WJEC/Eduqas GCSE Drama: Designing Drama

PROFILESPOT These versatile lanterns are longer and thinner than floods and spotlights. They also have levers half way down, which are the shutters that control the size and shape of the beam. Follow spot Follow spots are modified profiles mounted on a tripod and operated manually to track an individual as they move around the stage. You will have seen them used in events such as ice skating. Gobo A gobo is a very thin steel plate with a cut-out pattern that fixes over a lens. It is used to project a silhouette of images such as trees or windows. The images produced are mainly two-dimensional. The colour is dictated by the colour filter or gel put in front of the lens. They can produce stunning effects. AUTOMATEDMOVINGLANTERNS Often seen at concerts and large-scale events, moving lanterns are very versatile. They are generally manufactured as profile spots or fresnels. Useful for: The light inside is most commonly made up of red, green and blue LEDs which can be selected or combined to create a variety of colours. Benefits: LED lights use less power, generate less heat and save on the cost of replacing bulbs and buying colour filters or gels. Limitations: They can be expensive, and controlling their colour palette requires computer software. LEDLANTERN Many schools are now using theatre lanterns with an LED source. The most common is probably an LED par can, but there are now LED floods, profiles and fresnels. Benefit: The focus, beam size, gobo and colour are controlled by the software on a lighting desk or console . The desks usually have libraries of different light fixtures, which enables relatively easy programming and operation, and adds versatility and complexity to a design. Limitations: They are expensive and require a computerised lighting desk. Useful for: A soft- or hard-edged beam, produced by moving the lens (not the lamp as in fresnels) forwards or backwards. Profile lights with hard edges can create a typical ‘spotlight’ beam. Alternatively, several profiles focused with a soft edge can overlap for general cover. Profile spots are the type of lantern used to project images with gobos . Benefits: The beam control is generally narrower and more controllable than a fresnel, so a profile spotlight can be further away, while still remaining bright, without ‘spilling’ light into unwanted areas. The built-in shutters of a profile spotlight mean that barn doors are not needed. They are used to shield areas of the stage that you don’t want to light. They can also shape the beam to create a square of light or to focus a tight beam on a particular object or performer. 19 Chapter 1 Practical Guide to Lighting Design