The Stage Lighting Handbook (Paperback)

by Francis Reid (Author) "Stage lighting is not an exact science..." (more)
Key Phrases: cue synopsis, profile spots, cue state, Lighting Musicals, The Great American Backstage Musical, North America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This book is an almost perfect balance between background information and the basic ground rules of where to start." -- ABTT News

Product Description
This popular guide to stage lighting, now in its fifth edition, is widely accepted as the standard work on the subject. It explains the process of designing lighting for all forms of stage production and describes the equipment used. This new edition includes the latest advances in technology and addresses their impact on working methods.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Arts Book; 5 edition (October 10, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878300643
• ISBN-13: 978-0878300648
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,810,602 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Basic, simple, reference book, December 4, 1997

By A Customer

This book does an extremely good gob of covering the basics of lighting design. It also includes a lot of pretty pictures and diagrams. I think the most useful part of the book is the appendix section, with gel conversion charts, beam and field angle charts, and commonly used photometric data. While not perhaps the most comprehensive lighting book, it does a good job of covering the basics.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 stars, August 22, 2000

By	"topaze15" (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This book is a good overview of lighting design and lighting tech. The writing is frank and honest, the information is well-organized. I use it frequesntly as a designer to remind myself of things I might otherwise forget from time to time, or to get new ideas for how to light for this style. It is just an overview, and while it is highly practical, I would hardly call it comprehensive. Chapter titles include: Aims in Lighting, Lighting Instruments, First Steps in Lgihting Design, Color, The Lighting Design Process, Lighting Opera, lighting Thrust Stages, Agenda for a Post-Mortem, Projection and Effects, and Light Education. This book is sort of like a letter from one experienced lighting designer to a fresh-faced lighting designer, unlike many stagecraft books. It does have the UK slant, as another reviewer mentioned, but that shouldn't be a great hindrance. If you have 10 books about lighting design, this should be one of them.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Lighting Book, April 19, 1998

By A Customer

I read this book to help learn basic lighting design. This book teaches you all you need to know and more. Even though the book has a U.K. slant(only U.K. rigging is disscued) It is very informative