viewer sees what is necessary for the action, but not what you wanted to hide? Of course, you can practice for a long time empirically, looking for to what extent, to what brightness and for how long you need to adapt the viewer’s vision, or you can simply know how the adaptation curve works... Well, the psychology of color perception goes far into history, the roots of which you will find in Tibetan philosophy and Buddhist culture. Ancient Indian theater, for example. When a backdrop of a certain color, say green, was lowered in an Indian theater, the audience immediately understood that we were talking about melancholy. It was both a symbol and a sign to the viewer. Well, and so on. Such things, of course, need to be known and understood from the beginning. This is why fundamental education is needed - so as not to start from scratch every time, using our favorite method of our own trial and error.

Unfortunately, in Russia there was no school where the entire amount of knowledge needed was collected in one place modern artist around the world. There has always been a transfer of craft from master to apprentice. But masters such as Klimovsky, Kutikov, Diaghilev, Drapkin, Sinyachevsky, Barkov, Volkov, Simonov, who worked in the fifties and seventies, always said: “Watch what I do - and learn.” Naturally, that's why they left few students. And today, it would probably be correct to say that for the most part all current Russian lighting designers- self-taught. Relying only on own experience and intuition, they start again and again from the same scratch from which the previous generation began. This is the essence of the concept of “professional school” - it accumulates the experience done.

At annual seminars for Russian lighting artists Lukasiewicz more than once heard about the practice of working in some theaters, which was completely unthinkable in work lighting artist: “And in our theater the director says: “Filter this lantern with red! This one with green! Point it here, I said! And this one – there! Do as I said...”.”

This is what I would call work illuminator, - we’ll light it where they say.

Modern theater cannot work like that. This kind of practice became obsolete a hundred years ago, and these are, of course, rudiments theater XIX century. But to my surprise, quite large quantities places exist safely. Perhaps this is due to the fact that our directors and artists traditionally receive insufficient education in matters of “scenography” and Sveta and how poorly educated people are convinced that they “know everything.” The problem, of course, is two-sided. Insufficient education on both sides creates situations of mutual distrust when the director does not believe in creative potential lighting artist, lighting designer - shines, where they will say, thereby initially impoverishing the created work.

No one, of course, argues: the stage director is the creator and generator of the idea and concept of the performance as a whole. But it’s not the director’s question - which flashlight where to send. The director has other tasks - to deal with the actors, mise-en-scène, and so on. The question is that the lighting designer works with the director initially, when the concept is still being formed, before the performance begins to rehearse on stage. By the time he goes on stage, the artist must have everything ready. Absolutely everything for rehearsals, where the “role” is checked and verified Sveta", to the same extent as any acting role. It's too late to come up with ideas. That is, he must give birth to a score Sveta, which is based on the concept of the performance, developed together with the director. Construct your own work - create a light-color scheme that is in harmony not only with costumes and decorations, but also with the characters, and with the music, and everything else. In a word, he must do his own accurate and aesthetically verified work, work out the lighting score. Otherwise, the results are half-finished performances - “works”. According to Lukasiewicz, one of the problems of Russian theater is that we very often do not distinguish between what lighting designer and what is illuminator, which at the request of the director will illuminate the actor - “so that it can be seen”, and the scenery - “so that it is beautiful.”

Education standard

The impetus for starting work on opening a course at the Theater Academy " Lighting designer“was Vladimir’s invitation to the University of Connecticut to give lectures on the history of the subject in Russia. Americans, by the way, involved in vocational training lighting artists since 1936, seemed interesting Russian experience. And Vladimir, in turn, envied the way their training was organized. After all, the drama department of the university has four of its own, well-equipped theaters, in which 6–8 full-fledged performances are staged a year, by all students of the department. Thus, at lighting artists, just like actors and directors, there is an opportunity - and this is even obligatory - to work and illuminators, and assemblers, and assistant directors, that is, to master the theater from all sides. During the course they manage to graduate independently as lighting designers 5–7 performances. Accordingly, upon completing the course, they already have a decent portfolio and can present something interesting to employers.

Vladimir Lukasevich had experience teaching theater in the past (12 years). lighting engineers at the production department of LGITMiK, and even several courses were issued in the specialty “Artist-technologist” with the specialization “ Lighting designer" Ultimately, it became clear that theoretically, without a decent technical base, this probably did not make sense.

You see, it turned out to be such a wrong thing. All attempts to create some kind of normal class at the faculty and at the same time at the Mariinsky Theater were unsuccessful. And it turned out that people came to us to study, we taught them, they graduated from the university, received a diploma " lighting designer” and were confident that what was written in the diploma was true. But this was not so, or not entirely so. At a minimum, because they did not have the opportunity to master the profession in practice. And it turned out that we told the person that he was red, but he was actually bald. But it’s still not good to cheat. Actually because of this, preparation lighting artists was stopped, but easy to read lighting technology it wasn't very interesting anymore.

And one more thing. After teaching in America, I was tormented by envy: why is it possible to study with them, but not with us? After all, today the situation has long been different, and there are opportunities to obtain a certain technical base, you just need to work on it. And we agreed with the Theater Academy to open a corresponding course at the production department.

It is in the specialty " Lighting designer»?

Here lies another, big and at the same time funny problem. The main idea was that from the very first course it should be a course lighting artists. Without any specializations, because these are still different things: specialization and profession. But then we came across something interesting. It turned out that in the list of professions available in our country, lighting designer yes, but not on the list of the Ministry of Education. That is, it turns out that this is the profession, but no one understands who and how to train specialists. Complete nonsense.

In order for this profession to appear in the above list, there must be an approved Education Standard. We wrote this standard, but there is probably no one in the ministry to work on it and approve it (due to 8–15 graduates per year).

What is this Education Standard?

A list of all subjects and knowledge that a student must master in order to become a professional. I invited my friend Jim Franklin to do this work, who once organized a similar course at the University of Connecticut (now one of the leading schools of our profession in the USA). At the same time, he lectured at the Theater Academy for a whole semester. At the same time, this topic was actively discussed at meetings and round tables Associations lighting artists Russia. They broke spears. It started with nonsense: What should it be called? Lighting designer or something else? But what is lighting designer? I don't understand who he is lighting designer. What is design in general in our understanding? After all, in English the word “designer” does not directly correspond to the word “artist”. It's more of a constructor. Although this is also not entirely true. Ultimately, we are talking about a creative profession that creates a certain visual sequence - that is, an artist. After all, outside of our disputes, it exists in the register of professions. Lighting designer- this is right.

