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Light plan
It is not strange nowadays to ask yourself a question as basic as: Do lighting and illuminations, in general, serve our town? If ever security was restricting the illumination of towns, this has certainly changed very much today. In addition to our basic standards, we can now add factors such as improved quality of life and urban identity. Current public lighting has been insufficient, so more complex feasibility studies must be carried out. It thus involves placing these studies into three groups: diagnosis - suggestions (methods of approach) - financial estimates. The technical and economical handling of light would not even be considered without important reflection on improving the population's living conditions, with the aim of: working on welfare and visual comfort and important developing areas as much as on the coherent relationship between new and old and the benefit of heritage; and finally, favouring sustainable development, a field which is essential for the growth of the town.
Furthermore, far from considering light as a simple means of making moving around at night easier, the light plan addresses illumination on a larger scale, offering what is known as the "social function of light". |  
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Light up or animate
For the scenographer, speaking of light presents the idea that light is not simply a technical medium, but becomes, once the beam has been modelled and shaped, a physical phenomenon. As the star feature of the night, light has its own language, free space, secret codes all uniquely different for each and every one of us.. The evolution of the techniques, new technologies, trends, the discovery of cultural alternatives, and the never-diminishing appetite of the public drives us towards a new approach to lighting design. Each town, each village has its secrets until the role of light opens up the path to their discovery. To be able simultaneously to incorporate gates, corbels, bartisans, balconies, fountains or water features, trees, bridges, porches, columns, stained-glass windows... is an asset when the light scenographer uses his imagination (script of set) and also his knowledge of new technologies to create his playful, animated objective. To create a light event in the middle of a town or urban area is to get the visitor curious and involved, mark out an itinerary where the process arrives at the point between surprise and discovery, and allow the public to learn about the city whilst uniting the performance's dynamic techniques. | 
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In this sense, the approach of a light scenographer/designer is essential. The general approach to a light journey project, a night time illumination show or a tour, the employed technical means (lights, images/videos, virtual images...) and the stage orientations, depends most importantly on the ‘language' of the scene with which the scenographer wants to feel to surprise the public and enhance the image of the city. |
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