Transcript The History of Lighting

The History of Lighting
The 5 Stages of Lighting
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Artificial Light
Gas
Electricity
Concentrated Filament
Spotlight
Computers
Artificial Light
Greek Theatre Late 19th Century
Greek Theatre
 Starting
around 500 BC
 Trilogies sometimes start at dawn
and continue through till sunset
Miracle & Mystery Plays
15th Century
 Indoor (Probably Churches)
 Surrounded Stage with Candles (First
form of Stage Lighting)
 Real Flame

Hell Mouth
 Angels to Heaven

Elizabethan Theatre
16th - 17th Centuries
 Globe Theatre Outdoors
 Shakespeare referred
to lighting in dialogue

Italian Renaissance
1600 - 1800 Moves Indoors for good
Improvements
 1566
- Serlio
places colored
bottles in front
of candles
Improvements
 Indigo
Jones
uses Reflectors
to intensify light
Improvements
 Floats
 Mechanical
Opaque Screens
 Mechanical
Dimmers
Disadvantages
 Entire
Theatre
Visible
 Dirty (Soot)
 Not very bright
 Very little
control
Gas Lighting
Late 19th Century
Advantages
 So
advantageous that it
quickly becomes the norm
 Brighter
 Easy Maintenance
 Gives CONTROL
 1st time audience is dark
Disadvantages
 Very
EXPLOSIVE
Gas Lighting
Electric Lighting
1879 Edison creates the 6W
Light Bulb
Electricity
 Very
popular to
Theatre Owners due
to Safety
 Installed in most
theatres within 5
years (runs through
old gas tubing)
Advantages
 Low
Maintenance
 Cleaner (no soot)
 Higher light intensities
 Not as cumbersome
Adolph Appia
Modern Stage
Lighting has its
roots in Appia’s
theories
Plastic Expression
A 3 dimensional actor moving
in a 3 dimensional space
20th Century
Advances
Concentrated Filament
Spotlight
Filament tightly wound
to provide a brighter
light
 A LOT BRIGHTER

Post WWII
Solid State Dimming
 Transistors
 Leads to the invention of the …

Computers

Advantages
 Much
more complex operations
 Able to sync lights with sound
 One button operation

Disadvantages
 If
your computer crashes you’re in
TROUBLE
 Eliminates jobs
Emergence of the
Lighting Designer
Until 1930’s Lighting was done by the
Scenic Designer or Master Electricians
 As technology grew, Scene Designers
would hire assistants to do the lighting
 People began to specialize and
eventually get credit
 1960’s Lighting Designers were given
their own designation in the Design
Union

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