Lighting Design

[Ken Coker]

Lighting design is about ideas, the interpretation of ideas and the communication of ideas; it is not about technology. Therefore a philosophy or english degree is a better education for a lighting designer than a lighting design degree.

 

Discuss

 

 

Ken

[TomLyall]

Lighting design is about ideas, the interpretation of ideas and the communication of ideas; it is not about technology.

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Would you not say, lighting [design] is the use of technology to communicate your ideas, and not just the ideas themselves? Just as painting is the use of paint, brushes, etc to communicate the artists ideas.

 

Therefore a philosophy or english degree is a better education for a lighting designer than a lighting design degree.

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Maybe, but would that not imply that a lighting degree would be right, and instead a lighting degree would encompass some of the content of [for arguements sake] a philosophy degree, while retaining the importance of being able to reproduce your ideas, using the technology available.

[Bryson]

What we're talking about here is the separation of the art from the media. By definition, a "lighting designer" is committed to the media (ie: light) and therefore the technology as well. Note how the term is Lighting Designer not Artist.

 

I'd say that for practical reasons, the designer must be aware of the technology in order to do his design. Lighting design (and all theatre) is not, and cannot be, pure conceptual art.

[JCoster]

Note how the term is Lighting Designer not Artist.

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But to a certain degree, the design of light is art; seeing how it comes together, like the prism, to form different colours, and to illuminate different areas of the stage or anything in different colours that suit the play or whatever is being lit.

[sam.henderson]

I really don't want to piss on this very intellectual, deep and meaningful bonfire but lets face it where is a LD going to get any gigs if they get a English degree and forget about the technological aspect of lighting design!

 

Sam

[stormster]

Lighting design is about ideas, the interpretation of ideas and the communication of ideas;

 

Lighting design to me is about utilization of the correct technology and tools in the arsenal of the designer to generate the mood and visually correct ambiance for each specific moment of a show / event / performance, thus assisting the director/ designers / producers concepts.

 

it is not about technology

 

Technology assists the designer by giving him/her a vast array of devices previously not at their disposal to communicate the concepts in ways that would only have been dreamt of before these technological advances were available.

So I agree its not about technology but makes it easier and more fun to use some of those new toys to paint the directors picture.

 

Therefore a philosophy or english degree is a better education for a lighting designer than a lighting design degree.

 

I disagree with this concept and feel, I feel and english or philosophy degree give you great education yet none of the practicality required by a modern day lighting designer. It would be a fantastic luxury to have the same amount of time you have while studying literature as you do while doing a design !!! I wish, But it must help in your interpretation of texts and more importantly the philosophy must surely help when the producer gives you an unrealistic time frame. But I've always found the guiness philosophy always helps with that one!! <_<

 

And in closing surely it depends on the quality of the lighting design degree course.

[Guest lightnix]

Lighting design is about ideas, the interpretation of ideas and the communication of ideas...

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It may have been some time ago, but I was taught that the primary function of stage lighting is to allow the performers to be seen by the audience. Ideas and the interpretation / communication thereof are secondary to that basic requirement.

[TomLyall]

Lighting design is about ideas, the interpretation of ideas and the communication of ideas...

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It may have been some time ago, but I was taught that the primary function of stage lighting is to allow the performers to be seen by the audience. Ideas and the interpretation / communication thereof are secondary to that basic requirement.

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I'd agree, the primary function of stage lighting is to allow the performers to be seen, but then, thats not lighting design, is it? Sorry, I'm aware that may sound a little pedantic when it comes to wording, but I think the discussion warrants it.

 

Houselights or working lights allow the performers to be seen, and after that is where lighting design creating atmoshpere and enhancing the performance takes over. In my opinion...

[Brian]

Therefore a philosophy or english degree is a better education for a lighting designer than a lighting design degree.

I'd actually dispute whether a philosophy or english degree is any sort of education for anything.....

[DSA]

hear hear

 

As far as I am concerned (and from my limited experience), a lighting designer cannot be successful if they dont know about the technology. In this field, they go together.

 

It is clear that lighting (and sound etc for that matter) cover a wide range of disciplines, and just having an English/Science/Lighting degree will not necessarily make you any good! A degree isn't worth the paper it is written on if it is not followed up and consolidated with good experience.

 

David

[kitlane]

I really don't want to piss on this very intellectual, deep and meaningful bonfire but lets face it where is a LD going to get any gigs if they get a English degree and forget about the technological aspect of lighting design!

 

Sam

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The ex Head of Lighting (also a freelance LD) at Derby Playhouse has a degree in English.

 

Kit

[Ben99]

I would argue that neither an english degree, nor a lighting design degree will necessarily produce good lighting designers!

 

There is no way that they could... an english graduate might be excited about the words and the narrative and the meaning, and see the potential for using light to create atmospheres, drama and whole magical ephemeral worlds... and a LD graduate might be excited about the purity of light from a source 4, or the benefits of using tracking on a 520, or whatever, and see the potential for using this technology to support the narratives and meanings that the english grad is thrilled by...

 

But then again, they might not... A lighting design degree will probably produce people who are very competent technicians*, and who have been introduced to the amazing creative scope within which a lighting designer will work - but unless they are interested in pursuing this creativity (reading/seeing theatre/visiting art galleries/talking to theatre makers/experimenting-with-things-for-themselves) they will remain a competent technician and not become a great LD.

