Journal 4
Workshop:
Theatrical Lighting Design
Since I want to take more practical and non-literature courses in my last semester instead of theoretical ones, I take a course of digital management and practice in theatre (II), introduction to machine learning: using Python, and acting and self-development.
Among these courses, the one that is most challenging and opens my eyes the most is “digital management and practice in theatre (II)”, because before I went to that class, I never watch a drama in the theater, let alone understand how the theater lighting works. Besides, this course is set for the students who had taken the course of digital management and practice in theatre (I).
So, I am just a newbie in the field of theater.
Fortunately, on March 12nd and 13rd, professor set up a two-day workshop specially, for letting us learn how to design the theatrical lighting. This workshop was quite tiring but really enriching!
At the first day, this workshop takes us thirteen hours to arrange a theater lighting of a short drama by the point of stage manager. We started with watching a video of drama dress rehearsal, for finding out emotions the
play showed. After discussing and confirming the feeling drama expressed, we listed all cues then. “Cue” in theater field means “one type oflighting setting”, so when we list cues, we record all kinds of lighting styles that we prepare to show during the drama performs. When finished the cue list, it was time to distribute lighting systems, which is determining that which light will illuminate which area.
Until then, we had enough information of the light of a play and entered these data into the light console. Then it was the most tiring part, we needed to install all lights on pipe battens according to the distribution we had made.
After finishing all pre-works, the second day is much easier and more interesting than the first day.
Because the lecturer invited a real actress to perform under our lights!
We kept rehearse again and again before the official performance on the second day; however, everyone was still nervous when stood in front of the light console. During the performance, we were completely unable to concentrate on the drama, thinking only about when the lights we designed should appear to make the stage look its best, and were nervous about the timing of pressing the cue bottom.
This workshop is a very interesting experience, particularly when watching the theatrical lighting designed by ourselves presented on the stage with the actress, the feeling is really touching and amazing.