Light Plots from the Concrete to the Abstract
Part Two—Magic Sheet & Cue List Project
By M.C. Friedrich

The goals of this activity are to build on Part One – The Practice Plot Project (www.theatreface.com/group/lighting/forum/topics/from-the-concrete-t...). In this step, the students practice developing the following:

#1 - Instrument schedules.
#2 - Dimmer schedules.
#3 - Two styles of magic sheets.

Again, all figures are available for download attached to this post as a zip file.

Know The Information
I purposefully start with a new sample plot set in the light lab, with four areas now instead of the single area from the previous project, which is a good application of knowledge gained from the Practice Plot project. See Figure 2-1, left for my light plot.

The students should be able to read this only slightly more complex plot set in the same place they drafted their first plot. I have them add the instrument and notation keys. I give them a blank hook-up (Figure 2-2, available for download attached to this post) to complete from this new plot. (Figure 2-3 is the completed hook-up, right.) This exercise ensures the students are very familiar with the information in preparation for the next two activities. We then discuss different ways of arranging this information for speed and efficiency of retrieval, depending upon its use.

Hook-Ups list the plot information numerically by channel. This is usually followed by dimmer, then position. In the previous project the students made a very simple hook-up and understood it is a list of the plot information. Now we discuss the reasons for the order of that information on the hook-up. Very simply, it is for designer convenience. The designers choose the channels in which their instruments are placed and will be setting levels by identifying which channel controls a desired instrument. Control consoles primarily function to set looks by channel levels.

The students have another handout with completely blank instrument and dimmer schedules (Figure 2-4, on the left). At this point I don’t label the heading row. The students need to think through the logic of how all the information is organized for each purpose and complete the headings themselves.

Instrument Schedule Order is when you list the plot information by the instrument location in the theatre. This is followed by the channel for quick use, then dimmer. Placement of following information can vary. When is this desirable? An electrician onstage will look up and see the third instrument on the second electric is out and must be able to find that instrument’s pertinent information, channel and dimmer, quickly which is by its location. The students use the blank grid to complete their own instrument schedules from the hook-up they have (Figure 2-5, on the right).

Dimmer Schedule Order lists instruments by dimmer number, followed by channel and position. Again, the information after that can vary in order according to the desires of the designer and master electrician The master electrician will often be trouble-shooting by dimmer so will want the plot information organized in dimmer number order. The students complete the blank dimmer schedule and then can compare to the hook-up and instrument schedule (Figure 2-6, on the left).

Magic Sheets are simplified charts of the lighting plot and/or hook-up. However they tend to be very challenging for beginning lighting students since they are frequently used—needed actually—by the designer for very complex light plots. The ability to grasp shorthand information of concepts one is just starting to grasp is quite a leap so I simplify magic sheets in these activities. I do mention that there can be as many varieties of magic sheets as there are designers and lighting designs but the ones we will explore are common. The handout is, once again, a blank chart for the students to complete based on the plot and hook-up used in this project (Figure 2-7, on the right).

Simplified Hook-Up magic sheets are more concrete to understand than a full magic sheet, so I start there. I have my students transfer the minimal information from the hook-up to the magic sheet grid with the “channel/focus/color” headings (Figure 2-8,in the zip file for download). Since this is primarily to expedite the designer’s work, only channel, focus and color are needed. Dimmer, hang position, instrument type, and electrical load are not necessary for the designer to find the right color lighting instrument focused on a particular area while finessing a light look.

Color Key information is often included, so we do so here. Only the “X” is given; the students draw in the arrows with color numbers (Figure 2-9, in the zip file for download).

Focus Areas can also be needed. That section is completed last for the simplified hook-up version of a magic sheet (Figure 2-10, in the zip file for download).

At this point the students just do not see the necessity of a magic sheet since the plot they are using is so very limited. I then give them a magic sheet from a realized class lighting design for Shakespeare’s Henry V (Figure 2-11, left). I lay out the actual plot and hook-up just for reference. At first glance the students are dismayed, to say the least, at the complexity. However, once we start making comparisons between their small practice magic sheet and the one from Henry V, it makes sense to them.

Simplified Plot magic sheets have a combination of the plot and the color key as a basis for development. This is the bottom half of the magic sheet worksheet (Figure 2-7).

Color Key: In this type the overview is of a large color key with a box representing a single color. The students add the direction arrows and color numbers of the color key to each box as their first reference (Figure 2-12, right).

Focus Areas: Within each box of the color key, the students use a light-lead pencil to note the groundplan location of the focus areas (Figure 2-13, in the zip file for download). This is temporary, thus the pencil.

Channel Numbers are added next. These overlay, or replace the penciled in focus area letters. Therefore, channel numbers are placed in the position of the areas they light (Figure 2-14, in the zip file for download).

As another reference to a more complex form of this type of magic sheet, I hand out another one from Henry V (Figure 2-15, left). Not only can this shorthand of a plot be compared to the practice magic sheet made by the students but can be compared to the other one from Henry V; all of which aids comprehension. At this point, the lighting students are ready to apply this knowledge to an expanded light plot in a theatre setting.


Captions to the Figures used in Step 2.

2-1: Light Lab Sample Plot
2-2: Light Lab Sample Hook-Up worksheet
2-3: Hook-Up worksheet completed
2-4: Blank Instrument & Dimmer Schedules
2-5: Instrument Schedule completed
2-6: Dimmer Schedule completed
2-7: Blank Magic Sheet worksheet
2-8: Magic Sheet (hook-up shorthand) with hook-up grid completed
2-9: Magic Sheet (hook-up shorthand) with color key added
2-10: Magic Sheet (hook-up shorthand) with focus areas added
2-11: Example Magic Sheet from Henry V– Shorthand Hook-Up
2-12: Magic Sheet (plot shorthand) with color key arrows and gel color numbers
2-13: Magic Sheet (plot shorthand) with focus area letters lightly penciled in
2-14: Magic Sheet (plot shorthand) with channel numbers overlaying focus areas
2-15: Example Magic Sheet from Henry V– Shorthand Plot