 

And the english student won't make it either, without spending some time finding out the difference between a CP61 and a CP62, or what #119 does....

 

Lighting design combines creative art skills, technical skills, empathy, imagination, problem solving, spatial awareness etc: a combination of "art", "science" and "emotional" skills which make it such a satisfying discipline.

 

And so yes, you do have to know about the technology (at least to the point where you can speak the same language as a theatre technician - after all your job depends upon getting the most from technicians) but you also have to know about the art (at least to the extent that you understand why this story is being told, and what the playwright/director/designer is trying to express). But whether you have a degree in english, lighting design, anything or nothing, you'll mostly become a lighting designer through experience, experiment and your-own-private-learning, if you have a passion to design with light.

 

BTW, thanks Ken for starting this thread, it's a pleasant change <_<

 

 

*apologies if lighting design students think that I am under-valuing your degree, please argue back if I'm wrong - I just mean that the degree by itself won't make you a good lighting designer, there's more to it than that...

[Ekij]

A degree (any degree) does not make you good at a job.

A degree shows you have the ability to acquire and regurgitate knowledge, and to some extent to understand it.

The ability to be good at your job requires you to apply what you know and strive to create the best lighting design you can. Neither an English degree nor a lighting design degree are adequate on their own, or even necessary (but having a sound foundation in either is a good start).

 

Well motivated amateurs (such as school pupils) can create better designs than lazy graduates who feel that what they do is 'good enough' because they have a degree behind them.

 

I'm not saying education is worthless, I'm saying it's a very useful foundation but insufficient on it's own.

[Just Some Bloke]

thanks Ken for starting this thread, it's a pleasant change :P

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I've just caught up with this thread having missed it when it started due to designing lighting (how appropriate!)

 

I think Ben gets it right in his carefully expressed comments. English degree graduates will bring one thing to the role of LD, lighting design graduates another. What an LD needs is an all-round education which encompasses "how to understand what the author and director are getting at" as well as "why open white isn't really white and needs 201, 202 or 203 to make it so, depending on context".

 

I've seen shows lit by lighting graduates which use some amazing effects but completely miss the point that the director or author is trying to achieve. When the mood should relax the effects keep going, when some sort of crescendo is called for there is nowhere to go as the lighting has done it all already. An English graduate is much less likely to do that. Equally, I remember working on a piece of performance art for the Tate Gallery (I was actually sound designer in that case) in which the performance artist involved used one large follow spot as his only form of light (it was outdoors, starting at dusk). As the spot was warming up it gave off a lovely colour which looked fantastic, but then moved to a colour much nearer to white and, frankly, much more boring. I pointed this out to him and he agreed but had no idea of how to use a gel to approximate the "warming up" colour. A Lighting Design graduate would never have done that.

 

Ben is exactly right when he says that

Lighting design combines creative art skills, technical skills, empathy, imagination, problem solving, spatial awareness etc: a combination of "art", "science" and "emotional" skills which make it such a satisfying discipline.

 

An LD needs to be able to talk to the Director, MD and Choreographer in their own languages, understanding the way they want the audience to feel, and then translate that into an extending of the same emotions by use of lighting. He or she also needs to understand how to achieve that technically (e.g. if I want the light to appear white which is the correct correction filter to use?) and be able to communicate with the LX crew in terms they understand in order to achieve what is in the LD's head.

 

They also need to work out if an idea they've come up with will fit in with what the director is trying to achieve. They also need to know about psychology because there are different ways of bringing ideas to a director, depending on how they're likely to react. With one director one might tell them how wonderful one's idea is and how much better it will make the show look, with another one might suggest it gently so the director ends up thinking that they came up with the idea themselves! Then there's the business side when it comes to justifying budget requirements and not getting ripped off because people know you enjoy designing lighting so think you'll do it for a pitance!

 

It's a big complex job that needs all sorts of skills, none of which require a degree in anything. Personally, my degree is in music but if anyone said that prevents me from lighting drama I'd scream very loudly at them! :(

[Light Console]

[blow own trumpet] I have a BA(Hons) in Lighting Design, from Rose Bruford College [/blow own trumpet]

However, my job is not that of a lighting designer, more jack of all trades. When I do undertake a design, I am not able to get into the mind of the characters, like some of my (English A Level) cohorts can.

I'll keep it short as I agree with posts above me.

By knowing what technology is available the LD can enhance their "Pallette" of lighting effects to wow the audience.

I am more interested by how an effect can be created, rather than the why it is needed. Therefore, my way of design, is to ask what the director wants (eg old theatre, with ghostly shadows on the set of dancers on the floor) then think how, with what? small fresnels uplighting, colour? if I wash the set in Peacock, then add Amber from the floor, I get a sepia effect, with green shadows. I then show this to the director, who approves or not.

Perhaps if I was given an unlimited budget, I wouldn't know what to do with it, as that is not something I feel the degree taught me. I learnt that you need to look at each effect carefully to see that the overall design is linked, yet each moment helps the production. I say it depends on what the production is - Shakespeare? Yes, English would be better to assist you in understanding the plot. Rock and Roll - Technology all the way!

Rock on!