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4.6 Theaters H3

the service. This document discusses lighting recommendations for various interior spaces including hallways, elevators, stairwells, theaters, stages, and churches. It provides lighting level guidelines for these spaces, such as 20 footcandles in hallways and 10 footcandles in elevators. It also describes different lighting fixtures used in theaters like border lights, footlights, and spotlights. Theater lighting systems often use dimming controls to smoothly regulate light levels. Lighting for churches should be coordinated with the service and architectural design, using soft, well-diffused illumination.

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56 views5 pages

4.6 Theaters H3

the service. This document discusses lighting recommendations for various interior spaces including hallways, elevators, stairwells, theaters, stages, and churches. It provides lighting level guidelines for these spaces, such as 20 footcandles in hallways and 10 footcandles in elevators. It also describes different lighting fixtures used in theaters like border lights, footlights, and spotlights. Theater lighting systems often use dimming controls to smoothly regulate light levels. Lighting for churches should be coordinated with the service and architectural design, using soft, well-diffused illumination.

Uploaded by

Rajendranbehappy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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.

10-84

LIGHTING HANDBOOK

factory visual adaptation as the visitor steps into the lobby from outof-doors (from an illumination level approaching 10,000 footcandles in

This necessity for adaptation combined with the adand brighter surroundings has led many,
building designers to provide higher levels of illumination (20 footcandles)
In hallways and corridors of ordinary ceiling height (less than 30 feet)
luminaires should be spaced not more than 20 feet apart. No branch
corridor should be without a luminaire. A luminaire located at a main
corridor junction will serve two branches not more than 10 feet deep.
For
safety in such locations, at least two lamps should be used in each luminaire.
No entrance to an elevator or a stair well should be more than 10 feet
from a luminaire. The recommended average illumination level for
direct sunlight).

vertising value of higher levels

elevators,

and

stair wells,

is

10 footcandles, assuming high-reflectance sur-

The lumieaire and layout should provide such a uniform level that
the maximum value at any place in the room is not greater than three times
the minimum.

faces.

Theaters
Theater-lighting design begins outdoors with the combination decorative
facade with display cases which identifies the entrance. Part of this entrance is the marquee. Sources in the marquee often provide a high illumination level around the box office. This level is reduced along the
traffic lane into the threater so that the theatergoer's eyes may become
adapted gradually to the lower levels inside.
Theater lobbies are passageways between the street and the foyer. An
illumination level of 20 footcandles is desirable in lobbies.
The walls and
ceilings should have a high brightness (up to 50 f ootlamberts)
At signs
announcing current or coming attractions 20 to 40 footcandles should be
provided by local lighting for accent. The luminaires may be ceilingmounted spotlights, or lamps and reflectors attached to the signboard.
Foyers are areas where traffic is distributed into the auditorium. An
illumination level of 10 footcandles is recommended.
This is sufficient
for recognition of acquaintances, for safe movement, and to arouse interest
in the decoration, and yet permits quick adaptation to the lower auditorium level. In larger theaters, a lounge or promenade may separate
the lobby and the foyer. The illumination level in such an area should
fall between those of the lobby and the foyer.
In the auditorium proper, three rules should be observed: (1) brightnesses should be low; (2) sources should be placed out of the normal field
of view from any seat in the house; (3) in motion-picture theaters the
light should be so controlled that a minimum falls upon the screen.
(See
Fig. 10-59.)
Stray light reduces contrasts in the screen image. Brightness
up to 10 footlamberts may be used between the acts. Luminaires should
be located as far outside the field of view as practicable. See also Sec.

tion 14.

To relieve brightness contrasts between the screen and its immediate


surround and thus contribute to eye comfort, a low brightness of approxi-

INTERIOR LIGHTING

FIG.

10-59.

A community

10-85

theater auditorium.

mately 1 footlambert on the surfaces adjacent to the screen is recommended.


In lighting such surfaces, the source must be concealed and so directed that
no light spills on the screen to reduce picture clarity. Any luminaire type
may be used (coves, shielded downlights, or masked projectors) that will
border the picture screen with surfaces of about one-tenth screen brightness.
For motion-picture theaters, illumination levels can be graded from \
footcandle at the rear of the auditorium to y^ footcandle at the front.
Some provision should be made to supply higher levels for emergencies,
for cleaning, and at the end of the final presentation.
Few theaters have sufficient illumination for program reading. In
community theaters where the auditorium may be used for other than
motion-picture projection additional lighting may be necessary. Theaters
used solely for stage plays need not have over- all low-intensity lighting.
A minimum of 5 footcandles should be provided everywhere for the reading of programs during intermissions.
Individually controlled local luminaires on the backs of seats have been used successfully in some theaters
to provide light for reading programs and for locating lost objects.
Aisle lights located under the outside row of seats can provide useful
illumination without introducing high brightnesses in the field of view of
the seated audience.
Some use is made of carpets impregnated with fluorescent materials
which become luminous when irradiated by means of ultraviolet sources.

