CMU School of Drama


Thursday, February 20, 2014

Color Part II: Color on Stage

Dimmer Beach: How many colors should you have for presets in your console? This is an age old question that goes back to the dawn of time (well, maybe not that far, but you get what I mean). I think you need one shade of each of the standard colors (red, yellow, amber, lavender, etc.) and then a couple of colors that have a few options (primary blue, cyan, dark blue). There are many, many LDs out there that need to have five different yellows and five different reds. That’s fine for them, just not for me.

5 comments:

Philip Rheinheimer said...

There are some really good tips in this article. I think opinions on color can vary vastly between LDs especially as to how they set up presets because it's all personal preference and how you like to have your console laid out. I definitely agree with the points about the "jelly bean" effect and only have two colors on stage at a time. I think that having tons of color, aka the "jelly bean" effect looks really chaotic and hectic. Having only one or two colors pulls everything together much more nicely. Looking at the two pictures in the post, the first one with all the color is really distracting. Your eyes dart all over the place focusing on one color at a time whereas the two color look under it has a much more cohesive look to it and looks a lot cleaner. I will definitely keep these tips in mind.

Unknown said...

This article had some very good tips that any lighting designer should take into consideration. I disagree with some of what was said because I don't feel you should limit yourself strictly to two colors. That being said I really liked the part about using any color to create a specific mood. I think any good LD will be able to take a color and manipulate its intensity, direction, or texture to create different moods. I also found the part about the jelly bean effect to be very comical but its absolutely true. I don't think you should limit yourself with two colors but at the same time if you use every last color in the spectrum at the same time, its going to look like someone spilled color everywhere. So I agree unless its the effect you are trying to achieve you should certainly be cautious with color usage.

Akiva said...

I'm really interested in learning more about this topic, but I didn't find this article very helpful. This article is written for people that know more about lighting design than I do and so some of this means less to me then the writer intended. I understand that color is one of the most important tools at and lighting designers disposal. Some of the basic tips about not using to many colors at once and making sure to not have your lights go though all the colors between the two that you are switching between are really helpful to me. I don't fully understand why the color picker isn't a useful tool or why it maters how many colors are in your pallets, but maybe as I spend more time working with lights I will begin to understand the importance of these things.

Unknown said...

I cannot agree with the points that this article makes any more. Things such as the jelly bean effect and the two colors are such great tips. Whenever I see a show with an onslaught of colors, I want to kill myself. There's a few other things that I wish the author would have mentioned such as not flashing the audience's eyes every five seconds. Some designers have acknowledged this show-y effect and have begun to use it until it has lost every meaning or until the audience is absolutely blind.

Unknown said...

This article definitely brings up some good points, however I probably don't know enough about LDing to truly understand all of it, what the author says makes sense. Like having a few preset colors, I personally am very indecisive, if I had to choose between hundreds of shades of one color, I would take forever trying to actually design a single scene. Additionally, the tip about two colors was one the caught my attention. I love color and can go overboard sometimes when try to design something. But, reading the tip and seeing the pictures made me think and it makes sense. Two colors work. Lighting should complement what is going on on-stage, not overpower it.