Get ready for the next exciting chapter in our stage lighting design series. Building on the foundations laid in Part 1: Introduction to Lighting and Part 2: Objectives of Lighting Design, as well as exploring the intricacies of the Controllable Properties of Light in Part 3, we now turn our attention to the various types of lights that you are likely to encounter.
Most stage lights that you are likely to encounter will fall into one of these basic categories (in order of complexity):
• Floodlight
• PAR
• Profile
• Moving light
Let’s start by looking at the simplest of the fixtures. Floodlights, as the name suggests, are designed to ‘flood an area with light.’ They are traditionally used to light cyclorama and painted cloths. Floodlights typically consist of a lamp (light source) and a reflector.
There are no lenses in a tungsten floodlight and you have very little control over the size and shape of the beam. Floodlights are designed with an asymmetrical reflector that allows the light to be evenly distributed from the top of the cloth to the bottom. In conventional lighting rigs, floodlights would be rigged and then filters would be used to make them red, green, and blue. Since most floodlights were 4-cell units, the fourth color would usually be amber, open white, or another blue. Of course, floodlights do not have to be colored in red, green and blue. You could choose the filters that would suit the production needs best.
PARs (PARcans) have been a staple of stage lighting for years. PAR is an abbreviation for Parabolic Aluminized Reflector and is a reference to the type of lamp used. A PAR is a lamp that has the lens, reflector, and light source in a single sealed beam housing. PARs produce very intense beams of light that are slightly oval. Because the lamps also contain the lens and reflector, the only way to change the size of the beam is to replace the entire lamp – which can be costly. PARs can be used as part of a general cover as they provide bright washes of light
ETC has its own version of the PAR called the Source Four PAR – this is a single luminaire with a set of interchangeable lenses, making it much easier and more affordable to adjust the size of the beam.
Pronounced “Fre’nel,” these are the first types of light that offer us some degree of control over
A Fresnel beam has a very soft edge which makes it easy to blend when creating your general cover and stage washes. You also have the option of adding a ‘barn door’ – an accessory that
With a tungsten Fresnel, the lens is in a fixed position, and the lamp and reflector move together to adjust the beam size. The closer the lamp is to the lens, the wider the light, and the further away from the lens, the narrower the beam of light becomes.
The Fresnel has a European cousin called a “PC.” A PC has a Plano-convex lens (hence its name) and operates in a similar fashion. A PC has a more defined edge than a Fresnel, a wider zoom range (6°-60°) and the beam can also be roughly shaped using barndoors.
A profile is named for its ability to project a profile of an image or shape. Profiles (also referred to as ‘ellipsoidals’) are the most complex fixtures optically, but also offer you the most control over the light that they emit. Profiles can project a beam of light that can be either hard- or soft-edged. You can also adjust the size of the beam, either by adjusting the lenses or by using an iris, and you can shape the beam using an internal set of framing shutters. Profiles can also project patterns and add texture to the beam by using a gobo.
There are two main kinds of profiles – ‘fixed beam’ and ‘zoom’ profiles. Fixed beam profiles
Zoom profiles make use of a pair of independently controlled lenses, and by adjusting these, you can change the size of the beam from a narrow spot to a wide beam. The amount of adjustment that you have depends on the beam angle of the fixture, but typically you will find there are both ‘narrow zoom’ and ‘wide zoom’ options. A ‘narrow’ zoom will allow for adjustment of the beam from 15° to 30° and a wide zoom will allow for a variation from 25° to 50°. You can make further adjustments to the size of the beam using an iris in a zoom profile, too.
Profiles have a set of four framing shutters that allow for precise shaping of the beam. You can also make use of a gobo to project a pattern (like a window) or just to add a breakup texture to the beam (like a leaf pattern), which can add an additional layer and dimension to your design.
A followspot is a profile with a really narrow beam angle that is typically focused to produce a hard-edged beam of light used to follow an actor on the stage. You can use a 5° or 10° Source Four with an iris as a followspot too!
If you found this information helpful, don't miss our blog series dedicated to the art of stage lighting design, right here:
Stage Lighting Design, Part 1: Introduction to Lighting
Stage Lighting Design, Part 2: Objectives of Lighting Design
Stage Lighting Design, Part 3: Controllable Properties of Light
Stage Lighting Design, Part 4: Types of Lights
Stage Lighting Design, Part 5: Lighting Angles
Stage Lighting Design, Part 6: Color
Stage Lighting Design, Part 7: Lighting Systems
Stage Lighting Design, Part 8: Planning Your Design
Stage Lighting Design, Part 9: Getting Technical
Stage Lighting Design: Glossary
This blog series is an adaptation of our free digital guide, Stage Lighting Design: An Introduction, based on content written by ETC Outreach and Training Specialist, Declan Randall.
If you enjoyed this post on the subject of various types of lighting fixtures, head over to our website where you can access Stage Lighting Design: An Introduction. As a bonus, you can also download a set of accompanying posters for free! You can also visit etcconnect.com to find out more about the wide variety of lighting fixtures manufactured by ETC.