When asked to share your all-time favorite concert experience, you likely recall details such as stellar musical performance, great special effects, and a memorable venue. What you may not remember, however, is how fantastic lighting contributed to your concert experience. Though often overlooked, lighting is the single most important element in setting a concerts overall mood and tone. A great lighting designer knows how to evoke an audiences emotions and can change the tone of the concert several times throughout the show. Here are 3 ways concert lighting designers use lights to create unforgettable concerts.
Direction and Placement
Proper direction and placement of stage lights helps to direct or detract audience attention from specific stage elements. In concerts, lights are used from varying angles to hide or reveal people or objects on stage. Lighting angles come into play when creating specific effects for example, lighting that comes from behind the stage, can create beautiful shadow and silhouette effects on stage. Side lighting, however, highlights a performers shape and brings details like an instruments silhouette or a performers costume to attention. Finally, lighting a stage from various angles can create illusions of dimension. With clever lighting, dramatic shallowness or depth can be created on stage.
Color
Color is another important element of stage lighting. Overall mood and ambiance can be greatly influenced by colored lighting. Different shades and intensities can create specific effects. Red for example, conveys passion and intensity. Blue makes people feel serene and calm, yellow brings to mind positivity, and green conveys a sense of strangeness or trouble. Color can also help to establish a sense of time. Dark shades remind audiences of night, while bright yellow or orange tones bring daylight to mind.
Plot
Much like a stage play, concerts rely on lighting to tell a story. Next to music and stage design, lighting is one of the most important elements in concert design. While stage design, choreography and costumes are important visual elements that help create a plot, music and lighting add emotion and intensity. Well-executed concert lighting can effect audiences emotions and shift overall tone multiple times throughout the show. It can also be used to guide a story line, highlighting important characters and triggering action onstage.
Lighting design is essential to creating a great concert experience. Many light designers collaborate with live concert video producers to create amazing live experiences. An example of a concert video production company is Daddy Van Productions, which helps create concert memories that will last a lifetime.