On the other hand, how to teach to be an artist? This is probably impossible, it’s more likely from mom and dad. I think that at our Academy (as at any other creative university) we are talking, first of all, about giving a person a craft. Craft techniques for living in the profession. And what he does with these techniques, how he implements it, depends on his creative potential. But the profession needs to be learned. History of Russian and foreign theater, history material culture, stories fine arts, philosophy, theory of scenography, history of Russian and foreign literature, perspective, drawing, calculation of theatrical structures, painting, drawing, psychology and physiology of perception, history theatrical light And theatrical costume, computer modeling and the theory of spatial resolution of a performance... Yes, we included a lot of other things in the Education Standard. Long list.

For what lighting designer study so many humanities subjects?

To be educated, modern. How do you expect to work on a play, say, or an opera, without knowing the history, material culture of the era that is discussed in your performance? Narrow professional knowledge, in my opinion, was what Karl Marx called “professional cretinism.” For the sake of broad knowledge, of course! Later, Jim (I was on tour at the time) presented our program in Munich at a seminar lighting artists, where monsters of our profession from Europe and America traditionally gather. And, according to Jim, his colleagues were slightly amazed: the program looks even more serious than the one that exists today in the States. The fact is that for a number of reasons, for example in the USA, it is not possible to provide such a wide range of items. And the St. Petersburg Theater Academy has a huge resource in this regard. And I did this deliberately, because in the American school I was greatly embarrassed by the limited knowledge of history, experience of world and European theater, and general outlook. ABOUT Russian theater They probably don’t know anything except the name Stanislavsky. There, at the university, students came to me and told me about crazy ideas that they came up with on their own. And I had to give a lecture about our compatriot who worked for Dalcroze in Hellerau in 1912. “...This has already happened. In 1414, Nikolai Zaltsman already did all this...” So lighting designer- it's not just knowledge flashlights. This is detailed knowledge of the subject from all sides.

What requirements did you have for the entrance exams?

Due to the fact that the course is open specifically at the Theater Academy, we, like all creative universities, have the opportunity to select students in two and a half rounds. According to the principle you want.

So which one?

I want the student to be smart and talented. The first qualifying round went like this. Each applicant received a reproduction of a painting - classical painting. Based on this picture, it was necessary to draw a plan, a side section - supposedly make theater stage- and put light. In hands only a pencil and paper. It didn’t matter to me how they knew how to draw layouts - they would be taught how to draw for four years - it was important to understand, firstly, how much a person sees space and, secondly, how much he sees light in this space. This is the Jesuit task I set for them. And for the second round, you had to either take a photo yourself, or find clippings from magazines with pictures in which light played a certain role. And talk about it. And not the simplest spectacular pictures, where, say, the sun rises behind the forest and a powerful “backlight” is visible, but something more complex, multifaceted. There were also a couple of problems from school physics and drawing. Then - an interview, when all the teachers of the department asked applicants about theater, literature, and music. To understand how theatrical a person is and from our team. Thus, eight people were selected (although initially I expected a course of six). We really hope that some good will come of them.

And your graduates will bet light V the best theaters peace?

Of course I would like to. I think it primarily depends on them. I think we will do what depends on us at the faculty. And then - how life will lead. Maybe not the theater, who knows. The point is that lighting designer- This lighting designer. AND light he can stage anywhere: in a casino, in a theater... Illuminate the Kazan Cathedral or museum exhibitions. This is a profession. And she can apply herself to anything. The question is that the person understands what he is doing. Of course, there is specialization - architectural lighting, theatrical light, concert light. But all these are different course subjects. A lighting designer gotta figure out how in the best possible way illuminate this or that. For example, I would like to see architectural lighting St. Petersburg is not the same as it is today. After all, St. Petersburg is an amazing dramatic environment. Well, Dostoevsky’s Petersburg can’t be illuminated just like Pushkin’s Petersburg - these are different cities! AND light, and the environment in these different cities must be done differently. Well, at least for aesthetic reasons. And we have all the lighting - flashlights: it was dark, it became light - that’s all the progress. It's the same with the theater - the problems have the same root. But this period will pass someday. I hope not without our help.

Vladimir Lukasevich was born in Odessa in 1956. At the age of fifteen, he entered the Leningrad Film Technical School to major in “Theater Lighting Designer.” At the age of seventeen he made his first performance as a lighting designer at the Ryazan Regional Drama Theater. Graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography. Staged performances in many drama theaters Russia. He worked at the theater. V. F. Komissarzhevskaya with People's Artist USSR by R. S. Agamirzyan. He taught the discipline “Artist-Technologist” at LGITMiK with the specialization “Lighting Artist”. Since 1985 he has worked at the Mariinsky Theater as chief lighting designer. Teaches at the University of Connecticut. Provides lighting for performances staged not only in St. Petersburg, but also on the stages of opera and ballet theaters peace. He has produced more than 300 performances, classical and avant-garde productions: “Boris Godunov”, “The Nutcracker”, “Lohengrin”, “Parsifal”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Samson and Delilah”, “Corsair”, “Firebird”, “Petrushka”, “La Traviata”, “Copelia”, “Carmen”, “Theme with Variations”, “Manon”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “Ariadne on Naxos” and others... The performances designed by him were and are being performed at many venues around the world - Spoletto Festival USA, La Scala, Bordeaux Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Opera Marseille, New Israeli Opera, New national opera in Tokyo. Eight years ago, based on his project, a unique reconstruction of the lighting equipment of the spotlights was made at the Mariinsky Theater, and lighting equipment with fully automated control appeared in the theater. Vladimir Lukasevich is one of the board members of the Association of Lighting Artists of Russia and, under the auspices of this association and the Theater Academy of St. Petersburg, conducts annual advanced training seminars for lighting artists. And this year, on his initiative, the production department at the Theater Academy for the first time enrolled students in the “Lighting Designer” course.

List of subjects for a 5-year course of study in the specialty “Lighting Designer”
Foreign language
Physical culture
Domestic history:
World historical process in Russia
History of the Fatherland
Philosophy:
Fundamentals of philosophical knowledge
Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics)
Cultural studies
Psychology and pedagogy
Russian language and speech culture
Sociology
History of Russian literature
History of foreign literature
History of foreign drama
History of the theater
History of foreign theater
History of Russian theater
History of fine arts
History of foreign fine arts
History of Russian fine arts
History of material culture and life
Drawing and painting
Theater buildings and structures
Organization of theater business in Russia
Theatrical make-up and pastiche Materials science
Life safety
History of Russian music and musical theater
Story foreign music and music theater
History of St. Petersburg
Theater safety
Stage equipment (lighting)
Dramaturgical analysis
Theory of scenography
History of theatrical lighting
Scenographic composition
Decoration technology
Theater production technology
Stage design and equipment
Basics of Perspective and Layout
Calculation of theater structures
Stage costume creation technology
Technology of artistic and lighting design
History of theatrical and decorative art
History of the costume
Architecture Basics
Drawing and descriptive geometry
Theater lighting equipment
Light and color
Light score, graphics
Psychology of perception
Theater lighting technology
Electronics
Aesthetics of light
Computer simulation of light
Specialized software
Lighting in musical theater
Lights in a drama theater
Lighting design of architecture
Lighting design for concert programs

