In our manifesto we state that as a collective, STAMP Theatre aim to focus solely on performance rather than the visual aesthetics such as lighting design. Therefore when it came to lighting design the artistic director and I liaised often about keeping the differing lighting states simple.
In our production we had 8 lighting states in total and when creating a lighting plot Alex Harvey Sporle (ASM) and I tried to make this as easy as possible for our venues to comprehend. In total we had 18 spotlights (2 on each of the 8 hanging picture frames, one on the door frame at the back and one DSC), a general white wash, a general blue wash, a split downstage wash (separating stage left from stage right), a state where both downstage areas were lit at the same time, and back lights (to create shadows).
In order for the LPAC technical team to understand exactly what we wanted I had to make additional documentation to transfer our ideas over. This documentation enabled them to get a general idea of what we required when it came to rigging on the day. This also meant we didn’t spend too long discussing what we required on the day of rigging. This documentation included a focus chart – detailing exactly what each light needed to do, and a magic sheet – which works hand in hand with the LX plot and focus chart to reiterate the function and positioning of each light.
Here are the completed magic sheet and focus chart, Alex Harvey Sporle will post the finished LX plot.
I made these documents in a generic format that is clear and understandable for technicians across different venues.
The focus chart is a simple way of communicating what each light on the LX plot is needed for. This gives the venue an idea of any lights they may need to use as substitutes to create different states if they do not have the specific ones stated on our LX plot. A good example of this from our LX plot we requested moving wash lights, but the LPAC were unable to provide these so, knowing what we wanted to create the technical team were able to ensure substitute lights were available (we used shutters instead).
‘[T]he magic sheet sorts the dimmers or channels into graphic focus locations’ (Shelley,2009, p.264). As you can see by the magic sheet I put together, I have used arrows to show what direction the light is coming from and the channel number within the arrow to point out what light it is. The magic sheet goes hand in hand with the LX plot and the focus chart, each showing the channel numbers.
Works Cited
Shelley, S.L. (2009). A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting. Oxford: Elsevier Inc.
Thank you for reading,
Emma Huggins
