Lighting Design for Everyone
Contributing Educator: Nicki Shepherd
Without light, there is no performance. Light is a huge conversation between the audience and the production on stage. It tells us where to look and how to feel. Teaching effective lighting design and not just turning lights on and off can make or break a performance and it can be a lot more complicated than you think! Students will begin with the basics of lighting, including, but not limited to: types of fixtures, types of lighting systems, common lighting vocabulary, and common standards for design. They will then advance to working with these fixtures and learn about common troubleshooting and set up. They will then advance to learning color theory through multiple labs and applying that color theory to design. They will finish their unit with a fully designed lighting scheme for a song of their choice incorporating all key knowledge from the unit.
Lesson Plans Included: 5
Materials: Student-facing lesson slides, author created-videos, and printable resources (editable) and provided to guide learning.
Grade Levels: Middle School, High School
Lesson Plan Topics
- Identifying and Understanding Lighting Equipment (NCAS: TH:Cr1.1.I.a, TH: Cr1.1.I.b)
- Troubleshooting and Common Lighting Problems (NCAS: TH:Cr1.1.I.a, TH: Cr1.1.I.b)
- Creating a Lighting Grid (NCAS: TH:Cr1.1.II.b, TH:Pr5.1.II.b)
- Color Theory in Lighting (NCAS: TH:Cr1.1.II.b, TH:Pr5.1.II.b)
- Final Lighting Design Project (NCAS: TH:Cr1.1.6.b, TH:Pr5.1.II.b)
