MC Candless - A Syllabus For Stage Lighting 3

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APPENDIX I.
HISTORY
In order to take advantage of the research and developments of the past, to understand the
present
situation, and to anticipate the developments of the future, the student should be acquainted
with
the history of stage lighting. The invention of the electric lamp gave such an impetus to
attempts
to use light dramatically that by far the most important era falls within modern times.
However,
the history of the part light has played in relation to dramatic production reaches back to
the be-
ginning of the theatre.
When electricity eliminated some of the shortcomings of the candle and gas periods, it became
pos-
sible to use artificial light for the first time in simulation of natural light. In spite of
the compli-
cations of electricity and instruments the public is becoming aware of the functions of light
beyond
that of giving visibility. Undoubtedly new methods for producing artificial light will
further elimi-
nate technical problems and the designer will begin to use light more as an art in itself. By
that
time we may have developed a light sense much as we have at present a musical sense, and it
will
be much more practical than the latter because while we can exist without music, existence
would
be difficult without light.
I. OUTDOOR THEATRES AND FESTIVALS

A. GREEK AND ROMAN
Daylight and sunlight gave the effect of absolute reality. Torches and oil lamps were the
only
artificial light sources, so that most dramatic productions were held during the daytime.
How-
ever, the audience was educated to accept the convention of symbols suggesting the
condition
of the natural elements such as night, fire, storm, etc.
B. THE MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE PERIOD
About the Romanesque and Byzantine theatre there is little known, except that the court
fetes
of Justinian in Constantinople were supposed to have been elaborately lighted by torches
and
oil lamps. They seem to have used gold reflectors and colored lights.
The Medieval theatre consisted chiefly of court plays, pageants, and displays in the
open.
Mystery plays and pageants in the cathedrals were lighted by candles and the dim-colored
light created by stained glass windows. The effects must have been unconsciously very
dra-
matic, and very essential to the emotional appeal of the play.
During the Renaissance there was extensive use of display lighting in court fetes (for
example,
the Boboli Gardens at Florence) and pageants. Buildings such as St. Peter's and the
Palazzo
Vecchio are still lighted on occasion much as they were in this period. Shakespeare used
signs
and symbols in his early courtyard productions to give the locale, and often took pains
to indi-
cate through his characters the time of day and place of a scene. Paladio's theatre, and
a num-
ber of others in Italy, first took the theatre out of the uncertain weather conditions
into a build-
ing under a roof.
II. THE EARLY INDOOR THEATRE
Putting a roof over the theatre overcame the uncertainty of weather conditions and created
the de-
mand for artificial light to give visibility. From this time on the history of stage lighting
is pri-
marily the story of the development of new lights, sources, and instruments and the attempts
to
use them dramatically. Just how far these developments influenced methods of production, the
de-
sign of scenery, and even the technique of playwriting is difficult to say, but it is
interesting to note
that beyond natural changes of civilization and culture the raw materials of these branches
of the
theatre are the same today as they were four hundred years ago; but lighting and the
technical arts
have developed constantly.
115
A. CANDLELIGHT. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Chandeliers, then concealed strips or rows of lights mark the first development.
B. OIL LAMP. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Chimneys on lamps permitted greatly-increased intensity.
C. GASLIGHT PERIOD. UP TO 1879. LIMELIGHT AND ARC.
Gas jet to Welsbach Burner. Yellowish light. Heat, fire hazard, bad acoustics, fumes,
smoke,
were some of the problems that the use of gas presented. Code regulations attempted to
pro-
vide protection and their effect carried over into the electric lamp period. Strips of
small jets
continued the convention of border lights, wing lights, and footlights. The gas table--a
series
of valve dimmers comprised the first centralized control board. Master control and smooth-
ness of dimming were its chief advantages. Gaslight influenced the color of scenery and
make-
up.
The calcium or limelight was invented by Drummond in 1803, but was not used on the stage
un-
til 1860. It gave a high powered white light and was used with reflectors and lenses for
spotting.
Constant adjustment required an operator, who often had to carry on his back the
cumbersome
oxygen and hydrogen tanks which produced the flame by playing on a stick of lime--hence
"lime-
light".
D. BEGINNINGS OF ELECTRICITY IN THE THEATRE
The are was invented in 1809 by Sir Humphrey Davy. By 1879 it was traditional to use the
lime-
light and the electric are as single, high-powered light sources. It made greater amounts
of
illumination economical. It was adapted in the same form as earlier light sources and
contin-
ued the convention of general illumination, given by borderlights, wing lights, and
footlights.
The incandescent lamp was developed by Edison and Swan in 1879.
III. THE MODERN THEATRE. 1880, THE ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMP
The indefinite artistic problem of using light in harmony with a play and the variability in
setting,
costumes, and make-up have tended to limit the application of scientific lighting in the
theatre. The
great flexibility required in controlling structural features and apparatus has established a
techni-
cal problem whose solution depends upon a knowledge of the requirements of production. Few
pro-
ducers are able to -state their desires in technical terms so that the engineer can work out
a satis-
factory solution. As a result, rule-of-thumb methods belying any scientific approach persist.
The use of light in all its qualities in the theatre, where the visual process must be
unconscious
and certainly not dictated by the technical means employed, presents a problem in lighting
which is
so complicated that the approach from the standpoint of the designer-technician is the only
one that
seems practical. The future of lighting depends upon the ability of the designer to
understand the
technical problem involved in the use of light, to apply the developments the engineer has
made in
other fields, and to specify the exact needs which only the engineer can provide.
Inasmuch as the invention of the incandescent lamp established the beginning of the most
productive
era in the history of stage lighting, the various important fields of development are traced
inde-
pendently of each other.
A. DESIGNERS AND PRODUCERS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO STAGE LIGHTING

