When I agreed to be lighting designer for when you see it, I was aware that I was going to be putting myself under a huge amount of pressure and taking on a big challenge. I had never experienced anything to do with lighting previously in my 3 years of university and the reason I wanted to be lighting designer is because I really regret not having a better understanding of the way theatre lighting and sound works. ‘It is the lighting designer’s job to interpret the concept through the medium of light’ (Morgan, 2003, 10).
I wanted to be as prepared as possible for our technical rehearsal because we only have 4 hours and Tec rehearsals can rapidly become incredibly stressful. I had created a draft of the lighting rig to help visualise and to show the technicians my vision.
Our lighting wasn’t too confusing as we wanted to keep it relatively simple as there were so many sound and projections and other technical elements happening throughout the performance.
When I arrived I spoke about the few special lighting requirements which included a diagonal panel of light and front lights that created a blinding flash as well as a backlight. Alex: LPAC technician, Anthony: Stage Manager and I then went programmed the lights. This ran very smoothly as I had created the Focus Chart with the spots and then the washes that were needed. We added some different colours to show contrast as they created a great affect on the bodies when on stage.
Morgan, N 2003. Stage Lighting for Theatre Designers. Entertainment Technology Press: Cambridge.