The Lighting Supervisor's Toolkit

Collaboration, Interrogation, and Innovation toward Engineering Brilliant Lighting Designs

Jason E. Weber

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000335132
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Mezzi di comunicazione e arti performative
• Categoría: Scenotecnica e scenografia teatrale

The Lighting Supervisor's Toolkit guides readers through the Lighting Supervisor's production process with an emphasis on the importance of the collaborative nature of the role.

Lifting the veil on a process regularly learned on the job, this book offers a deeper understanding of the role of Lighting Supervisor and how to take lighting designs from dreams to reality. Readers will learn to communicate with designers, analyze drawings, plan installations, document decisions, supervise crews, and innovate out-of-the-box solutions.

Providing guidance for technically focused individuals seeking deeper understanding of the profession, The Lighting Supervisor's Toolkit is ideal for students and professional technicians looking to take on important leadership roles in theatrical and entertainment lighting.

Part One
Collaboration

Throughout my career people have regularly asked me, “So, what is it that you do, again?” At first, it was mostly from family who didn’t know what to make of my career choices. This was largely understandable, I’m sure most folks that aren’t lawyers or doctors face that line of questioning. Yet, I started to notice that I got the same questions from folks that were supposed to be in the know—theatre patrons, donors, board members, lighting students, and even newly hired technicians. I even began to ask the question myself. What do I do? Why does it seem so nebulous? What makes my role essential to the process? On the surface, this job is very technical—plugging lights in and making sure they don’t fall on people’s heads or catch on fire. You can’t ignore all that, it is a big part of the job. Still, that’s not the thing that makes a Lighting Supervisor an essential member of the production team. They are a communicator, a translator, an empathizer, a leader, and a teacher rolled into one. So, what do I do? Let’s get into it.

CHAPTER 1
Meet and Greet

WHO IS THE LIGHTING SUPERVISOR?

Lighting is a very intangible element of a theatrical production. We know it is there and we know it impacts the performance, but, to most, how and why are great mysteries. Still, the biggest mystery of all might simply be: “who?” Most people are surprised by exactly how many people are involved with the lighting process.

The Lighting Team is comprised of many different roles—each with distinct responsibilities—that must work in collaboration with each other and the rest of the production staff to make the work we see each night the curtain rises.

To start, most people familiar with theatre production are familiar with the “Lighting Designer” or “L.D.” The Lighting Designer is the marquee name for the lighting of a show. They will be front and center on the title page of the playbill. It is their job to work with the director to interpret the play in terms of light. In many ways, the Lighting Designer is the “architect” of a production’s lighting—the one who dreams up the final product. They will determine where the lights will go, what kind of lights they will be, what colors or textures will be needed, and ultimately when and how bright the lights will be turned on.

LIGHT PLOT

The Light Plot is the primary visual means of conveying the lighting design prior to technical rehearsals. The Light Plot shows the location, type, color, and purpose of each fixture requested by the Lighting Designer. The Lighting Designer uses this documentation to begin the conversation with the Lighting Supervisor and other members of the production team. As the process goes on, the Lighting Supervisor will add to this drawing to convey technical information such as circuiting or data infrastructure detail.

Figure 1.1Light plot for Where the Mountain Meets the Sea by Jeff Augustin, 2020 Humana Festival for New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville; lighting by Scott Bolman.

Courtesy of Scott Bolman.

However, just like in building construction, there are many details about the functionality of a design that are needed to take that final product from paper to reality. Much of that work extends outside the role of the Lighting Designer. In fact, most light plots—a drafting plan that details the layout of the equipment in the venue—include a disclaimer that will read:

“The Lighting Designer is unqualified to determine the structural or electrical appropriateness of this design, and will not assume responsibility for improper engineering, construction, handling, or use. All materials and construction must comply with the most stringent applicable Federal and Local Fire, Safety, Energy, and Environmental Codes.” (Shelley 2009)

If the Lighting Designer is not qualified to make these determinations, who is? Each production is going to need someone to “engineer” the lighting design. They will need someone to determine the structural and electrical soundness of the designer’s light plot as well as lead the crew in the safe and proper execution of the design. This is the role of the Lighting Supervisor. They must partner with the Lighting Designer to make their artistic vision a practical reality.

MASTER ELECTRICIANS AND THE ELECTRICAL TRADES

The term “Master Electrician” or “M.E.” comes from the electrical trades. As part of the path for licensure, electrical tradespersons start as Apprentices, advance to Journeymen, then ultimately become Master Electricians. While this is the origin of the term, it is important to note that Master Electricians in a theatrical sense are not equivalent to Master Electricians in an electrical trades sense. In the electrical trades, Master Electricians are trained, licensed, and bonded which makes them “Qualified Personnel” according to the National Electrical Code®.¹

Conversely, Master Electricians in the theatrical sense are not required to have any specific training or licensure to perform their roles. Consequently, there is a push among lighting professionals to move away from this terminology. On many Broadway shows, for example, the term Master Electrician is replaced with “Production Electrician.” Additionally, organizations like the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (E.S.T.A.) have started a certification program for “Entertainment Electricians” as part of their Entertainment Technician Certification Program (E.T.C.P.).

While these other terms are growing in use, “Master Electrician” and “Electrician” are still very common in today’s industry. For simplicity, when I use the term “Master Electrician” and “Electrician” here it is exclusively in the theatrical sense with a full acknowledgement of this problematic background.

1 NFPA 70®, National Electrical Code®, and NEC® are registered trademarks of the National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA.

