A cornerstone concept of lighting is location. If your lights are not in spots that make sense, you will get dark spots or flat light. Over the course of the next two posts, we will discuss different locations for lights and what each location is used for. Today, we will discuss frontlight and backlight.
Frontlights are very important, and no venue could function without them. These lights are often attached to the ceiling and are the performers' main light source. They are most often spotlights, and a venue will usually have many of them to get even lighting across the stage. Frontlights are great and make the stage look much better. However, they make the performers look flat when used alone. The frontlight is a must-have for any venue but can’t be relied on as the only light source.
A great compliment to frontlight is backlight. Backlight adds dimension to elements in the background and background performers, making them pop. As the name suggests, backlights are placed towards the back of the stage. Most of the time, they are behind the people and props. They are also placed at different heights, allowing more light to pass through the first layer of back performers and props onto the leads or the next row. Backlights are also used ascetically as the audience can usually see them. These will form patterns or be a different color from the other lights. Backlighting is a very important part of lighting any stage and can completely change the feel of a stage.
Part 2 will be about downlights and sidelights! Posting soon!
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