impworks Logo - a grinning imp in flight

Vue Lighting Rig #9: Two Spotlights from the Front

Monday, November 26th, 2007

Tonight’s Theatrical lighting rigs is one of the most commonly used solutions to the question of how to light an actor. It has been in use for at least seventy-five years and was first described by Stanley McCandless in his 1932 book A Method of Lighting the Stage.

Even the best funded production has a limited number of lights available. So a rig which is effective and only uses two lights is extremely useful.

Two lights are placed so that they light the whole of the actor. They are placed to the front and the side of the actor.

With this rig you get visibility from the light coming from the front. With the lights being to the side you also get modelling. So long as they are high enough above the actor the shadows cast don’t become too large and don’t fall on to scenery or the cyclorama. They must however be mounted low enough so that light reaches the eye sockets, mouth and teeth.

All of the above images were made using Poser 7 and Vue 6 Infinite. They could have been made using any version of Vue 6 including Vue 6 Pro or Vue 6 Easel.

Leave a Comment

impworks © Copyright Mark Caldwell 1996 - 2024