Theater Stages

The stage provides the most interesting lighting problem in the theater.
Even those theaters designed exclusively for motion pictures occasionally
may accommodate stage shows for charity, for community rallies, and
so forth.

Stage lighting equipment includes border lights, footlights, spotlights,


floodlights, and cyclorama floodlights.
(See Fig. 10-60.)

10-86

FIG.

10-60.

E S LIGHTING HANDBOOK

Typical plan and elevation for a large stage.

INTERIOR LIGHTING

FIG. 10-61. Stage-lighting equipment;


and flood lights.

a.

border lights;

10-87

b. footlights; c. spotlights

Border lights provide general illumination for the stage. Depending


on stage depth, one to four rows are hung parallel to the curtain, with the
first border as close behind the curtain as feasible.
All border lights are
mounted so that they may be adjusted vertically, since otherwise they
might interfere with the use or placement of various stage sets, or not be in
a position to supply the proper light distribution. Border lights include
bare lamps in long troughs, individual lamps and reflectors grouped together as troughs, and individual, separately operated spotlights.
(See
Fig. 10-61a.)
In any case color flexibility is a requirement. Bare lamps
with different filter coatings; individual reflectors with glass roundels or
gelatin filters; and spotlights with gelatin filters are the primary color
mediums. Usually three to five colors are used. All those of one color
are wired for simultaneous control.
They should be so spaced that uniform coverage may be provided with any combination. Borders are electrically controlled so that each circuit may be dimmed.
The incandescent
lamps used include 40- to 60- watt bare lamps on 5- or 6-inch centers, 100to 200- watt lamps in individual reflectors on 9- to 12-inch centers, and 250to 500-watt lamps in spotlights.
Footlights are located in front of the curtain line

and usually consist

one row of sectionalized disappearing units. (See Fig. 10-61b.) Their


purpose is to soften and eliminate harsh shadows which tend to appear on
faces lighted only from above, and to provide illumination when the stage
action requires the actors to move "downstage" near and beyond the
curtain line.
Like border lights, they may be bare lamps in troughs or in
individual reflectors. Usually they are wired in several circuits, and are
of

dimmer

controlled,

10-88

and

E S LIGHTING HANDBOOK

wings adjacent to the border


provide accent lighting.
(See Fig.
Many stage designers use spotlights almost exclusively to pro10-61c.)
duce the required high levels, using border lights and footlights to provide
a more uniform level than may be obtained with the imperfect spotlight
overlap.
A spotlight is a luminaire in which a reflector behind the lamp
or sometimes a lens in front of it, or both, is used to focus the output of
Incandescent lamps with ratings between 250
the lamp in a narrow beam.
and 2,000 watts and carbon arcs are used in spotlights. By comparison,
Lamps of any type and size are used, defloodlights have a wide beam.
pending on the equipment size, with the control depending on a reflector
behind the lamp and on the housing edge.
Spotlights

lights or in

floodlights located in the

the auditorium proper

Theater Lighting-Control Systems


Theater-lighting circuits for both the stage and the auditorium often
dimming devices. The lighting should be expressive
and versatile, achieved through dimmer blending of various color circuits
and by regulating the quantity of light delivered to a particular area.
When this blending or regulation is to be achieved as a part of the lighting
are equipped with

sequence, the gradations of light should be produced smoothl}' and accurately.

Dimmer

control of auditorium lights facilitiates eye-accommodation.

Even relatively low auditorium levels may cause momentary blinding glare
when the lights are switched on immediately after either a dark stage setting
or a motion picture has been viewed.

Most dimmers

regulate light output

by varying lamp

current.

Indi-

vidual preheat-starting (hot) cathode fluorescent lamps cannot be dimmed


conveniently in this manner over a wide brightness range, since the arc
extinguishes with a small voltage drop.
However, the output of incandescent lamps and instant-starting cylindrical (cold) cathode lamps may be
The most common dimmer is
controlled smoothly over a very wide range.
the resistance type. When not loaded beyond their rated capacity, resistance dimmers can handle smoothly the circuit to be controlled and

by its operation. Circular dimmers are designed for loads as high as 4,000 watts. When resistance dimmers have too
little load for their rated capacity, complete blackout of the circuit is not
This condition is corrected by the addition of dummy loads or
possible.
by the use of other types of dimmers, particularly variable autotransformer
dimmers or electronic tube-reactor dimmers.
dissipate the heat produced

Churches
Lighting for churches should be co-ordinated with the church service,

and suited to the architectural design. (See Fig. 10-62.) Soft welldiffused illumination is recommended.
High levels attract the attention
of the

worshipper to the altar or pulpit at certain points in the sendees.

The amount of illumination provided at the pews should be keyed to the


amount of reading expected of the congregation, some of whom may have

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