ItвЂ™s generally more important to have 2 symmetrical angles horizontally than it is to have them be perfect.Дive into the complete guides to beginning with lighting in The Foundations of Church Lighting, The Lighting Basics Blueprint (Band Lighting) and Amplify Those Beats (DJ Lighting). While keeping your lights at 45вЂ™s is the best looking solution, you can compromise a lot on these angles and still get the lighting to turn out decent. Your first priority needs to be to get 2 great angles of lighting from the front, since this is what enables the audience to see you clearly.Д®ven if youвЂ™re in a situation where your lighting stands will be at the front corners of the stage, youвЂ™ll be okay as long as you keep the talent on stage physically behind the lights. But for the rest of us, weвЂ™ve got to compromise on our angles. The happy, optimistic angles I mentioned above are greatвЂ¦.if youвЂ™re installing a new system or have access to rigging. вЂњSo what if I canвЂ™t put lighting up there?вЂќ So make sure you focus the majority of your effort on getting your front wash correct. The backlight is less important, though it does matter when you are shooting video. These 2 lights will ensure the personвЂ™s face and body are lit evenly. Getting the front light right is your first priority. The small shadows under the chin and eyes provide definition to the face, and are fine in most instances. The 45 degrees to the front and up illuminates all of the face, including under the eyes and excluding under the chin a bit, and the backlight provides separation from the background. This 3 point method is the most even, flattering way to light a person. (10 feet up and 10 feet out = 45 degrees!) This is the ideal way to light for most venues, and you can find where this is in your venue by standing on stage and pointing your arm at these angles, or measuring to find the proper angles via math. In a typical space, that is a first light 45 degrees to the left and 45 degrees up, a second 45 degrees to the right and 45 degrees up, and a third light 45 degrees up and straight behind the subject.

When taking the 3 point lighting approach it works to evenly light a person from 2 points in the front, and 1 in the back to give separation from the backdrop. (Click here for more info on that!) 3 Point Lighting Make sure you get your front wash set up and where it needs to be. The reason why is because if you canвЂ™t see the talent, the expressions they are making, or the actions it basically pointless. No matter what type of lighting you are doing having the front wash set up is the most important task.

My rule of thumb is to have two lights per zone on the stage. The first and very most important task when setting up your lighting rig and stage is getting your front wash right.

Stage lighting design overhead