March 28, 2024

For someone setting up their first event, good lighting may not be the primary issue that pops into their heads. However, any time you set something up on a stage professional quality lighting is a necessity. Overlook the issue or try to go cheap on it and you risk losing the attention of everyone in the audience who isn’t sitting in the front row. After all, it is no use renting a stage if no one can see what’s happening up there. Of course, good background lighting does more than just make the show visible. Subtle changes in color and light intensity can create vastly different impressions in the audience. This allows the show runner to create the sort of unique atmosphere that will best enhance their subject. In effect, light design is an art form in and of itself, one that has been honed since before electronic lights existed. Any staged event be it theatric, commercial, or educational, needs just the right atmosphere to be effective. That said, it often isn’t enough to just set the right scene. Any live event relies on a good narrative and reliable lighting is a critical key to good story telling. A professional lighting service knows how to visually guide the audience through a narrative via subtle shifts in focus and light intensity.

Professional stage lighting services consider the specific size and shape of the venue, ranging from small theaters to large stadiums and can adapt to use that space to best effect. Someone with less knowledge might simply flood the stage to make sure everything is lit all the time. While this approach makes a certain amount of practical sense, the result is often harsh, flat, and disinteresting to the audience. Even the most well-meaning presenters can’t help but come out looking boring an amateurish using this method. A more skilled hand can conserve the amount of light used, directing its movement and intensity like the focus on a camera lens.

It is easy to think that a person can get the same level of quality for cheap by handling the lighting aspect of a show themselves. However, this may not always be the case. Along with the obvious skill gap between an amateur and a professional, quality lighting equipment can come at quite a price, resulting in a significant upfront investment for what might be a onetime only event. Lighting services have all the tools they need already, and handle transportation, storage, set-up, and repair all on their own. This saves the client time, energy, and money that can then be spent honing other elements of the production.

Some may be reluctant to take on the additional expense, however any live show or staged performance is an investment. Spending the extra money to hire a qualified lighting service to light the stage can save time and energy, as well as increasing returns by making an event as successful as it can be. After all, if the show is good then it deserves to be seen.