BLENDING AND TONING

ACTING area lights are used primarily to illuminate
the acting area and insure visibility there. They are
adjusted to give the proper dramatic composition to
the actor's positions on the stage. In addition, the stage
space and the background immediately surrounding the
acting area must be illuminated somewhat in the man-
ner in which daylight accompanies the direct rays of the
sun. The lighting is soft and general in distribution,
blending the whole visual aspect and toning in at-
mospheric quality the surroundings against which the
important character or object is seen.
 Theoretically the blending and tonal lighting of the
stage is general and shadowless in distribution and vari-
able only in intensity and color. Practically it is impos-
sible to obtain such distribution under any conditions.
The best instruments to use for blending and toning are
three (or four) color striplights (Figure 14). A large
bank of lights with a large diffusing screen covering
them would give a better distribution than striplights
do, because striplights give general distribution only
along one axis. However, since mounting space and open-
ings in the set are limited, striplights seem to be the
best instruments to use. Obviously the most important
position from which to direct general light into the

BLENDING AND TONING 67


Figure 14: BORDERLIGHTS
Borderlight strips, hung over
the stage parallel to the pro-
scenium.
A. Compartment type, using
specially shaped chromium or
etched aluminum reflectors
of a compact type. Generally                  
built to use colored glass
roundels, but often furnished
with color frame slides for 
the use Of gelatin. Built spe-
cially for each wattage lamp
from 50 to 1000 watts, more
generally furnished in the
200 watt size.
B. Reflector lamp strip, con-
sisting of a row of sockets in
a partially compartmentalized
metal hood using reflector
floods or sports in the PAR or
R-40 type, generally 150
watts although 75 watt and
300 watt lamps are available.
Glass color filters are most
practical to resist heat and fad-
in.


stage space is behind the frame of the proscenium. Thus
border lights and footlights (occasionally proscenium
strips) best serve the purpose. The former, when em-
ployed with a box set, are generally used to blend the

68 BLENDING AND TONING

acting areas together. In an exterior scene which uses
cloth borders, strips are used both as blending and toning
instruments and in this case several rows of such lights
may be useful. The instruments used to light the back-
drop or cyclorama and all those parts not immediately
surrounding the acting area are considered separately in
the next chapter. Footlights should serve primarily as
tonal units which project a low general illumination on
the set and illuminate the shadows caused by the direc-
tional effect of motivating, border, or acting area light-
in.

BORDERLIGHTS

 The rows of lamps mounted in long metal hoods
and hung in the fly space over the stage floor are rem-
nants of the days when numerous small sources, similarly
mounted, were required to give intensity of illumina-
tion. A great number of sources lighted the scenery and
the actor equally from all directions so that there always
seemed to be a need for more light. The invention of the
incandescent lamp seemed to supply this need but it
was soon discovered that the amount of illumination
did not make visibility proportionally greater. The value
of contrast in the illumination of the various parts of
the stage has made great intensities from the border-
lights unnecessary. The use of individual, shaped re-
flectors, shadow boxes, and dense color mediums which
permit greater control over the distribution of light
from border strips, tends to demand equal or greater

BLENDING AND TONING 69

initial power in the source than was necessary with the
old open type strips.
 The intensity of light given by borderlights can in
all cases be less than that of the acting area lights,
because contrast is a necessary contribution to visibility.
In the same sense the amount of light needed to blend
the various acting areas is apt to be more than that
required to light the setting. The days when footlights
and borderlights were the chief sources of illumination
are fortunately past, but the tradition seems to hold
over, since most equipment manufacturers insist on in-
stalling a complete complement of several rows of
high-powered borderlights and often a double row of
footlights. In fact many producers, particularly those
who stage musical and presentation shows, think high-
powered footlights and borderlights are necessary means
of giving glamour to the stage picture.

