A history of stage lighting has not yet been organically achieved because of the difficulty in finding data that refer to it, but it is possible to chronologically trace it by following some evolutionary episodes. It is precisely its historical and evolutionary aspects we will be handling here, looking for the highlights of stage lighting, its specific language and technical development over time.

Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Light in Theatre, Live Performance and Entertainment continues to be the most trusted text for working and aspiring lighting professionals. Now in its second edition, it has been fully updated to include new advances in lamp sources such as LEDs and plasma lamps, automated and programmable displays, updates for managing color, and new methods for using electronics. Its clear, easy-to-understand language also includes enough detailed information for the most experienced technician and engineer.

Stage Lighting: The Fundamentals is written specifically for introductory stage lighting courses. The book begins with an examination of the nature of light, perception, and color, then leads into a conversation of stage lighting equipment and technicians. Lamps, luminaries, controls/dimming, and electricity form the basis of these chapters. The book also provides a detailed explanation and overview of the lighting design process for the theatre and several other traditional forms of entertainment. Finally, the book explores a variety of additional areas where lighting designers can find related future employment, such as concert and corporate lighting, themed design, architectural and landscape lighting, and computer animation. New for this edition: enlarged full-color illustrations, photographs, light plots and examples of lighting design; updated information on LED lighting and equipment; expanded discussion of the practical use of color as a designer; expanded discussion of psychological/perceptual effects of color; new discussion of color mixing through light sources that make use of additive mixing; expanded discussion of industry professions; expanded discussion and illustrations relating to photometrics; expanded discussion and examples of control protocols and new equipment; and updated designer profiles along with the addition of still more designer profiles.

The book’s organization follows a layered approach that builds on basic principles: Light as a Medium (Part 1), Tools of a Lighting Designer (Part 2), Design Fundamentals (Part 3), and Lighting Applications (Part 4). This presents students with a practical and logical sequence when learning basic concepts. The full spectrum of the lighting design process is presented in detail, giving students an example of how one might develop a lighting design from script analysis through concept and plot development, and all the way to an opening. This detailed process with a step-by-step design approach gives students a plan to work from, which they can later modify as they mature and gain confidence as designers. The text contains a more comprehensive discussion of basic technology, light as a physical phenomena, and methodology of designs than is found in most introductory texts, bridging the gap between introductory and advanced lighting courses. The text will appeal to theatrical designers who want to venture into areas of lighting like architectural or virtual lighting design, while at the same time gaining a solid grounding in the fundmentals of lighting design. Lighting Design will also benefit illuminating engineers who want to move away from mere computational approaches in lighting and on to explore techniques along the design approaches of theatrical lighting design. The final 9 chapters cover many specialty areas of lighting design, highlighting the unique and shared qualities that exist between the different aspects of these elements. Discussions involve traditional entertainment areas like theatre, as well as lesser known facets of the industry including film/video, landscape lighting, retail/museum lighting, virtual lighting, concert, spectacle performances, and architectural lighting. Models of design tasks demonstrate the actual use and development of plots/sections, schedules, photometrics tables, and cut sheets, rather than simply talking about what they are. This hands-on approach provides students with a firm understanding of how to actually use these tools and processes.

The Art of Light on Stage is the first history of theatre lighting design to bring the story right up to date. In this extraordinary volume, award-winning designer Yaron Abulafia explores the poetics of light, charting the evolution of lighting design against the background of contemporary performance. The book looks at the material and the conceptual; the technological and the transcendental. Never before has theatre design been so vividly and excitingly illuminated. The book examines the evolution of lighting design in contemporary theatre through an exploration of two fundamental issues: 1. What gave rise to the new directions in lighting design in contemporary theatre? 2. How can these new directions be viewed within the context of lighting design history? The study then focuses on the phenomenological and semiotic aspects of the medium for light – the role of light as a performer, as the medium of visual perception and as a stimulus for imaginative representations – in selected contemporary theatre productions by Robert Wilson, Romeo Castellucci, Heiner Goebbels, Jossi Wieler and David Zinder. This ground-breaking book will be required reading for anyone concerned with the future of performance.

This encyclopedia contains more than 1500 detailed entries covering such topics as equipment, methods, concepts, design process, electricity, characteristics of light, and lightboard operations. Where applicable, entries present both the historical and current significance of the apparatus or concept being described. Entries are extensively cross-referenced, and many include line drawings and samples of lighting paperwork.