Month: April 2019

In theatre and concert terms a Lighting Designer (LD) is somebody who defines the way in which the audience see a live performance. So that may sound a bit odd because surely there are directors and choreographers and so on, but if you think about it, you only see what is lit. The things that you don’t see are not lit – it’s the Lighting Designer that makes the choice between what doesn’t get lit, what doet get lit, and how it gets lit.

So whether we’re talking about Shakespeare or Punchdrunk or U2, behind all of those is a creative mind that is helping the audience get the story through revealing with light what they’re seeing, in a particular order in a particular way.

Responsibilities of a Lighting Designer

Lighting Designers work in a huge range of scales. The lighting team for an international touring band might be a …

A. Read the play. Imagine yourself the director, the producer and all of the designers. Consider how you’d like to see all aspects of the play produced and bring those ideas to meetings you have with other artistic personnel.

B. Meet with the director. Find out how the director wants to approach the production. Compare notes and see if can interest the director with your ideas for the show.

C. Meet with the production team. Decide how often the group will get together. Help develop a master calendar and determine deadlines for the group. Collaborate towards a final product that all agree is the best possible approach for this play, at this time, in this venue, for this audience.

D. Write your ideas down. Create a written approach to the design that you can give to the director for feedback. Explain what you feel the play is about and how …