Books

Reference book on lighting engineering

Moscow House Sveta and the publishing house "Znak" are preparing for release at the end of 2005 the third edition of the "Reference Book on lighting technology».
The first two editions were published in 1983 and 1995. During this time, the “Reference Book on Lighting Engineering”, published in a circulation of 65 thousand copies, became reference book most specialists and at the same time teaching aid in many areas of lighting engineering.
The new edition is distinguished by significantly greater completeness of materials, presentation of the latest regulatory data, methods and means of calculation, design and lighting design, full-color design and printing on high-quality paper. In the new, third edition, the sections “ Light sources", "Controlling devices and lighting control systems", methods of calculation and design based on the widespread use of computer technology have been revised. New sections have appeared in the book: “ Lighting design», « Light and health", "Energy saving in lighting installations", " Underwater lighting", "History of lighting technology".
"Reference book on lighting technology» designed for wide range lighting specialists, electricians, architects, hygienists, doctors, labor protection workers associated with the use of natural and artificial lighting, development and production lighting products, design, installation and operation of lighting installations.
"Reference book on lighting technology"will also be released on CD.
You can order the “Reference Book on Lighting Engineering” at the House of Light. His address:
Russia, 129626, Moscow, Mira Ave., 106, office. 346
Tel./fax: (095) 682–19–04, tel. (095) 682–26–54
E-mail: Light– [email protected]

Ballad of Light

“She is over 120 years old, but she doesn’t look her age. No matter how much new sources of light compete with her, she remains the most beautiful of all. A thing that remains unchanged in its classic form, an example of perfect design, to which there is nothing to add and from which there is nothing to take away. In many cases much more beautiful than all the lampshades and lamps, with which they now decorate and cover it.”
So begins a new book, just published, dedicated to the first ever widely used electrical device. The book contains more than 200 illustrations. The text is organized around three main topics: technical aspects of the introduction of light bulbs, advertising and graphics from many previously unpublished documents and, finally, “words about light" - the view of poets and writers on the object of study.
This book is a 144-page paean to the light bulb, with a superb minimalist cover that replicates a 1912 poster by Peter Behrens commissioned by AEG. The book does not pretend to be a technical treatise or a textbook on lighting technology; it is an “illustrated atlas”, which is a pleasure to read. Even the title reminds of the property Sveta bring fun and joy.
The text opens with poems by the Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, dedicated to an electric light bulb and its fiery heart. The book ends with lines from the great American neurologist Oliver Sacks: a fragment of autobiographical prose about his favorite metals - osmium, tungsten and tantalum, from which filaments in lamps are made. Between these two luminous rods stretch five parts of the book: “Myth and Beauty”, “Edison and His Kind”, “The War on Gas”, “Workshops of Light”, “Our Time”. Workshops of Light contains six biographies of major companies and comprehensive descriptions of countless commercial brands. The author is not new to such publications. In 1995, Lupetti published his Signs of Light, now virtually out of print. Accompanied by illustrations, it's easy and enjoyable to wade through the history of light bulb advertising, with a smattering of technical details and cultural excursions. In fact, a third of the volume - its final part - exalts the charm Sveta on a high pedestal created by the words of poets.
Materials provided by the Portal Sveta
www.lightingacademy.org

You can find out where you can get the magazine...

Here is the first lesson for beginning lighting artists. The author of this training series is Neil Fraser, curator of the Technical Faculty of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In this article, the author identifies five main aspects of stage lighting and suggests ways for lighting designers to improve it.

Neil Fraser: “In writing this article, I have attempted to list what we aim to achieve with stage lighting. Of course, not everything that has been said will be true in each specific case; the resulting list is my attempt to answer this question as fully as possible.”

So, stage lighting:

• gives us the opportunity to see what is happening on stage,
• characterizes the place and time of the play,
• tells us about the mood of the scene,
• highlights those places that are especially important to see,
• gives the scene the necessary attractiveness,
• emphasizes the genre and style of the play,
• captivates us with special effects.

The job of a lighting designer is to know how to achieve all this in the most in an efficient way(of course, in collaboration with other people: director, production designer, etc.) This knowledge includes several aspects that we will discuss in this course, namely:

1. corner,
2. shape,
3. color,
4. movement
5. and composition.

To begin with, let's note that the first three points (angle, shape and color) characterize the light itself, while the last two (movement and composition) describe how we use this light to create light paintings.

Musical Theater named after. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko,
director Alexander Titel,
lighting designer Damir Ismagilov

All five components are vital: with their help we tell a story, create a mood, or simply convey certain information to the audience. How we do this depends on what we have learned about the nature of light, how it works - we receive, accumulate and systematize this experience throughout our lives, from birth.

directed by Francesca Zambello
lighting designer Mark McCullough

Based on this knowledge, lighting designers decide at what angle each scene will be lit, what the color and shape of the beams should be, how it will all line up, and how it will change in accordance with the design of the play. The audience doesn't stand aside either. They become experts at interpreting light patterns, although they often don't realize it. From this point of view, we can talk about effective lighting, that is, about lighting that allows viewers to grasp the meaning and feel the mood of the light scene.

Scene from Tatiana Baganova's play “Sepia”,
Yekaterinburg troupe "Provincial Dances"

For most lighting decisions there is no “right” or “wrong”, and this is very important because it allows the lighting designer to implement his own understanding, own style. However, Neil Fraser strongly advises aspiring lighting designers to refine and develop their ideas towards effective lighting. There are several ways to do this.

1. Practice. Take every opportunity to test your ideas, try something new, explore and create,

2. Observation. Everywhere - indoors and outdoors, in film and in the real world - pay attention to the light and determine how it was created and how you can recreate it on stage.

3. Education. Learn from painters how to use light and structure the composition of their paintings.

Good examples would be the works of Rembrandt, Caravaggio or David Hockney.

The most important thing is to start thinking about how light “works” and how we can use it. This is the first practical task for those who want to become a true professional in the field of stage lighting.

In the next installment of the series - "Getting an angle on lighting" - Neil Fraser talks about how to choose the right angle for lighting. We wish you creative success!

Part 2: Find the right angle

Here is the second lesson in a series for beginning lighting artists. In the first article, the curator of the Faculty of Engineering of the Royal Academy Theater arts Neil Fraser looked at the five main aspects of stage lighting.

In the second lesson, Neil Fraser answers the question of where light should come from on stage, talks about different lighting angles and suggests a whole series useful exercises for constructing light paintings.

