Living the Lighting Life

A Guide to a Career in Entertainment Lighting

Brad Schiller

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000191608
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Médias et arts de la scène
• Subtopic: Mise en scène théâtrale et scénographie

Living the Lighting Life provides practical tools and advice for a successful career in entertainment lighting.

This easy-to-navigate guide offers real-world examples and documentation from the author and key industry experts, giving readers a comprehensive overview of the lighting life. The book provides insight on:

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• Different job opportunities in the entertainment lighting industry;

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• Business procedures, contracts, time sheets, and invoices;

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• Tips on self-promotion, networking, and continual learning;

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• The lighting lifestyle, healthy living, and work-related travel;

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• Maintaining and developing creativity to provide innovative lighting and solutions.

With insightful interviews from industry veterans, Living the Lighting Life is a key navigational resource for anyone considering a career in entertainment lighting or just starting out.

Part I

The Job

The entertainment lighting field is a large industry with many different positions that one can hold throughout a career. Productions occur across a broad range of genres and allow our work to be seen in a variety of settings including concerts, theater, television, film, corporate events, night clubs, houses of worship, and more. Understanding your role regardless of genre is a key element of a successful career.

1 Lighting Jobs and Roles

The entertainment lighting industry consists of a plethora of vital positions that each come with their own set of unique qualities and abilities. You can make a career within just one of these roles, or you can progress through many. No matter your path, it is important to understand the jobs that are available within our industry.

Production Lighting Positions

Figure 1.1 Production Lighting Positions

Shop Technician

The shop technician generally performs his or her tasks within the confines of a lighting or production shop. Specific duties range from warehouse personnel, to show prep, and fixture maintenance. In many cases, people begin their careers working in a lighting or production company where they can hone their skills, gain equipment knowledge, and understand systems before participating on a crew for a show.

Show prep duties allow shop staff to work alongside production professionals as they lay out trusses, prepare cable runs, test fixtures, and sometimes even begin programming. This provides a great environment to gain valuable experience and learn from others. Furthermore, common show practices such as cabling, safety rigging, labeling, and other procedures are standard processes during shop prep.

Others will choose to specialize in fixture repair and work within a lighting shop to maintain the equipment and ensure it is ready for each production. Shop technicians are an integral part of the industry as their preparation, repair, and quality control abilities have a great effect on the outcome of a production’s lighting.

Lighting Technician/Stagehand

Lighting technician is a very broad term that can apply to many different aspects of production and personnel. In general, a lighting technician is a physically labor intensive position. You might be expected to load/unload trucks, set up lighting rigs, run cables, focus lights, repair fixtures, troubleshoot situations, run followspots, and much more. A lighting technician is a jack-of-all-trades who should have skills that can be expanded into further career growth. Most people start their career as a lighting technician and then move on to more specialized positions.

Lighting technicians are found in all genres of lighting and are essential to making a show happen. Some technicians may work as general stagehands, where they are working with lighting, audio, video, sets, and more. Others will segment themselves only to lighting. In either case, a good knowledge of how lighting equipment operates and how a rig is put together is essential. Some lighting technicians are also skilled at repairing products, but this is not a requirement for most.

A lighting technician must be prepared for physical labor, and in some cases climbing and working at heights. Understanding and following safety procedures is a must! Technicians generally are required to provide many of their own tools, and follow the guidance of the crew chief or master electrician.

Crew Chief/Production Electrician/Gaffer

A lighting crew chief, production electrician, or gaffer is in charge of the entire lighting crew as well as overseeing all aspects of the lighting rig. This role is managerial, as the crew chief must oversee all matters relating to the lighting technicians and other crew members. The crew chief is the go-to person for all lighting matters. This position has great responsibility as the entire lighting rig operation falls back to this person.

Furthermore, the crew chief, production electrician, or gaffer will often be involved with drawing lighting plots, determining shop orders, interacting with the vendors, and helping the lighting designer achieve the lighting vision. Typically in touring the position is referred to as crew chief, in corporate and theater as production electrician, and in television and film as gaffer.

Master Electrician

In some cases, the term “master electrician” is used interchangeably with crew chief or production electrician. However, in other circles, a master electrician is responsible for the actual electricity portion of a lighting rig. This person will come up with the proper cable and electrical distribution plan, as well as connect the power at the venue. The master electrician will measure and monitor the power throughout the production and ensure that all electrical components and connections are correct and safe.

Lighting Programmer

Nearly every lighting production makes use of a lighting console and the person that inputs the data into the desk is known as the lighting programmer. This job requires both creative and technical skills, as the programmer must understand the syntax and process of programming as well as the nuances and procedures of lighting. With the advent of automated lighting fixtures in the 1990s, the programmer has become very much a creative assistant to most lighting designers.

