Stage lighting has dramatically changed over the last 100 years due to technological innovation. In the beginning, stage lighting was all about bringing light to the stage. Nowadays, LEDs and DMX give light designers the chance to create sophisticated light designs which were impossible to create in the past. In the following, I describe the evolution of stage lighting from the first gas lights to today´s modern lighting fixtures.
Gas Lights (1816)
Electric Lights (1881)
LED (Light Emitting Diode) Lights (2005)
DMX (Digital Multiplex) (2005)
Gas Lights (1816)
- The first appearance of gas lights was in 1816 in the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Gas lights gave the light designer greater control and more brightness. However, they increased the heat, there was a gas smell in the theatre and many fires broke out. From then on the gas lighting system started to spread over to other countries such as England. In London the first two gas lighting systems were installed in 1817.
- Four years later, in 1820, gas lighting systems were used experimentally in many countries in the western world.
- Twenty years later, in 1840, the first real gas tables (control boards) were used in theatres. It was now possible to dim the lights in the audience and on stage by opening and closing valves .
- For the next 38 years nothing really changed, until, in 1878, the British inventor Joseph Wilson Swan (1829-1914) patented the first incandescent electric lamp (light bulb).
Electric Lights (1881)
- Then, in 1881, the London's Savoy Theatre was the first theatre ever lit by only electric lights. This was a major improvement over the old gas systems which caused much heat and a very polluted air.
- Over the next 10 years, most modern theatres changed from gas to the much safer and cleaner electrical lighting systems.
- In 1903 another huge step in the lighting systems was achieved. The Kliegl Brothers installed an electrical lighting system with 116 resistance dimmers in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
- From this point on, no major improvements were made in the technology of the incandescent lights source. Over the last 100 years the dimmers and the lights got a lot safer and more reliable. They also changed the calcium lamp to a carbon lamp and from a carbon lamp to a HID lamp (high intensity discharge lamp). However, that is all that happened.
LED (Light Emitting Diode) Lights (2005)
- In 2005 the LEDs were at a point that they were developed far enough for them to be creating enough light for a theatre. Since 2005 LED lighting fixtures have been appearing in theatres all throughout the western world and have yet again born another era in the lighting industry. These lights enable the designer to choose whatever color they like and mix it together using an DMX control board. These lights work with RGB LEDs which offer a whole new range of colors for a lighting designer. This technological innovation greatly influences the light designer´s ability to establish selective visibility, create the mood and to support the story as reaching these goals heavily relies on colors.
DMX (Digital Multiplex) (2005)
- In the last 10 years the rise of DMX control boards has also born a completely new lighting fixture. They are called "Moving Heads" or "Scanners". These fixtures can move the beam of light they are creating which not only adds more movement to the stage and theatre but also more coverage with one light.
- In 2005 the LEDs were at a point that they were developed far enough for them to be creating enough light for a theatre. Since 2005 LED lighting fixtures have been appearing in theatres all throughout the western world and have yet again born another era in the lighting industry. These lights enable the designer to choose whatever color they like and mix it together using an DMX control board. These lights work with RGB LEDs which offer a whole new range of colors for a lighting designer. This technological innovation greatly influences the light designer´s ability to establish selective visibility, and create the mood as reaching these goals heavily relies on movement.
Sources
- "A Brief Outline of the History of Stage Lighting." A Brief History of Stage Lighting. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2016. <http://www3.northern.edu/wild/LiteDes/ldhist.htm>.
- "Designers: Lighting and Sound." Designers: Lighting and Sound. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2016. <http://www3.northern.edu/wild/th100/chapt10.htm>.
- "The Ultimate LED Stage Lighting Guide." Learn Stage Lighting .com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2016. <http://www.learnstagelighting.com/the-ultimate-led-guide/>.