Talk:Spotlight (theatre lighting)

History?

Disappointed that this article doesn't cover the history of the spotlight. When and where were these first used? What where the first ones like? How did they influence stage productions and other entertainments? I hope someone will add to this entry. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.123.166.33 (talk) 06:24, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

terminology

Maybe this is a regional or uk/us terminology thing but I always thought (from my brief interactions with the theatre industry) that "spotlight" on it's own normally reffered to lights that provided light in semi-fixed (only changed between performances) locations while "followspot" reffered to lights that were designed to be moved to follow a target on stage. 94.6.24.111 (talk) 21:04, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

Yes I work with light in the theater and the spotlights and followspot is two different thing, but in English may used the spotlight to followspot too. On the photo of the article there is a fixed light. --Beyond silence 06:34, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

Yes I agree there is a problem here. I'd pretty much never say "spotlight" on its own except in a domestic setting or when talking to someone without technical knowledge. The lantern described in this article I would always call a followspot, then I'd call the semi-fixed ones described above by their designation such as profile or fresnel, though I agree that "spot" is there, sometimes silently, after the designation. In other words, it's quite a good example of a Wikipedia terminological mess and I am not sure how I would fix it! :( Best to all DBaK (talk) 09:04, 13 October 2018 (UTC)

Spotlight photo

I removed the following photo from the article.

Older style spotlight, Cinema Museum (London)

I do not recognize the specific make or model of this light fixture, but it looks to me like it is a Fresnel_lantern, and in my experience, Fresnel are not often used as spotlight. I am removing the photo from the article, until we can find a good reference.Sébastien Leblanc ^(Talk|Mail) 08:01, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

I think that's a good move; the light pictured is often referred to as a spotlight in the UK theatre industry, but isn't the fixture the article's about (we normally call it a followspot). --RedHillian | Talk 02:38, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

Remote control

Anyone care to add details about remote control spotlights such as the remote control system available for the PRG Bad Boy? -- 109.79.158.192 (talk) 04:30, 29 June 2016 (UTC)