LibGuides: Theatre Design: Scene & Lighting

Resources for Lighting Design

Theatrical Lighting Database: This collection contains actual plots, focus charts, cue sheets and much more from four landmark productions digitized from the collections of the New York Public Library.

A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting by Steven Louis Shelley
ISBN: 9781135902285
Publication Date: 2013-10-30
Combining theory and application, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting provides a comprehensive analysis of lighting systems along with examples and illustrations of the technical tools and methods used in the industry. An entertaining and educational read, author Steven Louis Shelley draws from his 35+ years of diverse experience to explain how to get the job done along with real-life examples of projects from start to finish. Learn why some techniques are successful while others fail with 'Shelley's Notes' and 'Shelley's Soapbox,' all with a humor that guides you through complex problems and concepts. Highlights include: -Over 100 new topics, including analysis and application of the three categories of collaboration; a detailed examination of production meetings and one-on-one meetings; and meeting checklists with management and the creative team. -Over 50 new illustrations, including Shelley's Periodic Table of Fundamental Lighting Systems; groundplans, sections, and front elevations that illustrate basic system wash configurations for each direction of light. -Analysis, calculation, and step-by-step technical construction of each lighting system in the Hokey light plot. -Explanation of a manufacturer's cut sheet, and how to apply basic formulas to determine the beam size, footcandles, and gel transmission for lighting instruments. -Updated process of pre-programming computer lighting consoles prior to the load-in. -Comprehensive overview of archiving paperwork and softcopy for a production. Students and professionals will benefit from experience-based tips and techniques to prepare and execute a lighting design, along with learning how to avoid common traps.
Light Image Imagination by Romke van der Veen (Editor); Mara Yerkes (Editor); Peter Achterberg (Editor); Martha Blassnigg (Editor)
ISBN: 9789089643841
Publication Date: 2013-12-15
The essays in this collection consider the creation, perception, and projection of images, both mental and material, and their specific relationship with light and imagination. With contributions from scholars working at the interdisciplinary intersections of art, science, and the humanities, Light Image Imagination extends disciplinary boundaries in order to amplify and enrich the current thinking about mediated images. The unique layout of the book, which juxtaposes text and image essays, is intended to stimulate dialogue and associative connections.
The Art of Light on Stage by Yaron Abulafia
ISBN: 9781315691305
Publication Date: 2015-07-16
The Art of Light on Stage is the first history of theatre lighting design to bring the story right up to date. In this extraordinary volume, award-winning designer Yaron Abulafia explores the poetics of light, charting the evolution of lighting design against the background of contemporary performance. The book looks at the material and the conceptual; the technological and the transcendental. Never before has theatre design been so vividly and excitingly illuminated. 　 The book examines the evolution of lighting design in contemporary theatre through an exploration of two fundamental issues: 　 1.　　　　　　 What gave rise to the new directions in lighting design in contemporary theatre? 2.　　　　　　 How can these new directions be viewed within the context of lighting design history? 　 The study then focuses on the phenomenological and semiotic aspects of the medium for light - the role of light as a performer, as the medium of visual perception and as a stimulus for imaginative representations - in selected contemporary theatre productions by Robert Wilson, Romeo Castellucci, Heiner Goebbels, Jossi Wieler and David Zinder. 　 This ground-breaking book will be required reading for anyone concerned with the future of performance. of lighting design history? 　 The study then focuses on the phenomenological and semiotic aspects of the medium for light - the role of light as a performer, as the medium of visual perception and as a stimulus for imaginative representations - in selected contemporary theatre productions by Robert Wilson, Romeo Castellucci, Heiner Goebbels, Jossi Wieler and David Zinder. 　 This ground-breaking book will be required reading for anyone concerned with the future of performance.
The Art of Light on Stage by Yaron Abulafia
ISBN: 9781315691305
Publication Date: 2015-07-16
The Art of Light on Stage is the first history of theatre lighting design to bring the story right up to date. In this extraordinary volume, award-winning designer Yaron Abulafia explores the poetics of light, charting the evolution of lighting design against the background of contemporary performance. The book looks at the material and the conceptual; the technological and the transcendental. Never before has theatre design been so vividly and excitingly illuminated. 　 The book examines the evolution of lighting design in contemporary theatre through an exploration of two fundamental issues: 　 1.　　　　　　 What gave rise to the new directions in lighting design in contemporary theatre? 2.　　　　　　 How can these new directions be viewed within the context of lighting design history? 　 The study then focuses on the phenomenological and semiotic aspects of the medium for light - the role of light as a performer, as the medium of visual perception and as a stimulus for imaginative representations - in selected contemporary theatre productions by Robert Wilson, Romeo Castellucci, Heiner Goebbels, Jossi Wieler and David Zinder. 　 This ground-breaking book will be required reading for anyone concerned with the future of performance. of lighting design history? 　 The study then focuses on the phenomenological and semiotic aspects of the medium for light - the role of light as a performer, as the medium of visual perception and as a stimulus for imaginative representations - in selected contemporary theatre productions by Robert Wilson, Romeo Castellucci, Heiner Goebbels, Jossi Wieler and David Zinder. 　 This ground-breaking book will be required reading for anyone concerned with the future of performance.

