Key terminology

• Spotlight


  Gives a hard-edged effect, can use different colored filters to add color
• Parcan


  Strong harsh beam of light that covers the entire stage, also gives a hard-edged effect
• Fresnel


  General wash of color but much softer than parcan, can look like natural light
• Floodlighting


  Standard lighting, general wash of color over the whole stage, best used with flat scenery
• Gobo


  Sensor placed over a lantern to project a certain image onto the stage
• Colored gel


  Added in front of lanterns to throw splashes of colour onto the stage
• Aspects to talk about with lighting


  • Intensity
  • Layering
  • Projection
• Aspects to talk about with projection

  • Where it is projected
  • Material projected onto
  • Why it is used (ambience, symbolic, backstory)
• Types of stages


  • Arena
  • Traverse
  • Theatre in the round
  • End on
  • Proscenium arch
  • Promenade
  • Thrust
• Aspects to talk about with sound


  • Fade in/out
  • Volume
  • Echo
  • Reverb
  • Crescendos
  • Diminuendos
  • Live/recorded/voiceover/offstage
  • Diegetic/non-diegetic
• Underscoring


  Music playing beneath when characters are talking
• Microphones


  Hung from ceiling to create a 'wall of sound' to amplify across the audience
• Surround sound


  Speakers placed around the audience to amplify and echo the sound
• Contextual sound


  Sound played before the play to set the historical context
• Costume details to discuss

  • Cassocks
  • Doublets
  • Buckled shoes
  • Wide-brimmed hats
  • Stains/mud on costumes
  • Bright colors to stand out
  • Subtle details to show difference
  • Tap plates on shoes for importance
• Acting techniques


  • Intonation
  • Tone
  • Pace
  • Proxemics