Latin America. Lighting designers are highly creative people who are tasked with using technology to help and enhance effects with light. The job may simply consist of illuminating either a person or object, or it may be as complex as creating stunning visual effects synchronized with music.
Over the years, lighting designers have filled their tool bags with many elements and here we mention some key skills that most lighting designers use or should use in all productions.
1) Silhouette with light
By adjusting the angle and intensity of the lighting of sources, objects and people can be very different. Lighting designers often use a "key" combination, which involves playing with light to highlight or blur certain areas. In dancers the effect of light is commonly to improve the shape of their bodies and emphasize movements; while artists and speakers will have a strong backlight to visually separate the "back" from them. Lighting designers should always look at the stage and performance to determine the best angles and intensities for the required effect.
2) Flashes of light
Lighting designers know that the beam of light in the air is very important and for this they use mist machines to fill the air inside an enclosure, which provides an air-filled surface to illuminate, and therefore the entire production of a light can be seen. When combined with various devices, especially moving lights, the lighting designer can create 3D images in the airspace above, around the stage and the audience.
3) Limit colors
Modern automated lighting fixtures are capable of creating millions of different light colors. With a wide range of colors, the lighting designer has boundless creativity, however, the visual aspect on stage can often become excessively complicated when handling various combinations. For this reason, most LDs (lightening designers) will limit their combinations of two or three colors within each song or scene.
4) Less is more
Like most jobs, lighting designers must work within a specific budget and schedule. This means they don't always get what they want in terms of equipment or preparation time. Very often the use of few lights or the production of a smaller number of spectators provide the workspace with a more creative environment .
In addition, some LDs follow the "less is more" rule to create memorable looks on a stage. For example, during a concert, a song can simply illuminate the singer with a single downward light, while the rest of the songs that have different lighting gears can be distracting to the audience. The moment of much less light will be just as beautiful (if not more) than the other songs that use hundreds of lights.
5) Darkness in full light
You might think that lighting designers always want to make use of light as much as possible. Contrary to this, darkness is an important factor in scenarios. A few moments of darkness is often more important to a show than the best-lit stage. LDs should always consider when and how to make use of darkness in the same way they work with light.
Lighting designers are incredibly talented and creative people, who have performances that illuminate fun and spaces. The skills mentioned here are just some of the tools they use or should use on a daily basis to create useful and amazing visual effects.
Text written by Brad Schiller
