Discovering Lighting Control

Aims

Through this exercise, learners will find out:

How pre-electronic lighting control systems of the 1930s worked
How the type of control system used affects the lighting changes that can be achieved
How to plan the operation of a lighting design to suit the control system

Additionally, the exercise is an opportunity for learners to develop their teamworking and practical lighting skills.

Key Information

Number of learners	1-5
Number of staff	The teacher. The project can also be done by one or more learners working independently.
ECTS Credits (if applicable)	Not applicable

Learning process

	Lecture/seminar	Lecture, presentation, discussion (face-to-face or online)
	Making project	Making a model, mock-up, plan or design (physical or digital)
X	Performance project	Making a performance or demonstration (live or mediated)
	Records and Archives	Interviews, photographs and videos of artefacts, annotating archives, creating learning materials (physical or digital)
X	Independent study	Reading, researching, analysing and evaluating learning materials (physical or digital) in groups or alone

Type of learner

X	Student of technical theatre
	Student of theatre design, architecture
	Student of theatre arts
X	Professional
X	Researcher
	General public

What You Will Need

Duration and schedule

Preparation by teacher:

1-2 hours to prepare equipment and decide on the brief to the students. It is recommended to try out the exercise in advance, if you are not familiar with the equipment.

Preparation by learners:

None.

The exercise can be done in half a day, but can be extended by including a performance element, or by further experimentation.

Room or type of space

Either:

A theatre or lighting studio space with a lighting rig

Or:

A computer running a lighting visualisation software such as WYSIWYG (https://cast-soft.com/wysiwyg-lighting-design/) or Capture (http://www.capturesweden.com/). Any visualiser will work, as long as it can receive DMX data via the Art-Net protocol.

In either case, you will need a modern lighting console to compare with the software ‘virtual’ Grand Master control.

Equipment

Virtual Grand Master, a software emulation of a 1930s Grand Master lighting control system, running on either a PC or Mac computer. You can download Virtual GM from http://www.magmouse.co.uk/virtual-grand-master.html.
If you are using a real lighting rig in a theatre or lighting studio, you will need:
1. an interface to allow Virtual GM to output DMX to connect to the real-world dimmers. Virtual GM can use the Art-Net protocol or a LanBox DMX controller – see the Virtual GM manual for more details.
2. A modern lighting console to compare with Virtual GM.
3. Optionally, if you have a simple 2-preset manual lighting desk, that will give students another point of comparison.
If you are using a visualiser, you will need:
1. A network link to connect Virtual GM to the computer running your visualiser, so Virtual GM can send DMX data via the Art-Net protocol to the visualiser software.
2. Either a modern lighting console to compare to Virtual GM, connected to the visualiser, or a modern software-only lighting control. These can usually connect with visualiser software internally within the computer.

Materials (consumables)

None.

Learning resources (books, websites)

Download Virtual GM software for Mac and Windows from: http://www.magmouse.co.uk/virtual-grand-master.html.

Information about the Grand Master lighting control system of the 1930s: https://www.theatrecrafts.com/bhc/equipment/strand-grand-master-board

Information about the various lighting visualisers available: https://learnstagelighting.com/want-lighting-visualizer/

Information about the Art-Net protocols, that sends DMX lighting data over an ethernet computer network: https://art-net.org.uk

Process

Preparation

Ensure the technical set-up works – test the connections, settings, and so on, so you are confident everything is working before the students start the exercise.

Prepare a brief for the students, asking them to create a lighting sequence. The sequence should include a variety of lighting states, including general lighting, ‘specials’ such as spotlights on particular areas of the stage, and colour-mixing from washes of different colours. Also include cues of different speeds, with different groups of lights increasing and decreasing in level.

You may want to prepare a lighting rig (either physical or in the visualiser), or you may want to include this as part of the students’ learning.

The learning activity

Introduce the project, giving some background to the Grand Master and similar systems from the 1930s. Ensure students understand the principles and limitations of this type of control – these are explained in the About section of the Virtual GM software.

Explain the technical set-up to the students, especially if they are not familiar with some of the equipment.

Give the students the cue sequence, and ask them to work together to plan how to plot the sequence on both the modern lighting console and the Virtual Grand Master. If you have a simple 2-preset manual lighting desk available, you can include that as well.

Allow the students time to plan and practice their plots, then ask them to show the sequence run on the different control systems. Make sure everyone watches the results carefully – look for subtle differences in the way the lighting works between the controls. Run the sequence several times, and see how consistent the operation is.

Discuss what they have found – what difficulties did they meet? What solutions did they discover? Were there things in the sequence that were not possible to plot and operate? The Virtual Grand Master can be worked by two or more people, each operating a part of the control system – can this help overcome difficulties, and does it offer creative opportunities?

Assessment and feedback

The project gives students opportunities to experiment and make their own discoveries, as well as learning directed by the teacher. Use questions to guide students towards different aspects of the exercise, as well as testing their understanding.

Our Experience

Tips

The lighting sequence you give the students is critical to getting the most learning out of the exercise. It is a good idea to try it in advance, to make sure it is suitably challenging.

Theatre lighting in the 1930s was largely based on colour washes from above the stage, and sometimes also in footlights. Typically, red, green and blue washes from flood battens were used; sometimes the green was replaced with white, or a fourth white light circuit was added.

This wash lighting was supplemented by a small number of spots in the auditorium providing front light, and more spots or beam lights from the side providing sculpting light and effects such as sunlight and moonlight. These washes and spots did not change greatly from production to production.

Auxiliary circuits were used for specials, such as light on specific pieces of scenery, or to pick out a performer for a speech, as well as effects such as clouds, and ‘practicals’ – lights on the set such as a table lamp.

Use this information to plan the lighting rig and cue sequence, so it is realistic for the type of lighting the real Grand Master was designed for. As an extension exercise, you can have a second cue list based on more modern techniques and needs – all spotlighting, complex cue sequences and transitions between scenes, and so on.

If you have more time, you can create more elaborate scenarios, asking the students to light a scene from a play using period and modern methods. Some old play scripts, especially those aimed at amateur theatre companies, include a list of lighting cues and other production information at the back. These can be a useful basis for learning about older lighting methods.