Miscellaneous Theatrical Supplies

Gaffer’s tape is commonly used in theatre, photography, film and television production and industrial staging work. Gaffer’s is a heavy cotton cloth pressure-sensitive tape with strong adhesive and tensile properties. In the theater industry, Gaffer’s tape is preferred over duct tape, because it can be removed without leaving behind an adhesive residue. Another benefit is that it doesn’t reflect light.

The purpose of a lighting plot is to outline the view of the stage showing where each lighting instrument is located. The instrument type is represented by a symbol, and each light is identified by a unit number placed within the symbol. Depending on the designer, the color, purpose (or focus), circuit (or dimmer) and control channel for each unit may also be listed on the plot.

A lighting cue is essentially a snapshot of the lighting on stage of one moment in a play or musical. A show is composed of many cues, each of which is built specifically based on the piece’s specific parameters (place, fixture locations, mood, timeframe in play, etc).  To use a musical metaphor: Essentially if a lighting fixture is a single instrument then a lighting cue is the designer creating a chord in the theatrical piece. The entirety of all of the cues then becomes a symphony where each of those cues would be a movement or verse.

The main color correction lighting gels are CTB (color temperature blue) and CTO (color temperature orange). Lighting gels are colored transparent sheets used to alter the color of a light source. They are called gels because for years gelatine was used in their manufacture.

Generally Light Warm Gels such as R02, R05, R08, R33 are used to add a touch of warmth to facial features. To cool them down a little we use R60, R64, R3202.  If you wanted a touch of both you could use a neutral lavender such as R51-54 which when used in conjunction against a warm or cool gel creates a cooler effect on the person.  For night scenes, we tend to use R68 or L161 from the front and R80 from the back to create the “theatrical illusion of night”. Similarly R321 is a great side light to use for a sunset effect on an actor.

Lighting gels were originally made from colored gelatine, however, they are now made from various dyed plastics. Depending on the manufacturer and the particular color line, the exact method, size, and material may vary. A typical size of a lighting gel sheet is 20” x 24” and rolls tend to come in 24” x 25’.