When choosing the angle at which the light falls, it is important to find a compromise between how clearly the audience sees the illuminated object and the dramatic perception of that object. It's great when both ideas come true, but often one of them crowds out the other. For example, this happens when someone tries to make an object more visible to viewers and removes the shadows that give it the desired character.

Usually, by looking at the angle at which light falls, we can guess where its source is located. It is more difficult to determine which source of light is emitting: the sun, a table lamp or a street lamp. Thus, when interpreting the light on stage, the audience may not draw an analogy between the angle of incidence of the light and the real light source with which it is familiar.

Basic lighting angles

Below are the five main angles that characterize the location of the light source in relation to the illuminated object:

1. Horizontal (flat) light - light falling directly on the object along the viewer's line of sight
2. Back light – light coming from behind and above
3. Side light - light from the side at the level of the object
4. Overhead light – the source is located directly above the subject
5. Ramp light - the source is located in front of the object from below

By combining some of these areas, you can also get:

• Top front light - light from above and in front of the subject
• Diagonal light - light from above away from the subject

The choice of lighting angle depends on what we want to communicate to the viewer. So let's imagine the emotional meaning of these angles.

Flat stage lighting is often dull as it produces almost no shadows. Only in a certain context (when required strong impact) it can be mysterious and interesting.

Rear the light can be described as ominous or mysterious. It is rarely used alone, in pure form.

Side light has a strong effect, like something abstract (rarely found in natural conditions).

Upper the light can be perceived as oppressive; it seems to press down on the illuminated object.

Ramp the light on stage seems the most strange, uncanny and unusual of all. It is not surprising that it is used less often than others.

Upper front the light well models the light sources known to us - this is the angle at which it falls sunlight, light from street lamps or from a room chandelier. In addition, it most harmoniously combines good visibility and a certain drama.

Diagonal the light is not as familiar as the top front light, but more natural than the side light, because falls from above.
The effect that light has on the viewer depends not so much on the light itself, but on the shadows it creates. It is chiaroscuro that can show the outlines and shape of an object and arouse interest in it.

Combining lighting angles

Using multiple light sources on a stage makes the lighting scene more interesting. Below are a few notes on this:

1. The effect of light sources positioned at fundamental angles to the subject can be very different from what is achieved by combining them. When combining different lighting angles, we must remember how each light source contributes to the big picture. For example, one angle is used to give clarity to a painting, while another is used to create dramatic light.
2. Every lighting designer knows that having a strong, dominant light source in a lighting design makes the lighting look more attractive. It can be assumed that a strong key light is perceived by us as pleasant on a subconscious level (as it happens on a clear sunny day). This can be used: making one light source stronger than another is not difficult, and it looks good.
3. Please remember that using too large number lighting angles makes the overall picture blurry or overexposed. It looks good, but it's not interesting to watch. Here (as in many other situations) the saying “less is more” applies.
4. Light on a stage is capable of “moving” an object, for example, bringing it closer or further away. This is very noticeable when you use backlighting, which when combined with other lighting angles has a real power: creating a halo around the object, it seems to push it towards the viewer, emphasizing its shape, demonstrating its three-dimensionality.

Typically, the way an artist implements lighting on stage is based on how it works in the real world. If the stage object looks familiar, the viewer can easily guess the light source he knows. Then we can talk about natural (realistic) light on the stage.

When working with lighting angles, you need to keep in mind some general principles regarding working with light:

• it is light that reveals the shape of objects,
• identical light patterns quickly become boring,
• insufficient number of light sources impairs visibility,
• the presence of shadow enhances the effect of light.

As a rule, lighting designers improve their skills every time they simply do their job. However, sometimes it is useful to experiment with light without being tied to any project. These exercises can be done alone or in company with colleagues.

Neil Fraser recommends that aspiring lighting designers keep a diary or journal with ideas, references, diagrams and sketches, photographs, postcards, etc. Such a magazine can become a kind of treasury of ideas and a source of inspiration. It will be helpful to include your notes regarding the suggested exercises.

EXERCISES

Most of the practice exercises here will require multiple light sources. Of course, theater lamps are best suited, but in some cases you can get by with the help of floor lamps. Some exercises can be simulated in miniature using small light bulbs and a table surface. Non-practice exercises will help you fill your notebook or journal with ideas.

Exercise 1. Finding the right angle

1. Find an interesting inanimate object to illuminate, such as a pyramid of chairs or a fabric draped over the legs of an upturned table.

2.Select a viewpoint.

3.Take three light sources and place them under different angles to the object.

4.See what the lighting from each source looks like separately and describe it

5.See what the lighting looks like when combining light sources in pairs, describe your impressions.

6.Look at the effect of turning on all three sources at once, describe your impressions in a journal. If you have the ability to change the brightness of your fixtures, use it to create combinations of key and fill lights.

To make the effect of each light more noticeable, use different color filters for each of them in rich shades, such as red, blue and green.

Exercise 2. Painting with light

1.View the list of basic lighting angles:

horizontal light,

rear light,

Side light,

overhead light,

Ramp light.

2.Take a stack of old magazines and leaf through it, looking for illustrations where the light falls in one of the above ways.

3. When you have a sufficient number of such examples, arrange them in ascending order: from the best to the worst application of a given lighting angle.

Some lighting angles will be seen more often than others, and they are rare in their pure form. Therefore, you can repeat this exercise when you have old magazines again. Hem best photos in a folder so you can refer to them in the future. This exercise can be done while watching television or video images.

Exercise 3. Learning to see the light

1. Take a list of the main lighting angles:

horizontal light,

rear light,

Side light,

overhead light,

Ramp light.

2.Visit several different places, such as your bedroom, classroom, library room, park, etc.

3. Make notes in your notebook (location, time of day, etc.) and record the angles at which the light hits each of these locations.

4.If you can draw, make some sketches.

Come up with a symbol for each angle (this may be useful for later notes).

Exercise 4. Three against one

This exercise is similar to Exercise 1, but instead of lighting an inanimate object, you'll be lighting a living model. Again, an important part of this exercise is verbal description what you will see. This exercise will become even more useful if you conduct and discuss it with your partner.

1.Place the model in the center of the illuminated space.

2.Choose an observation point - the place from where you will look at the model.

3.Select three light sources and place them at different angles in relation to the model.

4.Look at how each of them illuminates the model separately. Describe your impressions: what it reminds you of, what atmosphere they create, what emotions they evoke.

5.Do the same for pairwise combinations of light sources.

6.Turn on all three sources at once and record your impressions.

7.If you can adjust the brightness of your lights, create a key light and a fill light. Or go to Exercise 6 (which expands on this topic).

Exercise 5. Working five

Create a lighting scheme for the model placed in the center of the selected space using five light sources. Each of them should shine at one of the basic angles:

horizontal light,

rear light,

Side light,

overhead light,

Ramp light.

