ABSTRACT
Almost every live show has a televised aspect to it today. It is easier than ever to move a production or event from the stage in a theatre, arena, house of worship, night club, or festival to the airwaves and cable networks, or streamed over the internet. This ease brings compromises in picture quality for the viewer at home or watching on a computer, tablet, or mobile phone, due to underestimating what is necessary to adapt stage lighting to work for the camera. Lighting for live presentations, however creative and entertaining, often requires fine-tuning for video and the close-up shot. This chapter introduces the book’s many topics, broken down into the science of television lighting design, followed by the aesthetic considerations that add the nuances that make each project unique. The book’s essential question is introduced: Can lighting designed for a live show and the human eye, be modified for the comparatively limited “eyesight” of the TV camera … and still retain the artistic intentions of the original design? Why is it essential that stage lighting designers and lighting directors (both of whom we’ll refer to as LDs throughout the book), as well as those who aspire to work in television, understand these techniques? This chapter also opens the discussion about the now ever-present LED video walls, projection screens, and projectors, and how they fit into the big picture of balancing a show for the camera.
