Lighting Design Deep Dive

"Pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, then harder and brighter."

"The Golden Rule: Lighting is the 'emotional conductor' of the play. To get top marks, you must specify angles (e.g., Side-lighting, Uplighting), intensity (e.g., 20% vs 90%), and gel colors (e.g., Straw, Steel Blue)."

Concept 1: The Pink & Intimate Fortress

The Big Idea: Before the Inspector arrives, the lighting creates a false sense of security and warmth. It looks expensive and "rose-tinted," hiding the ugly truth of the world outside.

🎨 Gels & Colors Use Pale Rose and Warm Straw gels. This mimics the soft glow of Edwardian oil lamps and candles.
🔦 Lanterns & Angles Soft focus with Fresnel lanterns. The light is diffuse, creating few shadows, suggesting they choose not to see the dark reality.

đź“ť Lighting Terminology Bank

Cross-Fade

A transition where one lighting state fades out while another fades in. Essential for the Inspector’s arrival.

Gobo

A metal template placed in a Profile Spot to project a pattern (like window frames or industrial smoke) onto the stage.

Fresnel

A type of lantern that produces a soft-edged beam. Perfect for the "intimate" Act 1 dinner party.

Backlighting

Lighting a character from behind. This creates a silhouette or a "halo" effect, making the Inspector seem supernatural or ghostly.

đź“ť Exam Strategy: The Design Grid

Edexcel Students: You must fill out a table exactly like this in your exam.
AQA Students: Use this structure to write perfect paragraphs (Point âž” Effect âž” Terminology).

Element / Effect How would it enhance the extract for the audience? Technical language you could use
Click 'Generate Example' to see a top-band answer...