 Borderlights are space-filling lighting instruments.
The more space the greater is the intensity required.
Their effect is noticed chiefly by the amount of illumina-
tion they give to the acting area, so that the wattage
required depends on the area and length of the throw.
Each circuit of lamps in the strip should be able to
deliver up to ten foot-candles of illumination on the act-
in area after the absorption of color mediums has been
discounted. From one to five foot-candles is usually
adequate if the acting area is lighted by several border
strips and acting area lights, but where a single border

70 BLENDING AND TONING

strip, insufficient acting area lights and dense color
mediums are used, the higher figure is more usually
correct. The figures in the appended table are more or
less hypothetical and should be applied with a great deal
of flexibility in view of the variables involved. They are
based primarily upon experience in the use of different
sized proscenium openings. If the figure for each height
is multiplied by the proscenium width, the total wattage
normally necessary for each color circuit in the first
border can be computed.

Teaser Height........................... 10' 15'  20'  25'
Total Watts per Foot of Proscenium Width.20  40   60   80

It is seldom necessary or advisable to use a border strip
the full width of the proscenium, but the total wattage
should be the same irrespective of the length of the
strip. The first border hung just behind the teaser is
more important and requires more wattage than those
used farther upstage because it is the only one which
can be used when there is a ceiling on the setting. The
rear border, when there are several, is generally used for
lighting the backdrop or cyclorama and is considered
with background lights in another chapter.

 One of the chief characteristics of a borderlight is its
ability to give a variety of color tone over the acting
area. The borderlight is a more or less standard piece of
equipment. It is used to light almost every type of
scene, and is generally wired in three color circuits so
that a variety of colors can be obtained by varying the

BLENDING AND TONING 71

intensity of light from the different color circuits. Theo-
retically the primary colors of light--red, green, and
blue--when used simultaneously or individually at vari-
ous intensities, will give almost the complete range of
color tones distinguishable by the eye; but these color
mediums cut off so much light that they are relatively
inefficient for blending purposes. It is wise to select
either the lighter tints of these same shades or to deter-
mine just what three tints of color are going to be
necessary, individually or in combination in all the scenes
for the particular production, or to add a fourth circuit
of white to the primaries.
 Glass roundels are now made commercially in shades
of amber, surprise pink, green-blue, and the primaries,
red, green and blue. Gelatin, although it tends to fade
under the heat of the lamp (glass does not) is made in a
sufficient variety of colors to warrant its use when special
tints are desired. For this reason the borderlight strip
should be made to take gelatins as well as glass. Also,
since most strips are made with individual reflectors,
closely spaced, to accommodate from 100 to 500 watt
lamps, dipped or coated lamps are out of the question.
Even for the strips built to use lamps below 40 watts
(the largest that can be dipped), roundels and color
mediums, or natural color lamps which have the color
blown in the glass bulb are more satisfactory than dipped
bulbs.

Great improvements have been made recently in the

72 BLENDING AND TONING

construction and form of the borderlight strip. The old
open metal troughs with closely spaced, low wattage
lamps have been replaced by higher powered lamps in
individual, etched aluminum or shiny Alzak specially
shaped reflectors for narrow beam distribution.
 One disadvantage of the newer borderlight is that,
when it is wired for four colors, it requires large lamps
and correspondingly large reflectors. Similar colors are
apt to be spaced so far apart that the effect of general
distribution is given only when the distance to the area
lighted is great and the number of units is sufficient to
prevent a spotty distribution. This is not serious except
when a cloth border hangs close to the strip and the total
wattage has been divided between too few units; then
poor distribution of color from the borderlights is par-
ticularly apparent.
 Usual commercial practice is to standardize on 200
watt reflector units up to a 20' teaser height, with 300
and 500 watt sizes for the very large stages. Only in
musical comedy, opera, and presentation productions
where cloth borders and wings are usually used, are sev-
eral rows of border strips extending the full width of the
proscenium needed. In the majority of legitimate stag-
in, the first borderlight and perhaps another for lighting
the backdrop are the only strips required above the stage
and the former need not be longer than half the width of
the proscenium (Figure 2, XR).
Figure 14B. Reflector lamp strips are compact and

