Color in Light

Internet...
     A Virtual Demonstration of the Theatrical Use of Color (Use the back button to return to this page)
     Chapt 9: Light and Color from Wilard Bellman's Lighting the Stage, Art and Practice (3rd edition, Louisville, KY: Broadway Press, 2001).
     Rosco's "Guide to Color Filters"

1. What is the difference between additive and subtractive color mixing?

Additive color mixing is used in light. The three light primaries-- Red, Blue and Green, --when combined (added) will produce White light. The three secondaries are produced when two of primaries are mixed. Red + Blue = Magenta; Blue + Green = Cyan; and Red + Green = Yellow.

Subtractive color mixing is used with paint. The three paint primaries-- Magenta, Cyan and Yellow, --when mixed together will produce black. Subtractive color mixing is also used to produce colored light-- White light, when passed through a Red color media (which subtracts the Blue and Green hues), produces Red light.

2. What is the color temperature of "white light?"

The color temperature measures, in Kelvin, how "white," or hot, a light source appears. The color temperature of most theatrical lamps is between 2800 K and 3200 K. The lower the temperature, the more "yellow" the light will appear.

3. What happens to the color temperature of a lamp when the lamp is dimmed?

The color temperature will drop; a process known as "amber drift."

4. Why is color media usually referred to as "gel?"

Gel, an organic product (Brigham or RoscoGel), was the original color media. Because it tended to fade under high wattage lamps, it was replaced by an acetate (plastic) based product (Roscolene or Cinemoid) in the mid 1950s and a poly-carbonate (also plastic) based product (Roscolux, Lee or GamColor) in the early 80s. Gel has remained the traditional, or generic, name for theatrical color media.

5. What three lines of color media (gel) are available in the Minneapolis area?

1. Roscolux
2. Lee
3. Gamcolor

6. What is the cost of a 20" x 24" sheet of Roscolux?

$ 6.39, as quoted in the 2006-2007 Stage Technology Catalogue

7. How many 6" instruments can be gelled from one sheet?

Six. The standard gell cut for a 6" Fresnel or Ellipsoidal is 7.5" x 7.5".

    How many 8" instruments?

Four. The standard gell cut for a 8" Fresnel or Ellipsoidal is 10"x10".

    How many Source 4 - 36° Ellipsoidals?

Nine. The standard gell cut for a Source 4 Ellipsoidal is 6.25"x6.25"

8. List eleven basic acting area colors you would stock.

Specific gels using the Roscolux series of colors...

1. Two pinks: a soft, warm, no-color pink and a more intense, darker, pinky pink;
   
   1. R33: No Color Pink
   2. R34: Flesh Pink
2. Two lavenders: a warm lavender and a cool lavender
   1. R51: Suprise Pink
   2. R55: Lilac
3. Two ambers: a warm, almost no-color bastard amber and a darker, heavier BA;
   1. R02: Bastard Amber
   2. R01: Light Bastard Amber
4. One pale yellow for "realistic" sunlight
   1. R08: Pale Gold
5. Four blues evenly spaced between icy, no-color blue and very dark blue.
   1. R63: Pale Blue
   2. R67: Light Sky Blue
   3. R69: Brilliant Blue
   4. R80: Primary Blue

9. What is the difference between a warm color?

R01: Light Bastard Amberr

Warm colors are generally associated with fire and sun light -- No Color Pink, Pale Yellow, Light Bastard Amber...

    A neutral color?

R51: Suprise Pink

Neutral colors appear warm when compared to a cool color and cool when compared to a warm color -- Special Lavender, Suprise Pink...

    A cool color?

R63: Pale Blue

Cool colors are associated with the sky and water -- Pale Blue, Light Blue Green...

10. What is the McCandless Color Scheme?

McCandless Color Scheme

Stanley McCandless (1897-1967), the long time lighting professor at Yale University, believed that the actor should be lit with two lamps separated by approximately 90°. One light should be gelled in a warm color (R01: Light Bastard Amber) and the second in a cool or neutral color (R51: Suprise Pink).