As the curtain rises, the spectators find themselves facing a space with three distinct dimensions: width, height and depth. The performance takes place within this space and includes various elements: actors, scenery and so on, organized within space and comprising the visual format of the show. As we watch the stage, we can assume that the three-dimensional aspects of the objects we see are a result, among other things, of the placement and organization of those objects in a particular way.
In actual fact, the perception of three dimensions depends on the existence of a particular and calculated order in which the visual signs are arranged, an order derived, for the most part, from the real world beyond the walls of the theatre.
For example: in order to heighten the effect of depth on a shallow stage, scenic designers can employ perspective painting techniques. The scenery can be painted (in perspective) so that the totality of its external signs simulates the visual signs of a three dimensional space.
The arts of painting, photography, film and television use a similar technique, creating a sign system which imitates the sign system of a three-dimensional space, so that a flat screen is rendered a three-dimensional look. The impression of depth of the
scene
can be further enhanced by reproducing the effects of light and shadow as well as
complementary colors
as they appear in reality.
Don Giovanni, The New Israeli Opera.
Depth can be rendered in many other
ways
such as: streaks of light, film projections, scrim screens and so on. Examples are the effect of rays of light penetrating a
stage
immersed in smoke and creating a
pattern
of direct rays of light or the effect of two spotlights hung
upstage
side by side and focused downstage as backlight, which simulate depth in a way not unlike that experienced by someone looking down railway tracks or two parallel rows of trees which seem to converge into one in the distance.
Midsummer Night's Dream, The New Israeli Opera.
A simulation of depth can be created using projections. When an actor stands behind a transparent screen on which a moving film is projected (front
projection
from the direction of the audience), and the actor is lit so that no shadows fall on either screen or stage, the actor and film will seem to be a part of a the same total three dimensional picture.
Using scrim (gauze) is one of the simplest
ways
in which to separate different lighting areas on stage. An illuminated actor standing behind the scrim will always look further away than an actor standing in front of the scrim.
As a rule, objects seen from a distance will appear less
clear
cut than objects seen from close up. This phenomenon can be reproduced in the theatre by lighting the object we wish to "push" further
upstage
with a luminaire which produces a softer
pattern
of light. A diffusion filter can be added to further soften the light, and if the object is to be lit with color, this should not be a saturated hue. Textures can be accentuated by judicious choice of the angle of illumination.
Following are examples of the use of color to enhance the perception of depth.
Two actors stand on stage, at a distance from one another. In order to increase the apparent distance between them and to see them separately, we will use a different luminaire to illuminate each of the actors. The actor we wish to appear closer can be lit in orange, while a blue filter can be used to make the other actor seem further away.
