Course Description
Equips students with the knowledge and skills of electrical distribution and set lighting on a motion picture or television set. The course prepares for their entry and advancement in the industry. Upon completion of this course, students will be ready to work in film and media as entry-level set lighting technicians.
Athena Title
Electric and Lighting
Prerequisite
FILM 2000
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall, spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students learn the equipment, techniques, communications, and specifications used in the set lighting department. Upon completion, students will be familiar with the practices and professional responsibilities of lighting for film and television. The course is offered in collaboration with the Georgia Film Consortium. It may count as a general elective.
Topical Outline
1. Introduction to electric and lighting and set work and their place in the film and television industry. • The structure of the course and the overall program, the purpose of the Georgia Film Consortium, student and instructor goals, expectations, and responsibilities, including behavior. • The five stages of motion picture completion and an overview of a typical day on the set. • The structure of the electric department: job titles and responsibilities. • Learn the paperwork required in the department: start paperwork, deal memo, call sheets. • Understand the role of the unions and discuss the pros and cons of union membership and union staffing requirements. 2. Electrical terms, distribution, and the equipment used. • The basics of electricity: voltage, amperage, wattage, impedance. Single-phase, triple-phase, and AC and DC systems. Cable gauges. The ground circuit, the neutral circuit, the phased circuits. Electrical meters used. Balancing the amperage load. Troubleshooting. • Introduction to the electrical power sources utilized: generators (sizes, putt-putts incl.) and shore power (legal, illegal, power drops), the AC cycle, and crystal controlled 60Hz power. • Circuitry and switches, insulators, and conductors. • The cables, connectors, splitters, distribution boxes, dimmer packs, inverters, breakers (GFI), and battery power. • Understand the role of the rigging crew, and properly cabling a set – doorways, over water, etc. – on locations vs. studio sets. 3. Lighting instruments: lamps, bulbs, and accessories. • Lamps with lenses and lamps without lenses and their primary uses and industry names. • The types of lenses and reflectors used; the components of the lighting instruments. • The two main “bulbs” used; tungsten (quartz, incandescent) and gas discharge. Others: LED (solid-state semiconductor), OLED, plus smart lights and LXRs. • Cabling and ballast requirements for tungsten and gas discharge. • Wattages, amps pulled for each lamp. W=V x A. HMI – 80% light... tungsten 80% heat. • Tungsten and gas discharge sources. Power consumption and output comparisons. • Battery-powered lamps. AC inverters and safety features for lighting. • Accessories used: stands, scrims, barn doors, chimeras, gels, clothespins, grip. 4. Set etiquette and techniques. • Knowing who needs courtesy power as well as studio set etiquette. • Monitoring voltage, amperage, cycles, heat buildup, and general troubleshooting. • How to construct and read a lighting plot. How to make use of storyboards. • Setting up and executing lighting cues. • Recognizing and respecting the actors’ eyelines. • The American system vis a vis the European system. 5. Rigging and safety. • Heavy advance work: Cabling and distribution; lamp placements, aerial work platforms rigged, generator placement, locations permissions, labeling cable, boxes, block and tackle, and chain motors, and load capacity. • The responsibilities of the electrical rigging crew and safety regarding amperage loads, power source balancing, grounding, proper connections of cables, cable/connector repair, and the use of circuit breakers and ground faults. • Safely rigging lamps on stands or off the ground, uneven terrain, and working and rigging aerial platforms: condors, x-lifts, and scaffolding. • Working in inclement weather: wet conditions, high winds, heat, night exterior. • Identify and describe heavy equipment and aerial work platform safe work practices (e.g., scissor lifts and one-man lifts, condors, forklifts, and pallet jacks). • Working around water. Manufacturers of waterproof instruments. • How to report safety issues: who to go to, who to call. OSHA regulations and requirements. • Union regulations, requirements, and resources (tip lines, medic for all units). 6. Light. • The laws of physics and how they pertain to light. How light behaves – reflection, refraction, absorption – and the human eye. • The basic terms and theories (3 pt. lighting). The inverse square; exposure and optics. • Contrast control to adapt to the limitations of the imaging medium, plus use of light to set the tone/mood, support the script, reinforce character traits, and direct the audience’s attention. • The emotional power of the light via color, quality, quantity, and direction. 7. The qualities of light. • Hard light and soft light and the quality of the light. • Lighting effects: “Give-aways,” multiple shadows, two suns/moons, divergent window patterns, too much light on the walls. • Available/ambient light: how to use, control, and reproduce hard and soft light and diffusion. 8. Light, color, and quantity. • The color of light, including white light and additive color. Color temperature: the Kelvin scale. Ideal black-body radiator. Cosmetic colors, party colors, and the psychology of color. • Metering the color: the color temperature meter. Correcting the color. White balance (film and digital), and CRI: Color Rendering Index. Fluorescents, tungsten, HMI, vapor, LED. • Maintaining color temperature for tungsten, gas discharge, LED. Dimming capabilities, effects. • The quantity of light. Metering the quantity of light: incident meters, spot meters, foot candles, F-stops, and lumens. • How to control light effects: with scrims, nets, diffusion, dimmers, “wasting” gel, filters (camera and lights), and using polarizing filters to control quantity. 9. The relationship between light, the camera, and lenses, and the work of the Grips. • Film cameras, digital cameras, lenses, and their uses. • Understanding contrast and image capture, lenses, ASA, and depth of field. • Understanding tonality and exposure: the grayscale. • The relationship between blocking, staging, and the set lighting. 10. Special effects, composite work, and lighting challenges. • Green screen and composite work. • Lighting for effects: rain, snow, smoke, fire, lightning, TV/computer screens, explosions, water ripple, green screen, and composite work, reflective objects, and equipment to facilitate such effects. • Translites and backings on stage. 11. Real-world tests of handling difficult lighting situations. • Practical locations: Daytime vs. nights and exteriors, including day for night and night for day. • Stage sets for daytime and nighttime exteriors and interiors. • Utilizing extra equipment: strobes, concert/theatrical setups, smart lights. 12. Field trip visits to electric and lighting suppliers. • Visits to local electric rental houses: MBS Lightings, The Rag Place, Chapman Cranes, and Dollies to explore generators and electric vehicles: forty footers, stake beds, gators, trailers. • Students will interact with community partners associated with the electric department. 13. Creating artistic effects. • The relationship between the Gaffer (Chief Lighting Technician) and the Director of Photography. Discussions include quantity (light levels), quality, color. • Breaking down the script for artistic and aesthetic applications; who participates and when. • Using the light to support the story: Creating depth with light, drawing the audience’s attention, keeping information from the audience, light, and atmosphere. 14. Working with other departments, from prep to the final wrap. • Working with Production Design. Set design: enough space in the stage for expected lighting style, translites, window and door placements, wild walls, wild ceilings, practical light fixtures, built-ins, location/stage schematics, outlet placement. Construction: set pieces for depth, cable troughs, stage risers. • How the Location Department can help. Access permits and approval for generator, condor and scaffolding placements, adjoining property access, cable paths, street/lane closures, rigging/wrap days, sprinkler systems, practical light operation (streetlights, fluorescents), staging areas. • Grip Department: shaping the light, teasers, book lights. Safety and rigging issues. • Transportation: procurement of generators, trucks, condors, gators, trailers, stakebeds. Proper insert car and process trailer. Truck and liftgate maintenance. Rental house runs. • Casting and Wardrobe departments: good stand-ins and tonal values. • What is expected of the rental house. Inventory of equipment, paperwork. Prepping the truck and carts, plus pre-rigging. 15. Last day on the set. • Final examination. • Student Work Ethic Assessments and Evaluations.