Of course, you must very clearly define your own point of observation. When you create your diagram:

1.See how all five lights work on their own. Describe your impressions: what it reminds you of, what atmosphere they create, what emotions they evoke.

2.Combine light sources in pairs and write down your impressions.

3.Do the same for various combinations from three light sources.

4.If you can adjust the brightness of the lights, create several variations of key and fill lights.

5.Answer the following questions for yourself:

Do you like how the model is lit from one angle or another? Choose your favorite single light source: why do you like it?

Which of the light source combinations you've created do you like and which don't? Why? Can you, using your design, make the model look a certain way (like a hero, like a weak person, like a prisoner, etc.)?

Can you create a certain atmosphere with your design? Try the following: mystery, horror, anxiety, fun, drama, heart, hopelessness, excitement, boredom, depression.

Exercise 6. Realistic light

1.Place the model in the center of your room

2.Choose three light sources and position them so that your model is illuminated as if on a bright sunny day (do not use color filters). Check the result by asking someone to comment on the resulting picture. Ask, “What natural light does this remind you of?” If he answers “noon” or sunny day,” ask him to say where the sunlight is coming from (i.e. which light source is simulating sunlight).

3.Repeat the experiment, recreating the picture of moonlight.

In this exercise you will create a strong, bright key light. The main difficulty is to strike a balance between the key light and other sources. Achieving this is twice as difficult without using colored light, but it is much more useful.

Exercise 7. Improvisation

Creating an effective and "natural" key light is easier if you can use color to impact the viewer. But main meaning This exercise involves matching the levels of light from different angles.

Again place your model in the middle of the room and create a lighting scheme using the following ideas:

Sunlight in the forest

Frosty winter day

Formal interior at noon,

City street corner at night,

Cabin in a submarine,

The landscape of an unfamiliar planet,

hospital ward,

tropical island,

North Pole.

This list can be continued endlessly. You can add your own ideas to it or ask someone else to think about them. By working in a group, you will be able to find more options that suit your needs. Discussing your ideas with your partners will be very useful to you in the future, when you have to implement the director’s or production designer’s plans on stage.

Exercise 8. Dramatic atmosphere

Creating a truly dramatic atmosphere is an important function of stage lighting. You can use color in this exercise, but only if you absolutely cannot do without it. Again, you need to place the model in the center of the room and light it so as to create an atmosphere:

Liberation,

Envy

Cruelty,

Peace.

Again, the list goes on and on. For example, all seven deadly sins could be included here. You can have fun with your colleagues discussing options. The number of ideas you can implement will depend on the resources available (time and equipment). But it wouldn’t hurt to at least write them down.

Exercise 9. Lighting an area of ​​the scene

Many of the previous exercises focused on lighting the model. In this exercise we'll take it a step further and illuminate not only the model, but also the area of ​​the scene around it.

1.Select an area of ​​the scene where you will place your model. It should not be too large (2 square meters is enough).

2.Now select some minimal lighting scheme from the previous exercises (for example, for “ sunny day", "North Pole", "Anger", etc.) and light an area of ​​the scene so that your model can move and still remain in the desired atmosphere.

3.Please note special attention to illuminate the model at the boundaries of your site. Obviously, in some cases you will have to redirect your fixtures or add additional light sources.

This exercise is the first step to lighting the entire scene. It will help you gain confidence that you are lighting all the space you need. You should also be able to feel the difference between lighting a static model and a moving model. Be especially careful to ensure that there are no unwanted shadows or highlights in your area.

Part 3. Rainbow on stage

The third lesson for beginning lighting artists is dedicated to colored stage lighting. Neil Fraser, Curator of the Technical Department of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, talks about the emotional impact of color and offers 9 exercises to develop skills in working with colored light.

Theatrical light is a full participant in any performance, be it a realistic production or a fantastic story. Often it is the light that sets the context of the action or immerses the viewer in the desired psychological atmosphere. Moreover, the strength of the influence of light largely depends on how it is painted.

It is important to understand that all light is colored - there is no light that does not have a color tint. True, sometimes this shade is not striking (for example, we rarely perceive ordinary sunlight as colored). However, if we are careful, we will notice that the slightly yellowish midday light clearly adds optimism to us, and the bluish-gray twilight lighting plunges us into a state of anxious foreboding.

As for theatrical light, we can distinguish its warm and cold shades.

WARM LIGHT is considered more suitable for comedies and romantic stories. Typically, various shades of straw, light pink, amber and gold are used.

COLD LIGHT is suitable for “sad stories”: tragedies, nightmares and detective stories. Common cool colors are steely blue, light green and plain blue.

Theater lighting can also vary in color intensity. Light and delicate colors are used much more often. With their help, you can highlight the desired area of ​​the scene, emphasize skin tone, illuminate the costume favorably, or indicate the time of day or location of the action.

More saturated dark colors can be very dramatic and usually carry more specific messages. Thus, green can be interpreted as the color of envy or illness, blue creates an atmosphere of serenity and peace, and red denotes passion, blood, war, rage or love.

When we see a certain color, we proceed from the impression that the rays reflected from a particular object make on us. Our eyes recognize different wavelengths and interpret them as color sensations.

The names we give to different colors are subjective, because the colors of the spectrum smoothly transition from one to another without any clear boundaries between them. In fact, the seven colors we use to describe the rainbow are too rough a way to describe all the countless shades that the spectrum contains.

However, in the theory of color perception, several primary colors are distinguished - their choice depends on the color mixing model used.

If we put RED, GREEN and BLUE filters on three spotlights, then the intersection of all three rays will give us white light. In this case, the three primary colors complement each other, so the process is called additive color mixing (from English word"add" - add). With additive color mixing, more light and a brighter color are obtained at the intersection of rays.

If you put three filters (YELLOW, PURPLE and BLUE) on one spotlight, each filter will retain light with a certain wavelength, this process is called subtractive color mixing (from the English word “subtract” - subtract). It is clear that in this case we will get less light and a darker color.

So, the most important thing to remember when working with colored theater lighting is:

• Any light is colored
• Color is a powerful tool for conveying emotional states
• Color helps determine the place and time of action
• Rich colors have a powerful impact
• More light colors also set the mood, but not so clearly
• Color can be interpreted differently in different contexts (for example, red can represent anger or passion)

Exercise 10. Assembling a collection

1. Stock up on old magazines with lots of color photographs and illustrations.

2. On large sheet paper, draw a rainbow (in the form of an arc or just a flat spectrum): red - orange - yellow - green - blue - indigo - violet.

3. Cut out small pictures from magazines, colored in rainbow colors, and paste them onto your sheet.

4. When you're done, flip through the swatchbook of color filter samples and write next to the pictures the numbers of the colors that appear on your diagram.

