Cross Lighting VS Downlighting

[deskkky]

Hello everyone, I was hoping you could give some advise on which method you prefer/would use.

 

We have two over-stage lighing bars and 50% mix of pars and fresnels that are at the moment all facing down, this does not wash the stage very well when only one colour is used (4 lights) so was wondering whether to move them over to the sides and crosslight the stage as I understand this would give a larger surface of light on the stage. It is mostly used for dance shows BTW.

 

 

Thanks again!

[Don Allen]

When lighting dance my priorities are Sidelight, then Backlight, then front colour, then downlight. This is not a hard and fast rule as you need to look at what the dancers are moving. Sometimes a strong diagonal works.

 

I am building up my stock of led lights to allow more colour from less lights, as you can easilly run out of hanging space.

 

Have a read of Dance Lighting - Introduction by Lucas Krech

[David Lee]

Side lighting prefered. Remember that you are lighting bodies in dance and highlighting the shapes, not colouring a stage.

 

One simple question, why didn't you just try both methods and see which you preferred, it seems people are way to quick to take the lazy way of just asking on the internet rather than actualy experimenting and seeing the results. don't be afraid to make mistakes, that's all learning is.

[LXbydesign]

Yup, as above. Mostly on the side.

 

You could also try putting gear more on 'pipe ends', particually the PARS. Downlighting from PARS wont give you much spead even with a CP62, unless your trimming at about 12 meters!

[paulears]

My summer venue has very low permanent portals - 4m to 3.8m above stage level, so we have very limited spread from pars on the bars, and there's also a knock on effect that side lighting can never be very high - Top source at 3.5m ish, which leaves the lower ones firmly in the 'ouch' area - and even though nice low sidelight is great for dance, it's also prone to be knocked and touched, even with the usual precautions for amateur shows simply because of the numbers squeezed into the wings. Our top light is always angled at 45 degrees or so simply to get the beams wide enough to blend a bit, so my usual way of working will be to use the bar end positions to cross left to right, right to left, and the more central positions will also cover up or downstage. Getting things even usually means the very upstage area is a bit lacking, so we have end bar 2Ks to try to get a bit more light in that area. The side benefit to this is that this style of lighten g also creates nice beams in the air for music stuff, so works pretty well.

[Just Some Bloke]

Ask yourself the question: "what do the audience want to see - dancers' hair or dancers' bodies?"

 

In fact, you'll find it answers itself! :D

[indyld]

Side lighting prefered. Remember that you are lighting bodies in dance and highlighting the shapes, not colouring a stage.

 

To be fair, that very much depends on your seating arrangement as if the audience are looking down on the dancers, then colouring the stage (ie, the background) is a pretty big part of the overall look. In that case, back light for deck colour, crosslight for bodies, is pretty common

[David Lee]

I see your point rob, but, and there is always a but :) people pay to see the dancers, not the floor. :-D (I hope)

[mark_s]

I see your point rob, but, and there is always a but :) people pay to see the dancers, not the floor. :-D (I hope)

 

They pay to see a whole production, don't they? Complete with performers, appropriately-designed lighting, sound, set and whatnot. It all depends on context of course, but there are many situations where it wouldn't be aesthetically pleasing to have some dancers picked out by sidelighting on a bland black stage, which is semi-illuminated by the spill from the sidelight. It's not a case of seeing the floor - in that sort of situation the floor essentially becomes part of the set, and needs to be lit appropriately lest it look out of place, or just plain ugly.

[indyld]

I see your point rob, but, and there is always a but :) people pay to see the dancers, not the floor. :-D (I hope)

 

Well, at some of the larger dance spectacles I've worked on, the audience are up to 20 metres above the vast stage area - this effectively makes the floor the backdrop which is why designers use grey Marley and not black, giving the LD something to light. Then the audience can see the thousands of lumens of congo blue or prismy break-up gobos that create the canvas for the movement to take place on.

 

Actually, in one of those cases, the punters had ultimately come to see the 10 brand new cars that were driving on stage at the time. But even away from Cirque style spectacle, the floor colour can play an important part in the whole stage picture.

 

Back on topic, it's pretty well established that Rosenthal's shins, mids and head highs are the default dance setup. With no wing space, pipe ends can be a compromise but remove some of the sculptural properties of the lower level stuff. Top light works in other ways, but doesn't wrap around the form like a crosslight boom does.

[deskkky]

Unfortinatley we don't get alot of opertunities to go up and change things about, so were stuck with what we do for a few months, hence researching here.

Thanks for the replys, it seems light from all angles is good! Thanks

[Ken Coker]

... it seems light from all angles is good! Thanks

 

What you're actually doing is lighting the body form in dance - obviously. Depending on the style of teh company, then a spotbar for faces & front-light might come into play.

 

Your side-light "should" be a natural extension of the top-light.

So, working outwards and downwards from the onstage bar it might go:

 

Top-light/back-light

Pipe-end

Ladder Top

Ladder Mid

Ladder Low

Wing tower Top

WT Mid

WT Shin

 

Hope that makes sense.

 

KC

[Speakercon]

I always 'cross light' Pars as their spread is simply not enough to provide a wash unless you have many of them, they also hit the performer more from the angle (for dance).

 

On a 'lighting the floor' point, I also often use a few gobo's to spice up the floor a bit (if the audience can see the floor) and I like using LED pars as up-lighters along the stage apron as they light the people well but don't interfere with this.