"I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action."
- Tennessee Williams, Streetcar Named Desire.
About 2 out of 10 people know what a Lighting Designer is. The rest assume an LD is someone who decorates homes or dresses up Times Square with all the glimmering ads. Usually when someone says they are an LD, they mean they create the light that is used in Theater, Concerts, Ballets, Operas, TV, Film, and even Corporate Trade Shows and Public Speeches.
Aside from the glory of artistic expression, contributing to storytelling, and collaboration, there are several sad things about the profession. As follows...
A.) The curve of progress.
My cousin is an awesome salesman. He is making deals left and right, bringing in more income to his company, and doing some serious networking. In just three months, he will get a 15% raise. In another three months, a promotion. In less than a year, he might go from making $35k a year to $80k or even $100k. And the skills he is acquiring for the market place are priceless.
This doesn't happen in Lighting Design. Not just the money, but the skills and experience don't come nearly as fast as a salesman's or most other professions. The average time a LD spends molding his career so that he can be just a Lighting Designer is 10 years. During that transitional period, its not uncommon for aspiring designers to wait tables, join stagehand crews, or assist other designers. Some smaller projects for beginning designers pay as little as $300 and could require up to 4 weeks of work. Although, if you get picked up on a hot Broadway show that tours, you could get a check in the mail that would put a kid through college, more than once.
B.) Video
Oh that sweet hi-def resolution. Those blinding, crystal clear projectors. I curse thee and your technological brilliance.
Video has stolen a lot the thunder from lighting. For years, shows counted on lighting to provide texture, dimension, and artistic imagery. Now with the popularity of LEDs, plasma screens, and projections, you can bring forth any image desired. Entire crews are hired to install, program, and execute video for all the major tours and even some Opera and Theater. And forget about the Corporate Events. They are so hooked on video, that they wouldn't mind using projectors for face light, which cuts a lighting budget down to nothing.
Video has even stolen the concepts and technology from lighting to incorporate with projection, offering moving head projectors with beam shaping capabilities, color manipulation, and effects. You can now project an image from surface to surface with one projector. So you need a brick wall, but you only have a white upright surface? Take a digital picture of a brick wall, send it to a projector, and point the thing where you want it via remote.
Its a scary thing for the lighting world.
C.) Saturation of the Market
It is irresponsible of a university to tell a undergraduate or graduate student studying Lighting Design that they will have a prosperous career in the industry. The data shows otherwise. From the last 10 years of the NBA, I can think of 100+ athletes that I could easily be considered stars. In the Lighting Design world, their might be 20 notable, award winning designers in the last 10 years. There is a stampede of designers in the market and another stampede nearly finishing their degrees. I don't know what the hell they are going to do.
So in a way I like these circumstances. True artists will emerge and the ones just looking to make an appearance, or a paycheck, will die off. Innovation will be a requirement for success. All grumpy attitudes will not be accepted. Punctuality, respect, and strong communication skills will be a must. And in the end, the audience will see a better show.
Since the beginning of civilized man, we have been entertaining ourselves. Crafting every action to achieve the desired formula for storytelling. And stories will not die. I look forward to seeing how the future is brought out of the dark and into the light.
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