Notes from Gillette’s Designing with Light
…the most dominant element the designer controls
…derived from light
quality that differentiates one color from another
Percentage of a hue in a color mixture Chroma
Lightness or darkness Tint
light colors are high in value
Shade darker colors are
low in value Tone
color with middle value (black and white)
Primary Colors hues that can’t be blended from any other
hues
Secondary Colors created by mixing two adjacent primary
colors
Complementary Colors any two opposite hues that when combined
create white in light or black in pigment.
•light creates white light …………pigment creates black.
Light receptor nerves Cones
red, blue, and green light wavelengths bright light
Rods faint or dim light interpret shades
Uncolored stage light can wash color out of objects on stage
Compatible colors of light maintain color choices of scenery and costumes.
Mood Temperature
• Colored filters only allow Colored filters only allow their hue to pass through. their hue to pass through.
• Subtractive color mixing Subtractive color mixing can also be achieved by can also be achieved by using two or more filters of using two or more filters of secondary hues. secondary hues.
• Reduces the intensity of the Reduces the intensity of the output.output.
Happens when several hues are seen by the eye, added together, and when interpreted by the brain, appear as a different color.
The hues created are purely results of the cones in our eyes; they really aren’t created on the projection surface.
Affects color blending Five instruments would blend according to the
amount of overlapping to light an actor from all sides.
Blending techniques: Double Hanging Alternating Colors
Two overlapping instruments colored with approximately complementary tints used to create a more vibrant white light.
Physiological reaction results in the eye seeing shadow colors that are complementary to the hue of the source light
Filtered Light when white light passes through any type
of filtering material (glass, plastic, air…)
Gel Originally made from gelatin and synthetic
dyes. Faded quickly, fragile when dry, dissolves when
wet Now made of plastic, but still called gel
Mylar or polyester Rugged, long lasting, heat resistant Variety of colors
Glass Infrequently used as a filter Long lasting and fade resistant Limited palette Expensive, heavy, will shatter if dropped Rondels – glass filters used in striplights
Red, blue, green, amber
Dichroics Newest color media Work differently than other color media
Ordinary filters allow their own colors to pass through filter and absorb the other colors
Dichroic filters reflect the unwanted colors Want red? Reflect cyan. Want blue? Reflect yellow.
Heat resistant, no tangible color fade, more effective filter (less light loss)
Diffusion Filters Diffusers – soften the quality of light
Soften edge of light and its shadows Reduce hot spots Reduce color fringes
Rainbow effect seen at the edges of some beams of light
Caused by refraction of the projected light Varying levels of diffusion R-100 Frost, Lee 216 White Diffusion
Diffusion Filters Focusers –
Striations or scratches on the surface of the media refract the light at right angles to the directions of the lines
Lee 228 Brushed Silk, R-104 Tough Silk Cyc silks
Color media manufacturers offer sample books
Gel swatches Show color Allow LD to experiment with halogen bulb flashlight
If two overlapping gels lit with a flashlight onto a piece of white paper produces a neutral gray means the colors are complementary
Transmission information Graph shows transmission of
light measured in nanometers Two gels with mirror images in
graphs are complimentary Transmission, Y, amount of
light passed through the filter compared to unfiltered light