1. Richard Wagner. Created a demand for extensive technical developments.
2. Gordon Craig. Revolted against the conventions of the theatre and demanded use of
light
and scenery as compositional elements with the play.
3. Adolph Appia. Defined the stage in terms of time and space and suggested the use of
light
to create mood and composition-
116
4. Steele MacKaye. Producer and actor. Developed the effect machine. Designed many
mechanical contrivances for the theatre. Was an arch-realist. Made plans for the great
Spectatorium of the Chicago World's Fair, 1893.
5. Henry lrving. Experimented with effects of realism. Colored lights. Sectional use of
strips and borders. Light rehearsals.
6. Mario Fortuny. Developed the Kuppelhorizont, or dome, and the system of lighting which
used reflectors made of movable colored-silk panels.
7. David Belasco. Abolished footlights and used lights from the auditorium. Developed a
standard of realism through his electrician, Louis Hartmann.
8. Max Reinhardt. Applied the principles of Craig and Appia and used light as a dramatic
medium, One of the foremost practical showmen.
9. Linnebach and Hasait. Discarded the Fortuny system and invented the rolling cyclorama
and other technical features to facilitate production.
10. Jessner, Pirchan, Passetti, Stern, Strnad, and a number of other European designers
and producers. Stressed the decorative quality of light.
11. Meyerhold and Tairoff and the Russian Theatre. Used light as a purely arbitrary
dramat-
ic medium.
12. Simonson, Geddes, Jones, Oenslager, Mielziner, Short, Johnson, and other designers in
the American theatre. Have made extensive use of light as a design element.
13. Thomas Wilfred. Invented the Clavilux. A light organ that demonstrates the use of
light
as an art in itself.
14. Rosenthal, Clark, Musser, Feder, Elson, Harvey and Watson are lighting specialists who
practice their profession as members of the scenic designers union.
B. OTHER INFLUENCES
1. Playwrights. Have through all the ages, particularly in the modern, indicated the use
of
light in the presentation of their plays, for its dramatic value.
2. The Little Theatre and University Theatre. Through high ideals but generally with
inade-
quate equipment, they are educating the public to the dramatic functions of lighting.
3. The Motion-Picture Presentation House and the Revue Theatre. Through the arbitrary
use of light in full colors they have demonstrated the public's acceptance and desire
for
the decorative qualities of light and "trick" effects.
4. Equipment Companies. Have endeavored to supply the demand for equipment as it arises.
Recently experimentation and scientific research have produced equipment with far
great-
er efficiency and control than ever before.
5. Photographers. Have made pictures with natural and artificial lighting that often
serve
as an example of excellence in creating an arbitrary composition.
6. T-V. The enormous development of this form of production has given great impetus to
the development of equipment and control apparatus. Much of this can be used
in~theatri-
cal as well as T-V production.
117
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I. OUTDOOR THEATRES AND FESTIVALS

B. THE MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE PERIOD

II. THE EARLY INDOOR THEATRE

A. CANDLELIGHT. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

C. GASLIGHT PERIOD. UP TO 1879. LIMELIGHT AND ARC.

D. BEGINNINGS OF ELECTRICITY IN THE THEATRE

III. THE MODERN THEATRE. 1880, THE ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMP

A. DESIGNERS AND PRODUCERS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO STAGE LIGHTING

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