A programmer will often share the duties of creating looks, choosing colors, and determining focuses with the designer. Of course, the LD has the final say, but because the programmer understands what can be accomplished on the console, his or her input is often invaluable to the LD. Full details of the responsibilities and tasks of a lighting programmer can be found in my book, The Automated Lighting Programmer’s Handbook.

Lighting Director/Lighting Board Operator

The lighting director position originally came from the television world and described a position similar to today’s lighting designer. In some cases, the television term of lighting director still relates to the person in charge of the overall lighting of the production.

However, in most other cases the lighting director is a person on a touring or corporate production who operates the lighting console and also calls followspot cues. Thus, they are directing the lighting that was initially put into place by the lighting designer and programmer. A lighting director will also understand basic console programming and update focus positions and cue timings as needed. Furthermore, the lighting director is responsible for maintaining the look of the lighting throughout the tour. Often this person will make daily decisions about the lighting rig, cues, or even create new cues for songs or scenes that were not previously designed and programmed.

In many theatrical and house of worship genres the position holds less responsibility and is known simply as a lighting board operator. Usually a stage manager will call the cues both to the lighting board operator and the followspots. The lighting board operator does not change the programming or have any responsibilities to contribute to the look of the lighting. A board operator merely plays back the cues as instructed.

Lighting Designer

Often considered the pinnacle position in the industry, the lighting designer (LD) is the ultimate creative person regarding the lighting of a production. This highly regarded position must interact with everyone on the production from the top down. From the producers, to the artists, to the lighting crew, the LD is responsible for the lighting on the production. From the initial concepts, to the light plot, to the selection of colors, chases, and other lighting looks, the buck stops with the LD.

A lighting designer must understand not only how to light a show, but also how the lighting rig is put together, how it is transported, the budget allowed, the associated costs, and much more. The level of responsibility is highest with the lighting designer, and thus why this position carries more weight than all the others. Of course, with the highest position usually comes the highest pay, as well as the greatest levels of stress. It has been said that often more of a lighting designer’s duties are political than actual lighting.

Some lighting designers take on multiple positions such as lighting director and/or lighting programmer. In some smaller markets, the lighting designer may be a jack-of-all-trades and even be a crew chief and/or technician on the same production. The lighting designer is also a liaison with the rest of the production team, artists, directors, band members, management, and more. Many LDs will rely on a team of additional lighting people to help them achieve the lighting vision while the LD is busy meeting with all the other stakeholders in the production.

Assistant/Associate Lighting Designer

The role of an assistant or associate lighting designer is to work alongside the lighting designer and help as needed. Duties may include drawing plots, providing lighting look input, creating and organizing paperwork, fetching coffee, attending meetings, choosing colors, tracking data, and more. Depending upon the assistant/associate lighting designer’s skill set and relationship with the LD, the tasks can run the gamut from the mundane to the highly creative.

Assistant/associate lighting designers hold a coveted position as they often get to work alongside the lighting designer, picking up valuable knowledge, resources, and contacts along the way. Typically an assistant is the lower rung of these two positions, whereas the associate is a closer collaborative to the lighting designer. The associate will contribute more to the look of the lighting and have greater responsibilities than the assistant. However, depending upon the genre, the terms may be used interchangeably. Typically in theater the roles and labels are well defined, but not so much in touring, corporate, and house of worship environments.

A great resource for learning the duties of an assistant lighting designer is Anne E. McMills’ The Assistant Lighting Designer’s Toolkit.

Light Walker

A light walker is someone who is a stand-in for actors, allowing the LD and crew to focus and view lighting looks when the actors are not available. Often a light walker will stand for hours on the stage with light pointing directing into his or her eyes. In many cases they must also hold their hand(s) up to approximate the height of an actor. While not a glamorous or skilled position, it can be very beneficial to some in the industry.

If you are able to be a light walker for a well-respected LD, then this can give you a great insight into their work. You will get to see the LD in action and also possibly interact directly with the LD and other lighting staff. While not all light walkers get paid, the opportunity and contacts you make could be very beneficial to your career.

Instructor/Educator

As with any field, there is a strong base of entertainment lighting professionals who choose to teach and share their craft with others. Many different educational programs including high schools, colleges, private schools, and independent educators serve an extremely useful function within our industry. Generally the instructors have a vast amount of real production experience, and most are also still working with productions while also teaching.

Account Sales

An often overlooked position within the entertainment lighting industry is that of sales. There are two key genres of salespersons within the field. First, lighting or production company salespersons work directly with lighting designers to help them achieve their vision, utilizing the equipment on hand and within the specified budget. Quite often they are referred to as “account reps.” Then there are salespeople who work for manufacturers or distributors who negotiate deals with lighting and production companies to ensure that they are purchasing the latest equipment on the market (see Lighting Manufacturer Positions).

The rental or production company salesperson must have a good ...