Do the same exercise with your favorite color. See how many shades of color fit between the lightest and darkest options (for example, between light blue and dark blue).

This exercise trains color perception. Human eye capable of distinguishing several million shades of color, and lighting designers must continuously improve in this art.

Exercise 11. Painting with light

1. Using three spotlights with red, green and blue filters, direct three beams painted in primary colors onto a white surface - a screen or a white canvas (it’s best to do all this in a darkened space).

2. Note what color you get when all appliances are turned on at full power.

3. By varying the brightness of the spotlights, find the best version of “white” light available. Record the device settings.

4. <Используя материал, подготовленный в Упражнении 10, выберите какой-нибудь из цветов и воспроизведите его с помощью трёх прожекторов. Снова зафиксируйте настройки.

5. Repeat the experiment with other colors.

Do this exercise using the yellow, cyan, and magenta filters.

Exercise 12. Chameleon color

1. Find several objects or fabrics that are dyed in rich colors. They can be single or multi-colored.

2. Using the diagram from Exercise 11 and the primary color filters, direct the colored rays one at a time onto your “still life”. This exercise is useful for comparing different colors with each other (again, this experiment is best done in a darkened space).

3. Write down how each of the primary colors affects the appearance of your chosen items. Be sure to note what the original color of each of your objects was under normal lighting, but in the space where you then lit them.

Repeat the experiment, replacing the primary colors with any other rich or more subtle shades. Those objects that look exactly the same under a certain light may change greatly when illuminated by rays of a different color. This is because the material they are made from reflects light at different wavelengths differently.

Exercise 13. All shades of black

1. Find a few objects or pieces of fabric that appear black to you (don't worry that they may look slightly different in colored or even normal light).

2. Again use the filter pattern and primary colors from Exercise 11 and direct the colored rays one at a time to the black objects.

3. Write down how each of the primary colors affects the way your chosen objects look.

Try to make a good mixture of shades of "black" so that some of them do not reflect any color, and others appear black in normal lighting, but reflect some color when illuminated with rays of certain light. Most likely, such a reflected color will be quite dark in any case.

Repeat this exercise with "white" objects made from various materials (this could be paper, fabric, laundry detergent, feathers, etc.)

Exercise 14. Emotions and color

1. Make a list of emotional states you know. Try to make it as complete as possible, first add:

ANGER / JOY / HATE / ENVY / LOVE / JEALOUSY / COMPASSION / HOPE / CONFUSION / PEACEFUL / EXCITATION / SURPRISE / GREED / MADNESS / SUSPICION...

2. Now, opposite each word, write down the color that you associate with this emotion or feeling.

You can do this exercise based on any other list, such as a list of people or animals. You can also test your friends - in this case, it is best to read out the list, demanding an immediate answer - the one that comes to mind first. You shouldn’t think too long; it’s better not to have an answer at all than to force it.

This exercise is about developing your imagination, not about getting the "right" light. As with many things, there are no wrong decisions here. The only wrong action is not to find a single solution.

Exercise 15. Random selection

1. Take the list of emotions compiled during the previous exercise and write each word on a separate card.

2. Place all the cards in a bag or hat.

3. Take out any card from there.

4. Now, on a white screen (or on a sheet hanging vertically), create lighting that illustrates one of your chosen emotions. Naturally, you can change not only the color, but also the shape, intensity and size of the projected beam. Although the dominant color should still be.

5. Once you have built this scene, show it to someone and ask them to guess what emotion you illustrated. If this person cannot answer immediately, ask him to choose one emotion from the list.

This exercise can be attempted using less equipment (gradually reducing it until only one spotlight remains).

You can repeat this exercise many times. Some emotions are easier to express than others. Remember that we are not looking for the “right” answers, but rather developing our imagination.

Exercise 16. Real color

1. Arm yourself with a swatchbook of color filters from some manufacturer.

2. Look among them for colors that can be found in real life (most likely, these will be light straw, amber, pink, blue and possibly green shades).

3. Over a period of time (a day or a week), choose several moments when you can stop and carefully look at the colors present in natural or artificial light. These include morning light, rainy day light, evening light, street lights at dusk, fluorescent light in your kitchen, night light in your bedroom, light from a running TV, etc.

4. Always try to match the color of the light source with one of the samples in your swatch book. When making notes, be sure to include the light source, time of day, weather conditions, and filter number.

Record your findings in your lighting designer's journal. If you haven't started one yet, now is the time to do so. Notes like these are invaluable when you're looking for inspiration or just looking for a color you like.

Exercise 17. From dawn to dusk

DAWN

NOON

TWILIGHT

Do this exercise by lighting a small area of ​​the stage (no more than 1 square meter) by placing a single object (for example, a chair) on it.

Notes:

1. Obviously, you will feel a huge difference when doing this exercise on a plane and in space. In the second case, you need to find suitable light direction angles. If we work with a flat screen, color plays a major role.

2. The colors you choose can range from completely natural to downright romantic shades. And it depends on your decision what exactly you will depict: a cold winter or a warm summer day.

3. As is often the case, there are no “right” solutions here, only more or less effective ones.

Exercise 18. Four seasons

1. Prepare a small white vertical screen or white sheet.

2. Direct the light onto the screen to depict one or more of the seasons (SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER or SPRING).

Again, try this exercise on a small area of ​​the stage with only one object (for example, a chair).

This exercise forces you to remember your ideas about the seasons, and to recreate the essence of these impressions on stage. It is clear that summer and winter look different in different places and at different times. However, it's worth trying to capture the essence of each season and convey your ideas through certain means without getting too bogged down in the details.

Part 4. Creating the mood on stage

The fourth lesson in a series of articles for aspiring lighting designers is dedicated to creating the mood on stage. Royal Academy of Theater Arts curator Neil Fraser talks about how to use light to convey the character of a scene and highlight the emotions of actors.

What is the mood of the scene?

The picture you paint on stage can be concrete, abstract, or somewhere in between. For example, you might want to create lighting that simulates a cold, moonlit autumn night (a very literal use of lighting) or conveys a sense of tragic horror (a more abstract concept). Or all together: A COLD AUTUMN NIGHT, IMPACTED WITH HORROR!

Thus, with the help of light you can not only determine space or time, but also create elements (fire, water, air) or moods. Each of us has an understanding of how to visualize emotions such as anger, joy, sadness. It is important to understand that there are no right answers here, but only the most preferable ones (from your point of view, as well as from the point of view of the director, production designer, author of the play, etc.).

At the same time, it is imperative to take into account the expectations of the audience - after all, they also have certain ideas about what this or that lighting looks like in the real world. This performance helps them interpret what is happening on stage, even if they are not aware of it. That’s why it’s so important to work through your own ideas in detail, achieving their maximum effectiveness.

