Lighting gels are used to express certain moods on stage and though gels cannot be changed mid scene, lighting designers are encouraged to choose colors that highlight the feeling of the scene. Creating a Lighting Plot Lighting plots are the instructions of what lights should go on and when. It is often broken down by scene and labled. Lights are assigned numbers, generally the number on the dimmer controls to avoid confusion. Lights rarely are sequencial on a board and unless it is just lights up, lights down, the correct dimmer controls will most likely not be next to each other.
Lighting plots contain the first cue starting with house lights down.
This is often a signal from the stage manager. After that, the cues are written down to bring the lights up or turn them off. These are either lines, sound cue, or the action on stage. Though it is a good idea to be familiar with the whole script, only the actually cue lines should be on the lighting plot. The stage manager will call out warnings though this should be arranged in rehersals.