A spotlight (or followspot) is a powerful

stage lighting instrument Stage lighting instruments (lanterns, or luminaires in Europe) are used in stage lighting to illuminate theatrical productions, concerts, and other performances taking place in live performance venues. They are also used to light television st ...

which projects a bright beam of light onto a performance space. Spotlights are controlled by a

spotlight operator The spotlight operator or followspot operator is a theatrical technician who operates a specialized stage lighting instrument known as a followspot. A followspot is any lighting instrument manually controlled by an operator during a performance. ...

who tracks actors around the stage. Spotlights are most commonly used in

concerts A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

and large-scale presentations in which highlighting a specific mobile individual is critical. Spotlights are sometimes located overhead on catwalks. In some theatres, they may also be located in the control booth or purpose-built "spot booths" in addition to the catwalk. Spotlights may be arranged in a variety of patterns for coverage. For example, they can be located to the back or rear of a theater and aimed at the stage in front of them. This location can become problematic due to the audience being distracted by fan noise or the spot operator speaking into their headset microphone. In circus and sports, spotlights may be arranged around the facility covering both sides and the ends. In a concert setting, they may be in a

front of house In the performing arts, the front of house (FOH) is the part of a performance venue that is open to the public. In theatres and live music venues, it consists of the auditorium, and foyers, as opposed to the front stage and backstage areas. ...

(FOH) position, while other positions may have the spotlight upstage used as back or top light. Some concerts use truss spots on a truss downstage, but closer than catwalk spots in an amphitheater-style catwalk layout. In other places, spot locations are at the mercy of the architect who designed the space. Characteristics of a typical spotlight include: * A strong light source, often a

high-intensity discharge lamp High-intensity discharge lamps (HID lamps) are a type of electrical gas-discharge lamp which produces light by means of an electric arc between tungsten electrodes housed inside a translucent or transparent fused quartz or fused alumina arc ...

with a high

colour temperature Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

. * A

lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

which can be manually focused. * A manual device to change the intensity of the beam, especially when an HID source which can not be electronically dimmed, is used. * An "iris" to adjust the size of the spot/angle of the beam. * A color magazine or "boomerang" consisting of several gel frames which can be swung in front of the beam. * Some sort of physical

sight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

to assist in aiming is sometimes added onto the lamp by the operator. Some spotlights can be fitted with colourchangers to colour the beam or gobo holders to create a variety of effects. Most spotlights can be fitted with colour gels.

Godspot

A godspot is an effect used in

stage lighting Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performance arts.

for the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. The effect is created using a powerful spotlight (usually a beam projector, Fresnel, or ERS) placed directly above the stage at an angle of less than 10 degrees from vertical, i.e. almost straight down. The light has no

color gel A color gel or color filter ( Commonwealth spelling: colour gel or colour filter), also known as lighting gel or simply gel, is a transparent colored material that is used in theater, event production, photography, videography and cinematogr ...

, and is usually directed downwards to hit a single actor or a huddled group of actors with a bright white light. The effect is meant to evoke an understanding that

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

is present and directly watching the scenes proceeding below. Use of the godspot in this fashion often foreshadows a

deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...

ending. The godspot can also be used at times to suggest an angelic nature of a particular character. Sometimes this effect is used to simulate an alien abduction. This is used in the science fiction TV shows

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrig ...

and

Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an Adventure film, adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad W ...

as part of the

Asgard In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr''; "Garden of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in several Old Norse sagas and mythological texts, including the Eddas, however it has also been suggested to be refe ...

transporter effect.

Gallery

File:Followspot.JPG, A spotlight File:Followspotoptics.JPG, The optics of a spotlight File:FSboomerang.JPG, The color changer or "boomerang" from a spotlight File:Super Trouper spotlight at The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.jpg, Super Trouper spotlight with color changer

References

{{Reflist Stage lighting instruments