How to create a mood?

Conventional methods of constructing light paintings work to create a mood. It all depends on your specific decisions: which devices and where exactly to put them, what color, intensity and beam shape to use. Just like the notes in a piece of music, lighting fixtures offer many possibilities depending on their relative position and settings. Each combination makes its own unique contribution to the atmosphere of the performance.

The process of creating such light paintings is reminiscent of a walk through an unfamiliar city. On the one hand, you have basic knowledge that allows you to ask yourself the right questions. You know the basic angles at which you're going to point the fixtures, you have a certain palette of colors, and you can change the intensity of different light sources.

On the other hand, only practice will help you determine what you like best and what you want to get in the end. To make such an assessment as objective as possible, you need to constantly practice the following:

Observation. Look at the world with wide open eyes, consider the world around you as a kind of school of working with light. Learn to see how light forms the shape of objects, how it reflects from different surfaces. Train yourself to associate this or that lighting in the real world with your well-being or mood.

Education. Feel like an artist who is building the composition of his painting. Learn from the great masters - Embbrandt, Caravaggio, Vermeer, Hockney. You must develop your own taste - an understanding of what exactly makes a good light picture.

Experiment. Use every opportunity to test your ideas, gain some benefit from them, and draw practical conclusions. The more lighting options you work through for each scene, the easier it will be to choose the best ones.

Below Exercises will help you develop the necessary skills in working with light and learn how to create stunning light scenes on stage, full of drama and emotion. It is very useful to keep a journal where you write down ideas, links, paste drawings, photographs, postcards and any other results of your exercises. Such a magazine can become your assistant and source of ideas.

Exercise 19. Imitating reality

1.Select one or more scenes from the list (all of them take place on the street):

Afternoon in the desert

Night forest

Leaf fall

Sledding

sea ​​beach

City lights

2.Choose a small area of ​​the scene (about one square meter) and place any object there: a chair, a houseplant, or anything you have on hand.

3. Light the area, trying to create the scene you chose in Step 1. Pay special attention to the color choice and how it works when using a different beam shape, its intensity. Don't worry about who or what exactly you're covering. Concentrate on getting the right mood.

The important point of this exercise is to create a strong and defining key light - it can imitate the sun, a street lamp, or something else. The better you do this, the more realistic the result will be. You will also have to decide where you will view the results of your efforts (where the audience will sit). This point of view also plays an important role in the following exercises.

Exercise 20. Light inside a building

1.Select one of the indoor scenes presented in the list:

Morning in the classroom

Underground crypt

Evening service in the temple

Prison cell

2.Do the same steps as in exercise 19.

Unlike “street lighting,” indoor lighting consists of the light of many natural and artificial light sources. Its effectiveness will depend on how well you combine them. And of course, on your understanding of how it works in the real world.

Exercise 21. Focus on mood

2. Place several devices so that your “actor” is in one of the following moods:

Depression

Danger

Serenity

Awe

Righteousness

As in the previous exercises, it would be nice if you ask your friends and colleagues to guess what kind of mood you had in mind. Your “actor” should not help you, his job is to simply stand or sit still. The setting is also not critical - it doesn’t matter where exactly you create this scene or what light sources you use. The use of a key light and a good balance with other light sources should remain a priority. Then you can create effective, dramatic and exciting lighting.

Exercise 22. Everything is relative

1.Ask your friend or colleague to stand in the center of the light beam

2.Use a light directed from below to illuminate your “actor”, as is done in horror films

3.Add a few more fixtures to enhance that mood.

4.Now remove all devices again, except for the low light

5.Make the lower light dim and warm

6. If you can, find a way to add flicker, as if there is a fire on stage.

It is important that you understand the importance of context when staging a particular scene. The same low light that terrified, in a different context, can create quite nice and even friendly lighting.

This exercise is worth doing both for yourself and to show others. When a group of people observes the first (and very convincing) effect achieved with a downlight, there is hardly a single person who can imagine that the same light can create a comfortable and optimistic impression without changing the focus, just adding color. Sometimes it is worth asking your “actor” to make one gesture - to warm his hands over an imaginary fire. This once again proves the importance of context.

Exercise 23. In contrast

1. Select a small area of ​​the scene and place several ordinary objects in it - a table and chairs, a stack of books, coffee cups, a hanger, etc.

2.Select one or more pairs of moods listed below

3.Create two scenes in which objects are in two contrasting states:

Horror/Fantasy

Freedom/Imprisonment

Good/Bad

War/Peace

Fast/Slow

Hot/Cold

Big/Small

How are beautiful images created on television, cinema or theater? Do you think this is the merit of the make-up artist alone? You are wrong. In this article we will talk about an unusual creative union that creates all this indescribable beauty. We will talk about the collaboration of such specialists as a make-up artist and a lighting designer.

Let's start with the fact that not a single actor, presenter or hero will ever appear on stage or on camera without professional makeup. True, in cinema, theater and on TV this makeup will be significantly different. This difference will be due to technical aspects. This is why the makeup artist and the lighting designer (whose courses often run parallel to each other) will perform different tasks.

The face of a theater artist wearing makeup should be clearly visible even from the last row. But at the same time, the audience in the first row still will not distinguish small details. Therefore, the makeup can be brighter and applied with rougher strokes. The make-up artist is simply obliged to highlight the eyes, lips, nose, and cheekbones more strongly. During the performance, the lighting designer (he is trained, as a rule, at the production department of theater universities) ensures that each artist and each scenery that is important at the moment is well illuminated. Light should accompany all the movements of the actors, be as alive as the process of acting itself.

On television things are a little different. There is more static here, which means the light will be different and its role will be different. TV presenters sometimes “work” as faces for several hours in a row while filming is going on. And all this under powerful spotlights. Of course, not every makeup passes this test. Therefore, the make-up artist is constantly on the set. As well as a lighting designer (such a specialist is trained in television schools), whose tasks include monitoring the operation of numerous lighting devices. And there really are a lot of them. Fill, highlight, and spot lights do not move during filming, but the characters in the frame - very much so! At the same time, the harmony and beauty of the picture should not be disturbed, even minor facial flaws should not be visible to the viewer. Fresh complexion and naturalness - this is what the make-up artist and lighting designer are “careful” about. Olga Spirkina's television school "Ostankino TV" is currently training professional television make-up artists. As part of this course, students study the discipline of cameramanship. It is during these classes that future make-up artists are told how important constant interaction with the film crew is. In particular, with the cameraman and lighting designer. After all, the key to a beautiful television picture is an effective creative union of technical specialists working behind the scenes.

Contact information for the make-up artist course
More details about the course:

From


Lighting designer Bill Holshevnikoff, author of the Arri Lighting Handbook, created this series of educational CDs to clarify the science of light. This series consists of 4 parts: Facial Lighting, Interview Lighting, Color Grading and Filters, and Interior Lighting. Each part lasts approximately 50 minutes.

