Fixtures - Stage Light Units 

Subcategories

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  Architectural Lights

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  Battery-Powered Fixtures

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  Blinders

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  Border/Strip Lights

  If you are looking to light a large expanse of light in multiple colors, border and strip lights are a great way to go. Here we have them divided into conventional lamp and LED lamp categories. Often used as foot lights or as cyc lights, they are an efficient and great way to color mix. - Louie Lumen

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  Cyc Lights

  Cyc lights are what I consider as units that throw a sheet of light. Traditionally with a "J" shaped reflector, they are able to sit on the floor or hang fairly close to the backdrop and throw an even field of light up and down. The bottom of the "J" is for the short throw and the top part is for the longer throw. - Louie Lumen

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  Effect Lights

  One of the fascinating things about stage lighting is that it can double as scenery. I don't know of a piece of scenery that can also function as stage lighting, but effect lights can certainly serve as a scene's visual picture, whether they're just flashing colors or dancing to the music. Throw some haze or fog in the air and you have quite the light show. Below there are a bunch of categories for you to delve into and get an idea of how many options there are. If the unit has a video, that is a great way to get to know it.- Louie Lumen

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  Ellipsoidals

  An ellipsoidal, also known as a leko, is the workhorse of the array of stage lighting. With this versatile instrument, you can get many different uses from one single fixture. Change the size of the circle of light by selecting the lens barrel. Then adjust the circle of light to a crisp sphere or a soft fuzzy edge. There are also four framing shutters to shape the light. Lekos have many spaces for accessories you can use to make additional effects. You can add color with gels, change the size of the circle of light with an iris, or use gobos to project shapes, words, and images. Ellipsoidals can use conventional lamps or come in LED versions. Flexibility is very important when choosing a lighting instrument. Don't limit yourself.

  - Louie Lumen

  To learn more about ellipsoidals please visit StageLightingTextbook.com

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  Followspots

  A followspot is a pointer, directing the attention of the audience's eye. While that may seem incredibly simple, it is incredibly important. When we want the audience to look at a specific performer, we point to them. Followspots generally are categorized by the throw distance that they can cover while giving a bright circle of light to work with. It's common to change the color of light using a color boomerang in the fixture.- Louie Lumen

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  Fresnels

  Theatrical Fresnel fixtures create a soft wash of light that has adjustable light output size - spot and flood, With fresnels, both still retain a soft edge. Accessories allow you to add color, as well as somewhat shape the light using a barn door. Below, fresnels are categorized by size. Remember, the smaller the unit, the smaller the throw and output.- Louie Lumen

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  Gooseneck Lights

  While we generally control what the audience see's, sometimes we need to control what we see. If you are at a tech table or a musician with a music stand, a goose neck lamp is probably just what you need to highlight your work. Goose neck lamps can come in conventional or LED lamps and you can choose low or high output. They can also have the ability to be colored with lenses. - Louie Lumen

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  LED Lighting Units

  Light Emitting Diodes (LED) fixtures are incredibly efficient and versatile. They have taken our industry by storm. Lighting Designers are always looking for artistic options and the LED technology gives them the ability to mix to almost an infinite amount of colors and have more units in a low power situation. I used to only used LED units for saturated colors but the technology on the control end and the diodes themselves have so much improved that I can light an entire show just with LED's. - Louie Lumen

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  LitePads

  When describing a LitePad I think of an iPad as a lighting fixture. Thin - Thin - Thin!!! Need to turn a stair facing into a lit area without adding hardly any dimension to it? This is the unit for you. Used often in the photography field, I see it as a fantastic opportunity in the scenic arena. - Louie Lumen

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  Micro Fixtures

  Size can be quite important. Most normal lighting fixtures are sizeable, but you may run into a situation that does not give you much space. Micro Fixtures can be the answer to your problem. - Louie Lumen

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  Moving Lights

  Lighting has many properties where variation gives visual choices. Moving Lights are at the top of the list in this ability. Each unit has different options that you have to look at carefully. These choices can involve fixture focus location, speed, color, shape, sharpness, gobo, strobe and more. This is an area where watching product videos is incredibly important. Sometimes moving lights are stylistically used to have individual "specials" in many locations and sometimes they are used to visually dance. While an initial investment the payoff goes on and on. Categorized below a spot fixture has the added ability to project gobos and have a defined beam, while the wash fixtures are generally for a soft edge color. A scanner is a non moving fixture with a moving mirror. - Louie Lumen

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  Music Stand Lights

  Music Stand Lights are one of those items that during tech week you forget that you need more. Every stand needs one. We need to be able to see the music and control the light leak from affecting the audience. In a simple concert venue I'm fine with regular music stand lights but during a classic musical it is important to look at the Broadway variety where there is a louvre to hide the light output from the audience. I do also suggest that every musician keep in his/her kit at least one of the cheaper LED clip on varieties to make sure they at least have something if the venue does not. - Louie Lumen

• Par Cans

  Historically, Par Cans were named for the fact that the fixture, the "can," held a Parabolic Aluminum Reflector. It was the lamp that gave the fixtures their namesake. Some lamps would be wide flood, while others might be a narrow spot. Some were circular in output, while others were oval. The oval ones could be rotated to adjust which way you wanted the light to go. Today, while we still call these conventional fixtures "par cans," similar-use LED fixtures have also been wrapped into this category. All in all, "par cans" are simply wash lights that can be colored.- Louie Lumen

• Pin Spots

  Pin Spots in light are just like a small detail brush for painting. Just imagine having an individual pin spot on every statue in a museum. Perhaps a pin spot on every rose in an Italian Restaurant. Better yet, without a pin spot a mirror ball just isn't that magical! - Louie Lumen

• Searchlights

  If your looking for that powerful tight light in the sky, a searchlight is what you are looking for. Generally a very concentrated beam of light created with optics and a very powerful lamp source. Sometimes these units are used in retail, carnivals and memorial tributes such as Ground Zero. - Louie Lumen

• Soft Lights

  Generally used in film and photography, the soft light genre of lighting gives luminosity without creating defined shadows. - Louie Lumen

• UV Blacklights

  Ultra Violet is such a fun and powerful effect onstage. When it is dark and you use UV / Blacklight light on stage the items that phosphorus give a magical glow, almost an unworldly look to them. When you turn the units on with regular light it still adds an extra dimension of visual luxury. - Louie Lumen