The History of Lighting

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The History of Lighting
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The 5 Stages of Lighting

1. Artificial Light
2. Gas
3. Electricity
4. Concentrated Filament Spotlight
5. Computers

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Artificial Light

• Greek Theatre -
• Late 19th Century

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Greek Theatre

• Starting around 500 BC
• Trilogies sometimes start at dawn and continue
  through till sunset

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Miracle Mystery Plays

• 15th Century
• Indoor (Probably Churches)
• Surrounded Stage with Candles (First form of
  Stage Lighting)
• Real Flame
• Hell Mouth
• Angels to Heaven

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Elizabethan Theatre

• 16th - 17th Centuries
• Globe Theatre - Outdoors
• Shakespeare referred to lighting in dialogue

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Italian Renaissance

• 1600 - 1800 Moves Indoors for good

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Improvements

• 1566 - Serlio places colored bottles in front of
  candles

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Improvements

• Indigo Jones uses Reflectors to intensify light

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Improvements

• Floats
• Mechanical Opaque Screens
• Mechanical Dimmers

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Disadvantages

• Entire Theatre Visible
• Dirty (Soot)
• Not very bright
• Very little control

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Gas Lighting

• Late 19th Century

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Advantages

• So advantageous that it quickly becomes the norm
• Brighter
• Easy Maintenance
• Gives CONTROL
• 1st time audience is dark

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Disadvantages

• Very EXPLOSIVE

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Gas Lighting
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Electric Lighting

• 1879 Edison creates the 6W Light Bulb

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Electricity

• Very popular to Theatre Owners due to Safety
• Installed in most theatres within 5 years (runs
  through old gas tubing)

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Advantages

• Low Maintenance
• Cleaner (no soot)
• Higher light intensities
• Not as cumbersome

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Adolph Appia
Modern Stage Lighting has its roots in
Appias theories
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Plastic Expression
A 3 dimensional actor moving in a 3 dimensional
space
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20th Century Advances
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Concentrated Filament Spotlight

• Filament tightly wound to provide a brighter
  light
• A LOT BRIGHTER

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Post WWII

• Solid State Dimming
• Transistors
• Leads to the invention of the

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Computers

• Advantages
• Much more complex operations
• Able to sync lights with sound
• One button operation
• Disadvantages
• If your computer crashes youre in TROUBLE
• Eliminates jobs

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Emergence of the Lighting Designer

• Until 1930s Lighting was done by the Scenic
  Designer or Master Electricians
• As technology grew, Scene Designers would hire
  assistants to do the lighting
• People began to specialize and eventually get
  credit
• 1960s Lighting Designers were given their own
  designation in the Design Union

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• http//www.uno.edu/jsulliva/Colors/colorbox.html