lighting design

• Intensity


  The strength or amount of sound or light. E.g. Bright or dim.
• Lantern


  General term for unit of lighting equipment including spotlight and flood light.
• Profile


  A type of spotlight (qv), with an optical system rather like a projector which produces a narrow, hard-edged beam of light.

  
• Fresnel


  A type of lantern which produces an even, soft-edged beam of light.

  
• Flood


  A lantern without a lens that produces a broad non-variable spread of light.

  
• Strobe


  Device giving a fast series of very short intense light flashes which can have the effect of making action appear intermittent. Because strobe lighting can trigger an epileptic attack in sufferers, the use of a strobe must be communicated to the audience before the performance begins.

  
• Gobo


  Thin metal place cut out in a pattern and placed in a lantern to project pattern or shape onto the acting space.

  
• Shadow


  Artistic lighting design can (sometimes) be about what isn't lit, just as much as what is lit. Along with any shadows that are created.

  
• Gel


  Film placed in front of a lantern to change the colour of the beam.

  
• Focusing


  The process of aiming a lighting instrument so that it illuminates a particular portion of the stage.
• Blackout


  Switching all lights out at once, leaving the stage in complete darkness.

  
• Fade


  To increase (fade up), decrease (fade down) or eliminate (fade out) gradually the brightness of a lantern.
• Crossfade


  A lighting action in which a particular light cue fades down as the next light cue fades up.