Lighting Technician

Lighting Technician Career

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Lighting Technicians oversee the set up and operation of electric lights in performance venues such as film, television, theater, and concerts.

Your daily tasks as a Lighting Technician depend upon what point you are in the production. Before a show starts, you follow the design oversight of a Lighting Designer in arranging the lighting around the stage. At this point as the Lighting Technician, you might need overhead rigging, large platforms, or other partitions and you work with stage hands, Grips, or construction crews to get these things put up. After that you aim and focus your lights, make sure all the wiring is in place, and hook up the lights to dimmers or whatever special effects equipment you need.

During the show you operate the lights in a specified design, which could involve changing the colors, following an actor, or altering the brightness to suit the mood. After a production is finished, you disassemble and store the lights.

Different industries require you to work more at some times than others. In concerts, for example, a lot of your work comes during the performance as the light design is a show unto itself. In a television production, however, a lot more work comes before the filming starts in setting up the lights at the right angles, getting the right brightness, and so on.

How do I become a Lighting Technician?

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You can practice this as a purely technical position, or you can venture into the artistic design opportunities it offers. If the latter is what interests you, use this position as a stepping stone to become a Lighting Designer or Gaffer.