Stage Lighting
In ancient Greece and Rome, plays were staged outdoors in daylight, usually on a hillside. This tradition continued through the Middle Ages until the 1500s, when theater first moved indoors. Everyday sources of artificial light, such as candles and oil lamps, were first used to illuminate the indoor stage, although their flickering light lacked color and intensity. The systematic development of stage lighting began in Italy during the sixteenth century, when flasks of blue-or amber-tinted water were placed in front of candles and torches to create special effects. Lighting remained uneven and primitive for the next 200 years, and of necessity both the auditorium and stage were lit during performances. The advent of gas lighting in the early 1800s was a major advancement, since gas flames could be controlled more easily and smoothly than candle or torch flames. Unfortunately, they were also hot, malodorous, and caused many disastrous theater fires. A further refinement was made in 1816 with the invention of limelight, a gaslight with a lime filament that cast a brilliant white light. With it, actors could be sharply spotlighted for the first time. Even better results were obtained with the arc lamp, which was first introduced at the Paris Opera in 1846. It, too, was used for spotlighting, as well as for special effects like rainbows and fountains.
The use of these bright controllable lights naturally led to changes in theaters and performances. During the 1860s the practice of darkening the theater began, leaving only the stage brightly illuminated.
The modern era of stage lighting began with the invention of the incandescent light bulb in the late 1800s. Incandescent lamps gradually replaced gas lights, and even the arc spotlight became obsolete. In 1882 London's Savoy Theater was the first to use electric lights. Although by modern standards they were weak and difficult to use, they gave producers more options that ever before; they also complemented the more natural and realistic stagings that began to evolve. By the turn of the century, electric lights were used exclusively in most theaters. During the twentieth century, stage-lighting design became an art in its own right, emerging from the obscurity of props, set design, and costumes. Great efforts were made to bring the subtlety and drama of affective light to the stage, most notably by American playwright and producer David Belasco (1853-1931) and his assistant Louis Hartman, who developed many lighting instruments. Jean Rosenthal, another pioneer of American stage lighting, invented a system for recording a particular lighting sequence so that it could be faithfully repeated. Other technical advances included special lenses, reflectors, projectors, and new plastic materials for color filters. In 1948, mechanical dimmer switches were replaced by electronic dimmers capable of instantaneous remote control. Today, the lighting designer programs and operates a computerized control board that can recreate any instant of a lighting performance.
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