Part 1: Lighting the face.
This piece will take a comprehensive look at the art of lighting people. You'll learn how to use soft and hard light and simple techniques for highlighting people of different skin colors, people with glasses, or people with balding heads. Find out what type of lighting will make you look the way you want, how to determine the amount of contrast, and much more!

1.1 Elements of face lighting. Light control.

1.2 Facial lighting. Light source size.

1.3 Facial lighting. Distance from the light source.

1.4 Facial lighting. Contrast Control.

1.5 Facial lighting. Dividing the light.

1.6 Facial lighting. Special situations.

From


In December, CSTI “Progress” once again hosted
Hidden content
. The leading lecturer, according to tradition, was Andrei Melnik - a “man-legend”, as the seminar participants call him, a famous lighting designer who at various times worked with the groups “Alice”, “Aquarium”, “DDT”, as well as in theaters in St. Petersburg .

In December, CSTI “Progress” once again hosted
Hidden content
We talked with Andrey about the seminar, about what and why lighting designers need to learn, and how lighting design differs in the theater and at concerts.
Andrey, how do people become lighting designers today? After all, this is practically not taught anywhere.

There are theater institutes and the specialty “artist-technologist”. They teach, in my opinion, so-so. No practice, just theory. Therefore, people often become lighting designers in the theater by accident.

In rock music it's even funnier. These are either musicians, or sound engineers, technicians - which is both good and bad at the same time. It’s bad because quite a lot of professionals come from technical fields. But the profession is called “lighting designer”. Therefore, the part about “around the world” is doable; they work well with complex equipment. But the artistic part is missing. Musicians “look with their ears.” And the artist must “listen with his eyes.”

It’s good if a person with an artistic education comes. But, for example, in our rock industry there are only two artists with an artistic education - me and Andrei Stolypin, the first artist of “Alice”.

Anna Pingina and the group “Minus Trills”. Lighting designer: Andrey Melnik

How different is the work of a lighting designer in the theater and at concerts?

There are no separate theater and concert lights. The laws of art, creativity - they are the same everywhere. It’s a different matter if we take an artist who is “contoured” in the abusive sense. At a concert he has a “disco”, constant blinking, and in the theater the light is only on the actor. A competent specialist has many options: in some places we blink, in others we don’t, in others there is a hard light, in others, on the contrary, there is a soft, penetrating light.

What new trends are there in your profession now, new technologies?

They appear all the time. But the approach, in my opinion, remains the same. The best textbook is still the 1946 edition - N.P. Izvekov, “Light on the Stage”. The laws remain the same.

I can't help but ask about the seminar. What are listeners interested in now, what questions do they ask, what problems do they come with?

There are a lot of private questions, everyone has their own. But, as far as I can see, they don’t “howl” or worry. I don't talk much about technology at the seminar. Technology, of course, is a support. But since there is a lot of literature and articles on the Internet about technology, and not enough information about the artistic side, I mainly talk about the creative component. And they don't seem to mind at all.

Video from a practical lesson at the Mikhailovsky Theater

What do you practice in practical classes? For example, tomorrow you and your group are studying at the Cosmonaut club - what will happen there?

Light studies, light performances. Each time it’s a little different - depending on the venue, the mood and adjusted for the audience.

P.S. The next seminar “Lighting Artist” will be held in St. Petersburg from February 10 to 14. You can find out more details and register at
Hidden content
Log in to see. .
View full entry


From


CSTI "Progress" invites lighting specialists to get acquainted with modern technologies in stage lighting control at a seminar

The following will share their invaluable experience in staging stage lighting:

Melnik Andrey Vladimirovich, lighting designer (experience of working with the groups "Alice", "Aquarium", "DDT", "Picnic", "Surganova and Orchestra", "Butusov and Yu-Piter", etc., as well as with leading theaters St. Petersburg);
Kibitkin Alexander Andreevich, head of the lighting service of the Mikhailovsky Theater;
Lukin Sergey Vladimirovich, chief lighting designer of the Mariinsky Theater;
Pesotsky Dmitry Yurievich, head of the lighting department of the Alexandrinsky Theater;
Islamgazin Shamil, Ph.D., technical director of the event agency “Guild of Masters”.

Seminar participants:
get acquainted with professional techniques and techniques for setting up lighting;
will take part in practical classes at the Mikhailovsky, Mariinsky and Alexandrinsky theaters;
under the leadership of Andrey Melnik, they will cover a live concert of the Minstrel group;
will visit the showroom of the Doka company, where they will get acquainted with the latest products on the lighting equipment market;

Detailed information and registration for the seminar –
Hidden content
Log in to see. , by phone 8-800-333-88-44 (toll-free within Russia) or by email [email protected]
View full entry


From


How to make lighting work to realize your creative vision?

View attachment: 3.jpg View attachment: 17.jpg

We invite you to the seminar
Hidden content
Log in to see. October 8 to 12, 2012, St. Petersburg

Classes are taught by lighting service chiefs and technical directors of industry enterprises, theaters and event agencies in St. Petersburg.

Among the teachers is the leading St. Petersburg set designer and multimedia graphic artist Andrei Vladimirovich Melnik, who acted as a lighting designer at concerts of the groups “Aquarium”, “DDT”, “Alice” and others.
In the program:
How to choose the right lighting equipment for a concert, ballet, puppet theater, drama theater, etc.?
Modern technologies and devices for stage lighting. The class takes place at the Mikhailovsky Theater under the guidance of the head of the lighting service, Alexander Andreevich Kibitkin.
Types and techniques of lighting. Computer modeling of light.
Collaboration between lighting designer and set designer. The class takes place at the Alexandrinsky Theater under the guidance of the head of the lighting department, Dmitry Yuryevich Pesotsky.
How to make a rider correctly? Contact with the receiving party. Rental of lighting equipment. The class is led by the technical director of the event agency “Guild of Masters” Islamgazin Shamil.
Light-visual scenography of the concert (using the example of the concert “Butusov. 50 years”). The lesson is taught by Andrey Vladimirovich Melnik.
Review of new products on the lighting equipment market. The class is taught by specialists from Stage Equipment and Technology LLC.

Hidden content
Log in to see.
“The seminar is useful. An excellent opportunity to see the work of workshops from the inside, to learn about the devices and technologies used in practice,” - Alexander Dmitriev, head of the lighting workshop of the Sakhalin International Theater Center named after. A.P. Chekhov.

--------
For those who cannot come in the fall:

The “Lighting Designer” seminar will also be held December 10 - 14, 2012
Hidden content
Log in to see.
View attachment: 12.jpg
View attachment: 22.jpg

View full entry