When it comes to on-stage productions and events, the right lighting can help direct the audience’s focus, enhance a production and create the perfect atmosphere. While it’s essential to have professional lighting, knowing which types of lighting are suited to different events will help you determine which lighting fixtures are best for your specific requirements.

There are many different types of stage lighting used in events, each involving different lights, from floodlights and spotlights to LED tube lights. Your choice can drastically change the atmosphere of your event and help capture the audience’s attention when needed. However, making sure you have the proper lighting to ensure your production is memorable is an art in itself. This is why calling on the professionals to get the stage lighting fine-tuned is critical.

We’ll delve into why stage lighting is essential, the types of stage lighting to choose from, and how lighting fixtures can transform and shape your event.

Why Are the Types of Stage Lighting Important?

The main objective of stage lighting is to capture your audience’s attention and improve the overall production. Professional lighting will highlight the performers or speakers, the set, and any props or screens accompanying the show. This will help guide your audience’s attention and shift it accordingly as the production progresses. Another important role of stage lighting is to enable those on stage to sculpt and conduct their performance. It also conveys the mood and atmosphere, helping you set the scene of the story – whether it’s a conference and the focus is on the main speaker or a pivotal moment of a theatrical production.

Different Types of Stage Lighting

Each lighting fixture listed below has a unique purpose and differing features, which will ultimately underpin the visual and contextual direction you want to take in your on-stage event. These fixtures include:

LED Pixel Tube Lights

LED Pixel Tube Lights are a good fit if you’re looking for easy-to-use and implement lights. Initially used for TV and film lighting, the beauty of these wireless baton-shaped LED tubes is that you can mount them anywhere. That means you can get creative with lighting up your stage and the lighting effects you can produce. You can choose whether you want to set them up on the conference table, create a hanging fixture, or even join these nifty lights to produce 3D shapes.

Bonus: they are waterproof, so they present no problem if your stage is outdoors.

LED Uplights

If your stage is set in an elementary and unadorned room, a good choice for lighting is LED Uplights. These can liven up the space and make it feel more spacious. Although LED Uplights may seem like a standard option, they have gained popularity as they offer a significant impact on your venue. For example, you can create columns of light on walls that make it seem like your space has high ceilings and vast areas, not to mention adding a lot of visual interest in a seemingly dull room.

Bonus: Uplights now feature LED chips, meaning you can include your corporate colors if you’re hosting a business event.

LED Battens or Wall Washers

You’ve probably seen these lights used in theater shows and photo studios to light up spaces evenly. While these are a type of Uplight, they light up a wall in a more linear and uniform way than the basic Uplight. In turn, it won’t just be columns of light that you see, but rather a wash of light. These Wall Washers have become a part of the lighting rental market and are not just for theater use. You can utilize them at any event and venue of your choice.

Bonus: LED Batten’s are great for lighting up long set pieces, backdrops, step and repeats, and drape lines in a wash of color.

Ellipsoidal Spotlights

These popular spotlights emit a very sharp circle of light onto any surface they touch. More commonly known as Lekos, they are popular in theaters and can also be used for any event. Although the spotlight throws a sharp circle of light onto the stage, the focus can be sharp or soft depending on the lens you choose. This means you can focus the beam of light on a particular area from overhead, peripherally, or conduct stage washes.

Bonus: Ellipsoidal Spotlights have framing shutters that allow you to shape the light and cut off light from spilling over a specified area. And many Lekos accept Gobo discs.

Follow-spot Light:These fixtures create a concentrated beam of light, commonly used to light up the show’s presenter or star. This light is operated manually and will follow the presenter as they move on stage.

PAR Light

PAR lights output a ton of light, making them a good option for a big stage production. Incredibly durable, these lights are used to deliver a warm wash of light to any stage.

A bonus: Now that they can use a collection of LEDs, this lighting option is brighter and permits the mixing of colors.

Moving Head Lights

If you’re looking for dramatic effects and movement, Moving Head Lights are your best choice. These Moving Lights or Intelligent Lights are very popular and versatile as they have a movable head on a rotating yoke that allows the beam of light to move. They have internal Gobo wheels, patterns of light, color wheels, and flags to mix the colors you want. As an added feature, they also offer crystal prisms to modify the light, zoom lenses, irises, shutters, and frost for more dynamic effects.

Bonus: Intelligent Lights offer washes (for large areas of light), spot fixtures (to light up your star presenter or create an effect on a wall), and a beam fixture (to provide a beam of light).

Kinetic Lights

By combining lighting technology and mechanics, you can have LED Orbs or LED Pixel Tubes attached to motors and moving around. This means these lights can move up and down an illuminated object. In addition, you can create complicated shapes and light patterns by synchronizing position and light animation. Kinetic lights have become very trendy at conferences and concerts.

Bonus: Control software can dynamically modify each light module in position, speed, luminance, and color.

Lasers Lights

Popular at events where you want a lot of movement, Laser Lights can make loads of patterns that flash and move on all surfaces. You’ll find them at music venues, concerts, and nightclub stages, and they come in many different colors. Unfortunately, due to their focused energy, they can be harmful to our eyes and may require a licensed safety officer at your venue.

Bonus: Most Laster Lights can be programmed through their software or console to change to the beat of the music or even project images or words onto walls.

Showtech Productions: Turn-Key Audi0-Visual Production and Equipment Rental

If you have an idea of what you want for your event or production but don’t know how to get started with the different types of stage lighting used in events, give our team of professionals a call. At Showtech Productions, we can help you create the atmosphere that will take your production up a notch. We are experienced in providing the latest lighting technology and event lighting equipment, and our team will help you make your corporate events, trade shows, concerts, or any other event memorable and compelling for your audience.

Contact us today for information on our lighting and projection mapping services at our DFW office.