       BLENDING AND TONING 73

highly efficient compartment units built on 6" centers for
up to 300 W R-40 lamps--flood or spot types and on
8" or 9" centers for 300 W PAR or 500 W R-40 types
also in spot or flood form. 3 or 4 color circuits are cus-
tomary and thus portable units are 6 to 8 feet long. Glass
color filters in plain, stripped or spread roundel form
are required. This limits the color choice considerably
and is chiefly responsible for the slow acceptance of this
type of strip.
 When the theatre is equipped with curtains made up
of borders and wings, the practice of installing a border
strip back of each cloth border in addition to the first
border in the initial layout is required; but this Practice
is too often overdone and more useful equipment has to
be omitted on account of budget limitations. If the theatre
is to be used for musical shows and operas occasionally,
extra border strips in portable form (sections 4' to 8'
long) can always be hung in their proper place and re-
moved when they are not needed.
  The use of outlets on wire ways or pipes hung above
the stage in the place of borders allows for the use of
spotlights and floodlights from traditional borderlight
positions. In fact even the first border strip can be made
in portable sections because there are times when it is
not needed. If the border strips are made portable, the
"worklight" circuit which is generally incorporated in
each borderlight should be retained to feed separate units
either mounted permanently on the border strip battens

74 BLENDING AND TONING

or wherever they will be effective in lighting the stage
for scene shifts. On large stages the practice of breaking
long borderlights into sections for the sake of control of
distribution may offer certain advantages, but it also com-
plicates the control at the switchboard. As long as border-
lights are used primarily to tone and blend the lighting
on the acting area this refinement is not often practical.
One or two large floods in each of the chosen colors
can often take the place of borderlights for toning pur-
poses. The shadows of the actors will fall on the floor
and with a box set great care should be taken to keep the
direct rays from the borderlights off the scenery. Only
where border and wing sets are used should borderlights
serve to light the setting. For this reason long border-
light strips are useless and those who have them should
unscrew the end lamps so that only the center portion
remains lighted. A set of lightspill shields, called a
shadow box, hung from the first border is sometimes used
to keep the light from spilling on the side and rear walls
of the setting.
The position of the first borderlight, or concert border,
often called the "X-rays" (the trade name of a glass store-
window reflector that was used formerly in stage
borderlights), should be as close to the bottom edge
of the teaser as possible without being visible. A box
teaser or thickness piece (Figures 15, 16 and 17) masks
the teaser lights, allows a lower trim for the borderlights
or a higher trim for the teaser and thus permits the


Figure 15: TEASER MOUNTINGS: A.
Simple Cloth Teaser with Asbestos Guard.

This is the typical professional method of mounting the border
lights and border spotlights. A box set must be from 3' to 4'
higher than the teaser in order to give proper masking. A ceiling
with a front lip allows for reducing this height considerably.


Figure 16: TEASER MOUNTINGS: B.
Thickness Piece or Portal Method.

The table of sight lines indicates the relation between teaser
heights and ceiling heights. The setting with this method needs
to be less than two feet higher than the teaser.



Figure 17: TEASER MOUNTINGS: C.

Bridge Thickness Piece with Adjustable Tormentor Tower.
The advantage of mounting instruments above the bridge floor
lies in the accessibility of instruments for focusing and
changing color mediums.

78 BLENDING AND TONING

audience to see more of the ceiling of the setting. Addi-
tional borderlights are generally spaced on seven foot
centers and hung parallel to the proscenium because this
arrangement conforms to the traditional spacing for
wings and scenery borders.

