The Speed of Light: Dialogues on Lighting Design and Technological Change [Paperback]

Linda Essig (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0325005087 | ISBN-13: 978-0325005089 | Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Over the last twenty-five years, lighting design has undergone a series of radical changes. With the advent of computerized lighting control, automated lights, and a standard control protocol, lighting designers have acquired a set of tremendously powerful tools that allow effects never previously possible.

Linda Essig has interviewed twenty luminaries of lighting design and engineering about these changes and how they have affected the art, science, and business of contemporary theatre. Among those interviewed are:

• Ken Billington (Chicago, On the Twentieth Century)
• Natasha Katz (Beauty and the Beast, Aida)
• Neil Peter Jampolis (Sherlock Holmes)
• Dennis Parichy (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas)
• Jane Reisman (Black and Blue).

While discussing technical issues, these professionals let us in on the real nuts and bolts of their work: the problems of running an entire production from the back-up system, the politics behind the creation of standards, the extent to which "gizmoization" does or does not infringe on lighting as an art form.

An excellent resource for teachers, students, and professionals, The Speed of Light analyzes exactly how lighting design has gotten to its present state - a fascinating story in the words of practitioners who know the field best.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A professional lighting designer, Linda Essig is also Professor of Lighting Design and Chair of Theatre and Drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her design credits include productions for the Cleveland Play House, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Missouri Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and many others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann Drama (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325005087
• ISBN-13: 978-0325005089
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,330,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Linda Essig was Founding Director of the School of Theatre and Film in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University where she also served as Artistic Director of the school's MainStage Season. She currently directs ASU's arts entrepreneurship program, p.a.v.e., the performing arts venture experience. A professional lighting designer, Essig's design for the ASU production of Suzan-Lori Parks's "Venus" was part of the USA National Exhibit of theatrical design at the Prague Quadrennial in 2007. In addition to her designs for academic theatre, Essig has designed lighting for theatres throughout the country including Cleveland Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Missouri Rep, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Skylight Opera, La Mama ETC, Pioneer Theatre, Madison Repertory Theatre and others. She is the author of numerous articles and two books: Lighting and the Design Idea (recently published in an expanded second edition) and The Speed of Light: Dialogues on Lighting Design and Technological Change. Prior to joining the ASU faculty in 2004, Essig taught lighting design at UW-Madison for 16 years, the last two as department chair. At ASU, Essig teaches Fundamental of Arts Entrepreneurship and Orientation to Theatre and Film. She is a member of the boards of directors of the Phoenix Fringe Festival and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Speed of this book's pace is sluggish, June 21, 2003

By 

Jake Mitchell (North Richland Hills, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Speed of Light: Dialogues on Lighting Design and Technological Change (Paperback)

While the subtitle promises "Dialogues on Lighting Desgin and Technological Change", you are instead presented with a bunch of old farts of the industry that remenince about "the old days of lighting". There are four sections. The first boringly details how the first computerized light consoles became popular. This might be an intresting to read if it were a page or so, but it IS 30 PAGES long with 5 different people talking about how various boards came about and why they failed. The next section is about the creation of vari-lites and "intelligent lighting". Once agian, nothing intresting or new. We are then presented with the birth of (gasp) DMX512! I learned so much about the history of dmx512 that I could ever care about. You learn such exciting things such as how at the USITT convention they bickered over which protocol to use. There is also another section, but by this time I had given up on the book and know that it just talks about lighting designers complaining about there students wanting to use intelligent lights in every show and how gobo's today are not what they used to be. To sum up, you could scroll through usenet discussions from rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft for 5 hours and get the same effect achieved from the speed of light. This book is one of the most boring books on theatrical lighting I have ever read...

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for theatre professionals and students, June 27, 2003

By 

k clark (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Speed of Light: Dialogues on Lighting Design and Technological Change (Paperback)

The Speed of Light by Linda Essig is an important and interesting book covering the history of lighting design and techological changes in the industry. Lighting professionals and students will enjoy the dialogues from industry experts and others. If you are truely interested in the history of theatrical stage lighting buy this book!