Film and television designers need not be concerned with hiding their lights from an audience, the camera will do that for them. Those who design for the screen must sometimes work out of doors with massive instruments that are strong enough to compete with the sun. Stage lighting is much more subtle, and designers must compose continuous cues for an entire show that will be run in sequence according to precise timing. There are few light cues as such in screen work. Lighting designers usually get their training in college.
Practical training is vital in so abstract a discipline.
There is simply no way to learn lighting without doing it. Student lighting designers learn the fundamentals by being on lighting set-up crews, and by operating lights in production. They begin by assisting more advanced designers, then designing lights for small student productions, and finally graduate on to lighting major departmental shows by themselves. Process The lighting designer, like all others begins by studying the script and making notes. Lighting designers are often the last to begin work since they must know what the set and costumes will look like before beginning to light them.