During Pre-production
The role of the lighting designer varies greatly within professional and amateur theater. For a Broadway show, a touring production and most regional and small productions the LD is usually an outside freelance specialist hired early in the production process. Smaller theatre companies may have a resident lighting designer responsible for most of the company's productions or rely on a variety of freelance or even volunteer help to light their productions. At the Off-Broadway, or Off-Off-Broadway level the LD will occasionally be responsible for much of the hands-on technical work (hanging instruments, programming the light board, etc.) that would be the work of the lighting crew in a larger theatre.
The LD will read the script carefully and make notes on changes in place and time between scenes - such changes are often done just with lighting to avoid too many blackouts in one scene - and will have meetings (called Design or Production Meetings) with the Director, Designers, Stage Manager and production manager to discuss ideas for the show and establish budget and scheduling details. The LD will also attend several later rehearsals to observe the way the actors are being directed to use the stage area ('blocking') during different scenes, and will receive updates from the stage manager on any changes that occur. The LD will also make sure that he or she has an accurate plan of the theatre's lighting positions and a list of their equipment, as well as an accurate copy of the set design, especially the ground plan and section. The LD must take into account the show's mood and the director's vision in creating a lighting design.
Because lighting design is much more abstract than costume or scenic design, it is sometimes difficult for the lighting designer to accurately convey his ideas to the rest of the production team. To help the LD communicate the ethereal aspects of lighting he or she may employ renderings, storyboards, photographs, reproductions of artwork or mockups of actual lighting effects to help communicate ideas about how the lighting should look.
Various forms of paperwork are essential for the LD to successfully communicate their design to various members of the production team. Examples of typical paperwork include cue sheets, lightplots, instrument schedules, shop orders and focus charts.
Cue sheets communicate the placement of cues that the LD has created for the show, using artistic terminology rather than technical language, and information on exactly when each cue is called, so that the stage manager and the assistants know when and where to call the cue. Cue sheets are of the most value to stage management.
The light plot is a scale drawing that communicates the location of lighting fixtures and lighting positions so a team of electricians can independently install the lighting system. Next to each instrument on the plan will be information for any color gel, gobo, or other accessory that needs to go with it, and its channel number. Often, paperwork listing all of this information is also generated by using a program such as Lightwright. The lighting designer uses this paperwork to aid in the visualization of not only ideas but simple lists to assist the Master Electrician during load-in, focus and technical rehearsals. Professional LDs generally use special computer-aided design packages to create accurate and easily readable drafted plots that can be swiftly updated as necessary. The LD will discuss the plot with the show's production manager and the theatre's master electrician or technical director to make sure there are no unforeseen problems during Load-In.
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