Please note that this permission is restricted to the use of the language referenced and does not include any permission to use the NEC Logo or any other NFPA logo or indicia, which may be used solely with the express written permission of NFPA.

Not every production will have someone with the title “Lighting Supervisor,” but this does not mean that they do not have someone doing this engineering work. Many companies use the terms “Master Electrician,” “Head Electrician,” or “Lighting Director” instead. These terms have similarities and are often used interchangeably by producers. However, among lighting professionals there are clear distinctions on the expected responsibilities that go with these titles. In understanding exactly who a Lighting Supervisor is and how they fit into the production process, it is important to understand more about these other common titles.

PRODUCERS VS. VENUE

Often, producers get conflated with their venues. If someone, for example, went to see a play at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, Massachusetts, they would probably say, “I saw a play at Merrimack Rep last night!” and not acknowledge that the performance was held in a venue called “Liberty Hall.”

However, it is important to know the difference between a producer and a venue to understand how theatre is made. For example, if the same patron above went to see a show at Theatre Row in New York City, loved it, but didn’t know that it was produced by Mint Theatre Company—which focuses on lost or forgotten plays—they could potentially be surprised if they went back to the venue and saw a show produced by Ma-Yi Theatre Company—which focuses on new works by Asian-American writers—thinking that a single company produced out of that venue.

To complicate matters further, many large theatre companies operate multiple venues. For example, Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, has three venues—The Pamela Brown Auditorium, The Bingham Theatre, and The Victor Jory Theatre. If a person saw a play in the Bingham Theatre and hated it because they did not like theatre in the round, they may avoid all productions by the producer because they did not realize that the producer also operates venues with different seating configurations.

As a lighting professional, it is important to understand this relationship. If the producer does not operate a venue, the producers’ lighting staff will have to interface with the venue’s staff. Similarly, if a company operates a venue that “presents” the work of other companies, the venue’s lighting staff may need to coordinate with the producer’s lighting staff instead of directly with a designer.

The “Master Electrician” is the most common. The Master Electrician—or sometimes “Production Electrician”—is the person in charge of engineering the lighting design for a specific production and generally does not have any obligation to the producers or the venue outside of the safe and functional installation of a specific production. In many cases, these individuals are freelance technicians who move from one production to the next in the area that they live. In a basic sense, a Lighting Supervisor is also a Master Electrician. However, the Lighting Supervisor has additional responsibilities that extend beyond the scope of a single production and into the larger structure of the producing organization or venue. Despite this distinction, it is common for the terms to be used interchangeably. Many regional theatre companies with only one venue, for example, elect to call their lighting department manager, “Master Electrician,” while many companies with multiple venues have “Master Electricians” for each venue that report to a central “Lighting Supervisor” who serves as the department manager.

Another common role is “Head Electrician.” This is most often a term used for the person in charge of the lighting for a particular venue and is often associated with someone who is a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.), a labor union that covers many stage technicians and designers. A Head Electrician’s primary focus is the functionality of the venue and the equipment it owns. In some cases, a production will have both a Head Electrician and a Master Electrician. If operating within this scenario, the Master Electrician works with the Lighting Designer to focus on the engineering of a production, whereas the Head Electrician works with other lighting technicians to install the production into the venue. In cases where the producing company does not employ a lighting staff member, the venue’s Head Electrician will also perform the work of the Master Electrician and function as a Lighting Supervisor because they are managing the venue as well as the lighting needs for a specific production. The primary difference between a Lighting Supervisor and a Head Electrician is their union affiliation. A Lighting Supervisor is nearly always a non-union manager, whereas a Head Electrician is almost always a member of the union who leads and works alongside other union technicians.

The final common role is “Lighting Director.” Lighting Directors occupy a unique role because they have many of the same responsibilities as a Lighting Supervisor, but usually work more directly with the Lighting Designer on the artistic work of the production and supervise other staff members who work more directly on the technical work. Sometimes Lighting Directors will function as resident Lighting Designers who also manage the long-term goals of the organization and have staff Master Electricians who perform much of the engineering of specific productions. Lighting Directors are less common in theatrical settings but dominate dance and opera markets. Additionally, it is common to find Lighting Directors on touring shows. In that context, they adapt the touring design to meet the limitations of the individual venue stops and work with the venues’ chief lighting technicians (often a union Head Electricians) to coordinate the installation. The big difference between a Lighting Supervisor and Lighting Director is the relationship with the designer. The Lighting Supervisor is exclusively a designer’s technical collaborator, while a Lighting Director also provides artistic assistance. For example, a Lighting Director may function as an Assistant Lighting Designer during the technical rehearsal process or run focus calls for rotating repertory companies.

In film, the roles and relationships are quite a bit different. There is generally not a Lighting Designer on a film, but rather a “Director of Photography” or D.P. The D.P. will determine the lighting as well as other aspects of the filming process such as camera operation and shot selection. The D.P. works with the Gaffer who is essentially the Master Electrician on the film set. As films do not generally have the same recurring needs as theatrical companies and venues, the operational duties of a Lighting Supervisor are not needed on a film set. While some of the information in this book is useful for gaffers, the demands of the film industry are extremely different than those of live theatrical events, so readers in those industries should also explore many of the great books on lighting for film like Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook by Harry C. Box.

RESIDENT THEATRE COMPANIES

Prior to the mid-twentieth century, theatre in the United States was comprised primarily of touring shows and Broadway shows. Audiences in cities outside of New York would wait until a show traveled to them. During the 1950s and 1960s, there was a movement to create theatre companies in cities around the country...