It’s important to get your stage sound system set-up right, but don’t neglect to consider your lighting requirements, too. Helping your presenters or musicians look good – as well as sound good – will make your event a memorable, enjoyable experience.
There are a few key factors to remember with staging visuals. In this article, we set out how to light a stage so you can prepare in plenty of time for your next live experience.
Why stage lighting is important
Visibility is the most obvious answer to why stage lighting is important! Correct lighting means the audience can see whoever is performing. It’s not just about seeing the right person on stage; it’s also about perceiving body language and facial expressions.
Outside these functional requirements, lighting also plays a critical role in artistic direction. Stage lighting can be used to:
- Display brand colours to an audience
- Enhance a creative vision or emotional tone
- Add visual interest, involving the audience in the scene
- Indicate transitions between different moments of a live event
What you choose to do with your lighting depends on the type of show. For example, conference lighting focuses more on visibility and detail. Festivals and performances usually opt for more artistic, dramatic lighting. Let’s look at each of these in more detail.
How to light a conference stage
Think about the best conferences you’ve been to. The chances are that the content was interesting, the speakers were professional, and the room and stage looked great.
Here are ten things to bear in mind when lighting a conference stage:
- Use mainly front lighting to ensure the presenters’ faces are well-lit
- Diffused lighting, side lighting, and multiple lighting sources help avoid harsh shadows
- Cover the presentation area evenly to make sure presenters are lit wherever they are
- Spotlights help keep attention on speakers as they move
- Avoid pointing any bright lights out at the audience, as this causes glare and discomfort
- Check lighting doesn’t spill onto any stage screens, reducing visibility
- Review speaker slides to ensure contrast and colours are clear throughout the venue
- Convention/warm white LED lights suit front lights for in-person audiences
- If filming or using an LED wall backdrop, cooler whites might give a better colour match (more camera tips below)
- Plan for how your lighting needs may change throughout an event (for example, in venues with windows, account for natural lighting and how it fades)
Finally, remember that lighting a conference stage isn’t just about the audience’s experience – the speaker has to be comfortable, too! Running them through the lighting set-up during sound check helps them prepare for their slot, and gives them a chance to ask for any changes (for example, prompter location).
Following these tips should produce a professional, visually appealing light set-up. If you’d like any help, get in touch to hear from our personable, creative team.
Lighting for live-streamed or recorded events
Recording or live-streaming a conference makes it more useful, and accessible. Streaming allows the content of the sessions to reach a wider audience, boosting audience size and providing an extra income stream via online tickets. In addition, capturing the event allows it to be repurposed into video content, social media posts, and other promotional materials or educational resources for future use.
The main consideration is that cameras are much more sensitive to light than the human eye. Lighting levels, tones, and changes in brightness are much more obvious in footage.
We have three suggestions for setting up lighting for a live-streamed or recorded event. Firstly, maintain consistent lighting on the speaker, avoiding dramatic lighting shifts so exposure stays steady. Secondly, decide on a uniform colour profile of the lighting across the stage so cameras optimised to capture true colours don’t have to be tweaked throughout the event. Finally, use flicker-free lighting (or adjust frame rates) to avoid visual distortions.
Using lighting and stage-dressing to create an exceptional experience
Going the extra mile with visuals helps an event become unforgettable. Eight ideas we often discuss with clients when helping them create an exceptional conference:
- Coloured LED uplighters or battens to accent the stage
- Small audience-facing lights, known colloquially as ‘eye candy’, add movement and intensity to the stage, elevating the audience’s experience
- Internal and external image projection using gobo projectors bring the wow factor
- LED stand-off elements provide a back-lit effect, emphasising specific parts of the set
- House lighting keeps audience areas optimally lit, enabling movement, networking, and Q&A sessions
- Lighting stings add drama at exciting moments (such as presenters walking on stage, or someone winning an award)
- Time-coded sequences run alongside video and audio clips to build anticipation for key moments like special guests or announcements
- Subtle use of haze enhances lighting effects by making beams and patterns more visible, adding depth and atmosphere to the stage.
Some of these require a certain level of technical knowledge. We’d be delighted to provide this, either remotely or at your event.
Live music event lighting – what to consider
Festival and music event lighting aim for impactful experiences. Compared to conferences, the stage setup might be quite different, too (check out our guide to setting up a line-array sound system). Face lighting is still used in live music events to ensure acts are visible, but artistic effects are more important.
Audience-facing backlights can silhouette performers. They also add depth to a stage and create a wash-out effect, heightening the audience’s sensory experience. Moving heads with haze effects add motion by creating visible beams of light across the stage. If choosing strobe lighting, arrange for warnings to be shared at the point of ticket sale and at event entrances. Keeping flicker rates below four flashes per second can also make strobing safer.
Help the audience feel part of the performance with immersive lighting that envelops the crowd. Project patterns, images, or even video content onto backdrops or stage elements to turn the whole stage into a canvas (incorporating album cover art, for example). Finally, using intelligent lighting systems synchronised with the music’s tempo and crescendos creates a visual connection with the crowd, making the performance even more engaging.
Hopefully our stage lighting guidance will help you create a unique, memorable performance. For further inspiration check out our gallery and case studies.