Resources for Stage Design

The Art of Theatrical Design by Kaoime Malloy
ISBN: 9781317694274
Publication Date: 2014-08-07
The Art of Theatrical Design: Elements of Visual Composition, Methods, and Practice addresses the core principles that develop the student designer into a true artist, providing a foundation that ensures success with each production design. This text concentrates on the skills necessary to create effective, evocative, and engaging theatrical designs that support the play contextually, thematically, and visually. It gives students the grounding in core design principles they need to approach design challenges and make design decisions in both assigned class projects and realized productions. This book features: In-depth discussions of design elements and principles for costume, set, lighting, sound, and projection designs Coverage of key concepts such as content, context, genre, style, play structure and format, and the demands and limitations of various theatrical spaces Essential principles, including collaboration, inspiration, conceptualization, script analysis, conducting effective research, building a visual library, developing an individual design process, and the role of the critique in collaboration Information on recent digital drawing tool technology, such as the Wacom® Inkling pen, Wacom® Intuos digitizing tablets and digital sketching, and rendering programs such as Autodesk® Sketchbook Pro and Adobe® Photoshop® Chapter exercises and key terms designed to provide an engaging experience with the material and to facilitate student understanding
The Cambridge Introduction to Scenography by Joslin McKinney; Philip Butterworth
ISBN: 9780521847650
Publication Date: 2009-11-19
Scenography - the manipulation and orchestration of the performance environment - is an increasingly popular and key area in performance studies. This book introduces the reader to the purpose, identity and scope of scenography and its theories and concepts. Settings and structures, light, projected images, sound, costumes and props are considered in relation to performing bodies, text, space and the role of the audience. Concentrating on scenographic developments in the twentieth century, the Introduction examines how these continue to evolve in the twenty-first century. Scenographic principles are clearly explained through practical examples and their theoretical context. Although acknowledging the many different ways in which design shapes the creation of scenography, the book is not exclusively concerned with the role of the theatre designer. In order to map out the wider territory and potential of scenography, the theories of pioneering scenographers are discussed alongside the work of directors, writers and visual artists.
Dramatic Spaces by Jennifer Low
ISBN: 9781315723457
Publication Date: 2015-07-16
For literary scholars, plays are texts; for scenographers, plays are performances. Yet clearly a drama is both text and performance. Dramatic Spaces examines period-specific stage spaces in order to assess how design shaped the thematic and experiential dimensions of plays. This book highlights the stakes of the debate about spatiality and the role of the spectator in the auditorium - if audience members are co-creators of the drama, how do they contribute? The book investigates: Roman comedy and Shakespearean dramas in which the stage-space itself constituted the primary scenographic element and actors' bodies shaped the playing space more than did sets or props the use of paid applauders in nineteenth-century Parisian theaters and how this practice reconfigured theatrical space transactions between stage designers and spectators, including work by László Moholy-Nagy, William Ritman, and Eiko Ishioka? Dramatic Spaces aims to do for stage design what reader-response criticism has done for the literary text,?with specific case studies on Coriolanus, The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Tales of Hoffman, M. Butterfly and Tiny Alice exploring the audience's contribution to the construction of meaning.
Imagined Interiors by Harriet McKay (As told to); Jeremy Aynsley; Charlotte Grant
ISBN: 1851774920
Publication Date: 2006-11-01
This innovative book examines the changing ways in which the domestic interior has been represented in the West over the last five hundred years. Looking at a rich array of depictions of the home, including paintings, novels, television, film, diaries, sketches and photographs, Imagined Interiors deals with both public and private attitudes to the domestic interior and features everything from grand decorative schemes to homely cottages. Published in association with the Centre for the Study of the Domestic Interior, it takes a completely new and original look at a subject not previously covered in this depth and breadth. From 1450 to the present day, the home has been a constant focus of attention for artists, designers, architects, novelists, playwrights and, most recently, television producers. Homeowners today attached increasing significance and sentiment to the way their homes are represented. Imagined Interiors will be an indispensable work of reference and visual resource for those interested in interior design, social history and material culture.
The Poetics of Stage Space by Bruce A. Bergner
ISBN: 9781476603346
Publication Date: 2013-05-06
This book analyzes theatre scene design through the powers and characteristics of physical space. Physical space is central to creative composition in the theatre, but the author extends the reach of the book to individuals concerned with spatial design--architects, interior designers, industrial designers, artists and other performers. A theory is presented on how design, and its creative process, echo the process of human awareness and action. The book covers an array of considerations for the theatre designer--the observable features of given physical spaces, their layout, detailing and atmosphere--and presents these features from the points of view of various disciplines. There are chapters on the "physics" of space, the "geography" of space and the "music" of space. The author also speaks to the less tangible qualities sensed more personally, such as the "spirituality" or the "psyche" of space. A discussion of the collaborative process of creating space is included. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

MSU Libraries

Research Guides

Theatre Design: Scene & Lighting

Resources for Lighting Design

Resources for Stage Design