Week 6: The Science of Light

Lighting is a beautiful and wonderful thing to witness when it's done well. Lighting a stage for a film, a play, or a live performance all rely on a common group of theories. Color mixing in light and color mixing in pigment take two very different approaches to their application. All color mixing is actually performed by your brain via electrical stimulation of cells in the retina of the eye. Understanding the basics of these processes and the science behind color mixing is where lighting designers begin their careers. Nonetheless, everyone involved in planning and deploying a production should understand the basics of light theory and how to communicate with their professional counterparts. This class will examine color theory and color mixing and the functions of the different methods of mixing color in light and pigment.