The range of intensity of illumination that should be
provided by borderlights is debatable. It is certain, how-
ever, that where directed, controlled illumination is
given by other instruments, the use of border strips is
correspondingly less important and relegated to giving
a low general illumination that can blend the spotlighted
areas together in a range of color tones. With all the
color circuits burning at the greatest intensity or "full
up~', it is possible to "cut" one or more circuits by switch
or to dim any or all of them to any degree on the
dimmers. Changes in color are accomplished by this
method. Inefficient as the primary colors are, they will
give the greatest range of tonality by the addition of one
to the other at varying intensities. Without a thorough
knowledge of the principles of color mixing the trial and
error method will have to be used and this is even more
true when four colors or colors that are not primaries
are employed. Some technicians advocate the use of
focusing borderlights that can be directed to cover areas
where the light is needed. Ideally a focusing borderlight
is a desirable unit, but it increases the cost and control
of what is normally only supposed to be a blending
and toning instrument. Borderlights can be tipped up or

BLENDING AND TONING 79

Figure 18:
FOOTLIGHTS 


A. Old type open trough, using closely spaced, low wattage,
dipped or natural color lamps.
B. Compartment type footlight using high-wattage lamps with
color frames and equipped with color frame slides.
C. The compact, specially shaped reflector strip, using glass
roundels and 50, 100 or 150 watt lamps, generally 100. The
pin connector pigtail is used to feed footlight spots.

down to extend their illumination over various depths
of the stage space and can be raised or lowered to cor-
respond with the height of the setting.

FOOTLIGHTS
 Footlights (Figure 18), like borderlights, have come
down from the time when the theatre was first taken
indoors and every available position was used to project
light into the stage space. They are so essentially arti-
ficial in their effect that they have become almost sym-

80 BLENDING AND TONING

bolic of all that is meant by "Theatre". They are still
very useful, though modern practice has somewhat al- 
tered their function and limited their duties. The great
cry against them raised by some critics is valid only in
cases in which footlights are used as blatantly as they
were when there was no other means of lighting the
actor at the front of the stage. Musical comedy methods
often call for the greatest amount of light possible from
the footlights, but in legitimate production footlights
should be used to illuminate the shadows on the actors'
faces and to tone the setting at low intensity. In this
respect footlights are very useful and the practice of
omitting them from a layout only limits the flexibility of
stage lighting.
Another very practical use of footlights is to illumi-
nate the act curtain as the house lights are taken down
in order to draw the attention of the audience to the
stage. This can also be done with the front acting area
lights or by means of special instruments mounted on the
face of the balcony, and to some extent the setting can
be toned by the direct rays from the blending and acting
area lights and the reflected rays from the floor of the
stage. But in spite of the more limited function of foot-
lights, their installation and restricted use is recom-
mended.
 The possible intensity of light that can be obtained
from footlights is limited by the space allowed for
them. Footlights should not rise above the level of the

      BLENDING AND TONING 81
stage floor more than three inches because they tend to
cut off the view of the stage floor for those sitting in the
front rows of the auditorium. High wattage footlights
are required only by the musical show. The range of
intensity for each footlight color circuit may vary from
a fraction of a foot-candle of illumination to something
less than ten, discounting the absorption of the color
mediums used. Broadly speaking, from 25 to 50 watts
per color per foot of proscenium width ought to give
an adequate range of intensity. This wattage may be in
the form of natural colored lamps (25 and 40 watts
standard), or the regular white lamp from 25 to 200
watts (100 watt size generally) in individual reflectors
which use roundels or gelatin.

 Footlights should give a lower general blend of color
tone than the borderlights because the effect of light
from the footlights is seen very readily on the setting.
This is particularly true if footlights are the only light
source for illuminating the setting. There must be at
least ten lamps or sources of the same color burning
simultaneously in order to eliminate shadows. The col-
ors to be used in the three color circuits are somewhat
similar to those used in the borderlights except that red,
green, and blue, in spite of their low transmission, will
give the deep colors and, when used in combinations,
even the tints desired.
Footlights should give general shadowless illumina-

