A Stage Lighting Checklist to Work Through Before You Decide

Colour temperature is the question teams most often leave until the first rehearsal, and it is the one that causes the most re-work. Decide whether the studio will run on tungsten-balanced, daylight-balanced or a mix, and write the figure on the plot. If the set includes practical lamps, window light or LED screens, note what colour each of those actually produces, because they will be in shot whether you plan for them or not. Mixed sources are not forbidden, but they need a decision rather than an accident. A warm practical in the background beside cool key light can look intentional if it is balanced deliberately, and looks like a fault if it simply happens. Walk the set with a colour meter or at least a camera with a consistent white balance preset and look at the result on a monitor, not by eye.

Check that all fixtures of one type match each other. Units bought at different times, or fitted with lamps of different age, drift apart, and the difference shows most on skin tones and white shirts. If you plan to use colour mixing fixtures for the set, agree on a small number of named presets so that the operator can return to the same look after a change. Lastly, confirm the white balance procedure with whoever runs the cameras. A lighting decision and a camera decision are one decision seen from two sides, and it helps to agree who sets the reference and when.

Dimming is easy to treat as an afterthought and hard to fix afterwards. Before deciding, ask what the control surface has to do on the day. Does the show need only a few static looks, or cues that change during a programme? A simple desk with memories may be plenty for a regular studio set, while a show with many scene changes benefits from a console that can store, name and recall cues reliably. Check how each fixture is controlled. Some run from a dimmer rack, others take data directly, and the two do not always mix comfortably on one circuit. Count the channels you will need and leave room above that figure, because a set that grows by a few fixtures should not force a change of desk. Confirm the addressing scheme on paper so that nobody has to guess at patching when something goes wrong.

Consider how the dimming curve looks on camera. At low levels some fixtures flicker, shift colour or step visibly, and a camera shooting at certain shutter settings shows that more readily than the eye does. Test fades at the lowest levels you expect to use, on a monitor, before you commit. Finally, think about who will operate the desk. A rig that only one person understands is a risk to every show. Ask whether the cue list and patch notes are clear enough for a second operator to pick up in an hour.

Lighting is judged on faces. Before settling the plot, ask who will stand under it. Presenters with glasses need key light placed to avoid reflections, and a guest with a shiny bald head or deep-set eyes may need the angle softened or raised. Try the proposed positions with a real person standing in the spot, ideally in the clothes they will wear, because a patterned jacket can behave very differently from a plain one. If there is a live audience, consider how the stage light reaches them and how their light reaches the stage. Audience members who sit in a dark void look absent on camera, while an audience lit too brightly pulls attention from the presenter. A modest, even wash on the front rows is often enough to give the room life without competing with the main subject.

Think about comfort as well. Fixtures close to a presenter add heat, and a rig that is pleasant for a five minute test can be tiring across a long recording. Check the distance and, where you can, the output level, and ask the presenter how it feels after some time under it. Also consider eye line and glare. A bright fixture placed where a presenter must look when reading from a prompter or a monitor can make them squint, and the camera will record that. A short walk through the real show, with someone playing each role, finds these problems quickly.

The last group of questions is about the room rather than the picture. How much power is available on the circuits you plan to use, and does the rig stay within it with some margin? A plot that looks fine on paper but trips a breaker during rehearsal costs more than the time it takes to check beforehand. Ask a qualified electrician to confirm capacity if you are in any doubt, and never rely on a guess. Consider the schedule for setting up and striking. If the studio is shared, a complicated plot that takes half a day to rig may not be workable, however good it looks. Write down how long the rig takes to put up, to focus and to take down, and compare that with the time you really have. A simpler plot that is ready on time will usually produce a better programme than an ambitious one that is still being focused when the cameras roll.

Finally, think about maintenance. Lamps age, lenses collect dust and cables wear at the connectors. Decide who is responsible for checking fixtures between shows and where spares are kept, so that a failed unit is a minor interruption rather than a lost recording. With these questions answered on paper, the decision itself usually becomes straightforward. Whatever remains unclear is worth testing in the room, with the cameras and the people involved, before anything is bought, hired or locked into a schedule.