The lighting designer must be aware of numerous details regarding the spatial organization and structure of the scenery. He or she must know whether it is painted or sculptured, and whether the surfaces are smooth or textured, all in order to design lighting which will best accentuate the visual merits of the scenery.
Warm sidelighting enhances the gold picture frames on the back wall. Boris Godunov, The New Israeli Opera.
The choice of lighting angles is crucial in this respect and changes in lighting angles will radically change the way the whole scenery looks . This shell shaped piece of scenery is lit from three different angles: front lighting, which flattens it out, side lighting, which accentuates the plasticity of the folds, and foot light, which exaggerates the bottom of the shell and makes the top fade away into the background.
Lighting brings out the mute shine of the black marble pillar and the briliance of the gold.
The lighting and scenery designer should be aware that front lighting will eliminate textures, protuberances and indents in the scenery and flatten it out. Top lighting at a steep angle (60-70°) may make the seams between flats stand out. Side lighting can help to bring out details, but can also accentuate lumps and crevices which the scenery designer never imagined existed.