82 BLENDING AND TONING

tion in any tone. As far as possible within their con-
fined space they should approach the effect of a line of
light for each of the colors. To accomplish this the lamps
should be as close together as possible. In some respects
the neon tube gives the closest approximation to the
line source. Where two small lamps can give the same
wattage as a larger lamp in about the same space it is
wiser to use the small lamps. Some footlight strips are
constructed with two rows of lamps but this type of
installation is generally unnecessary for legitimate the-
atres. The individual reflector type, although it requires
larger spacing than the continuous trough, is more effi-
cient in projecting the light back into the stage space.
 One instrument for obtaining good mixing and an
apparent continuous line source is an indirect footlight
strip. The intensity with this unit is cut down to about
50% of that available from the direct type of footlight
but it gives good results where the intensity can be low.
 The footlight strip should be so hooded that its rays
are all directed into the setting and none are allowed to
fall outside the prosceniurn opening. This seems to be
an obvious suggestion but it is astonishing how few foot-
light strips are properly shielded. The strip should
include all the wattage necessary according to the esti-
mates cited, in a hood about 75% Of the width of the
proscenium opening. It is always distracting to see the
setting lighted brightly where is meets the proscenium.
In order to prevent a shadow of the edge of the foot-


Figure 19:
TORMENTOR SLOT

Method of mounting side spotlight at the proscenium in a slot or
behind a moving tower. The yoke of the spotlight is suspended
from the slider on the pipe arm. Thumb bolts on the slider,
swivel arm, pipe and stop collar permit fixing the position of
the spotlight manually.


light pit, the construction of the strip should be compact
enough to allow the filament of the lamps to be on line
with the floor and yet not have its protecting hood more
than three inches above the level of the stage.
 The practice of dividing and controlling the footlights
in sections, particularly for the purpose of making them

84 BLENDING AND TONING

fold into the floor easily, carries with it the danger of
interrupting the line of light and leaving too few units
to give shadowless illumination. When the shadows of
the actors can be seen moving across the back wall of the
setting there are too few sources in the footlights as well
as too much intensity. A simple method of dividing the
footlight strip is to provide three sections, the center as
long as the two ends together, and controlling each one
separately or the two ends as one (Figure 2, FL). The
center section is decidedly the most useful and by an
arrangement of switches it is possible to cut off the end
sections and still use only one dimmer for each color
circuit for the whole strip. If each section is to be con-
trolled separately there must be three times the number
of dimmers available. In most musical show houses four
or five current outlets are installed in the strip to feed
footlight spotlights when they are wanted.
 All of the types of footlights so far discussed are sunk
in a fireproofed pit at the front edge of the stage (the
"apron"). While it is advisable to build the fixed or
disappearing type in permanently, the footlight pit is
occasionally useful for instruments that give a special
distribution of light. If the strip is made in portable
sections it can be removed to make place for special in-
struments and it can be used elsewhere if the supply of
strips is limited.

The control of light from the footlight position is

BLENDING AND TONING 85

somewhat similar to that provided for the borderlights.
Where there is adequate front lighting at a good angle
the light from footlights is needed only to illuminate
the setting or can even be dispensed with entirely if
there is sufficient spill from the borders and reflected
light from the floor to perform this function. If there
are no front lights the footlight intensity must be cor-
respondingly greater to help illuminate the actor's face.
In this case the setting must be lighted somewhat by the
overhead borders to help balance the shadows that may
fall on the back wall. The balance of illumination from
footlights and borders must also eliminate the apparent
artificiality of the directional light from the footlights.
The most noticeable effect of the illumination from the
footlight position occurs on the large expanse of the
background or setting. Footlights can provide an amaz-
in range of color tonality of the proper dramatic char-
acter, but, when used carelessly, they may ruin a night
sky or even the painting of the setting. When the foot-
lights are divided into separately controlled sections it is
possible to tone the different parts of the setting and to
get some variety of tonality over the acting area. The
wide spread of light from each section, however, limits
this practice.