Talk:Gobo (lighting)

Bat Signal
Is this how they make the Batman signal or what? If so, someone please add a blurb to the article mentioning it. It's probably the most lay person friendly / best pop culture example of one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.243.37.0 (talk) 23:48, 19 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Well, frankly, the Batsignal doesn't have a focusing lens over the template, so it really wouldn't work worth a damn. Jeh (talk) 17:14, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

The Bat Signal was fictitious, of course, but in the old TV show, it was based on a parabolic beam projector, which is an actual (lensless) lighting instrument, though a very old-fashioned one. It did not use a gobo like we use the term today, but a bat-shape placed in the midst of the parabolic beam. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmkizer (talk • contribs) 18:51, 14 March 2015 (UTC)


 * So it still won't work. The only thing that template will do, at any appreciable distance from the projector, is reduce the intensity of the light. The fact that there's a parabolic reflector behind the light source is irrelevant. To project an image over distance requires a focusing lens after the image, just as slide projectors have. In fact the layout of a lighting instrument with a gobo isn't much different from that of a slide projector. Jeh (talk) 03:39, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Cleanup Tag
This page is currently a mess and progresses in no logical order. The headings didn't even relate to the sections they headed (I tried to fix that, but there are still issues).

I don't think this needs any expert attention, just to be rearranged so that it flows better. -- Avocado 19:34, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Suggested graphic change
This is far outside my field. But it seems to me that the first graphic (showing a cutout being used outside of a light source) does not really illustrate a "gobo" at all. A gobo would go INSIDE the projector, before the final ("projection"?) lens(es). A silhouette used as shown will, at any appreciable distance, simply result in less light on the subject, unless the silhouette is VERY close to the subject. No?

It would be more useful to show a schematic of the layout of a typical ellipsoidal or follow spot, with the light source, reflector, gobo, and projection lenses identified. Jeh 19:28, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
 * As a theatre person, I think an additional graphic of that sort would be useful. On the other hand, my understanding is that in film, a gobo can be a cutout that exists independent of the lantern, and sits between it and the scene. -- Avocado 03:27, 1 January 2007 (UTC)


 * From the article, "gobo" is short for either "go between" or "goes before optics," meaning it's inside the unit. The things hung on the outside are called "a cookie, flag or cucoloris, which all get placed outside the lighting instrument between the lens and subject."  And unless something very odd is going on, if placed outside the lantern they can't produce a sharp image.  They can produce diffusion, fogging, etc., effects, but they can't cast a sharp-edged detailed shadow as is shown in the graphic. No? 08:18, 2 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Not for any appreciable distance, no. Jeh 03:16, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Gosh people - BE BOLD in your edits. Make a new image and put it up. Twitter twitter... jk 23:35, 2 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Gosh, maybe none of us has the graphic skill. -- Avocado 19:53, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Thats the reason... Anyone know photoshop? -JWGreen 03:23, 4 November 2007 (UTC)


 * So I happened to stay in a hotel at LHR T4, and my room had a track lighting device that was a gobo projector! I hope the pictures I took, and my captions, help with the above. Should it be higher up in the article? Maybe before the picture of the badly discolored gobo? Jeh (talk) 17:18, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Removed Text
I removed the text "The gobo was created in 1962 by Don Childs. He invented the gobo out of neccessity for his colege." There is indeed a lighting designer by that name, but only two sites on a google search for ("Don Childs" gobo) do not mention the both Don and gobos in the same place. If anyone can verify that this is indeed true, please put the text back in and cite it. -JWGreen 05:33, 2 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Since there isn't any fundamental difference between a gobo projector and a slide projector, and slide projectors existed long before 1962, this claim seems unlikely. Jeh (talk) 20:47, 25 April 2014 (UTC)

"Go Between"
The word "gobo" is commonly understood to be a contraction of "go between", yet this definition has been removed from the article. Considering how widespread this definition is, this would seem to warrant some sort of reference or explanation in the article. --134.29.220.49 (talk) 13:33, 21 May 2009 (UTC)


 * This would make more sense, since 'Gobo' is an american term, which has been in use on US film sets long before the Gobo was in use in theatrical environments. Originally it was a shaped flag, so did not 'go before optics' Trotboy (talk) 09:20, 3 March 2010 (UTC)


 * It seems nowadays, that the term "gobo" (which I've also been taught to understand means "goes between") refers to just about anything that goes between a light and... anything. Such as a gobo arm. I've added a few words to one of the paragraphs to mention this (with a citation), but find it interesting the article does not discuss this at all when it's a very common usage (at least here in "the states"). Best, R OBERT M FROM LI  TALK/CNTRB 23:28, 12 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Just my two cents but, here in Eastern Canada, gobo typically only refers to patterns in theatre and patterns and flags in film/t.v. (in my experience). Everything else gets its own name (like "side-arm" instead of "gobo arm"). I have nothing other than personal experience to back that up though... DJSparky      huh?  16:46, 13 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I know terms seem very variable per locale, but that's why I cited one of the definitive sources on set lighting: ref:Box, Harry C. "Set lighting technician's handbook" Third Edition, Focal Press, 2003. p. 120 (and others). - and here's another of the books on the topic: ref:Uva, Michael "The Grip Book" Fourth Edition, Focal Press, 2009. p. 61, 98, 104, others..
 * I would be very interested in revising/cleaning up such articles in a fashion where we could accurately (without making the article a mess) convey how each term is generally used in different locales and different types of productions (ie: studio, stage, etc). Just don't know how to do that without some decent refs, and a lot of time spent figuring out how to do so without making the article confusing. Best, Robert R OBERT M FROM LI  TALK/CNTRB 17:15, 13 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Writing as a professional lighting design for theatre here.  From the early 1980s to the 1990s, I never heard the word "Gobo" defined as a contraction of "Goes Between."   The term "Goes Before Optics" started spreading a meaning for "Gobo,"  in my experience, only in the 20th century.   The word itself predates the steel templates we use today, going back to film and cameras and sound, long before it was used for theatre lighting.     DMkizer      User_talk:dmkizer    14 March 2015 (UTC)

"Graphical optical blackout"???
Editor has inserted the phrase "Graphical Optical BlackOut" as the true meaning of "GOBO". Well, he does have a couple of references.

However, the long history of the page has it as "goes before optics", as discussed above here... and we already have references.

Google: << "Graphical optical blackout" >> finds 1200 hits. << "goes before optics" >>,\: 7900 hits. << "goes between optics" >>, 419 hits Both terms together: << "Graphical optical blackout" "goes before optics" >> finds only about 20 pages that mention both.

(I'm using the angle brackets to surround an entire search string to be used, quotes (") included as written.)

What is interesting in the latter result is that most of them mention "graphical optical blackout" as "another origin may be" or the like. It seems clear to me that "goes before optics" is the more accepted and widely used term.

It seems obvious to me that this "Graphical optical blackout" thing is a recent retronym, i.e. something somebody made up with no historical referents, likely in an attempt to come up with something more formal-sounding than "goes before optics". But the term "gobo" has been in use since the early 1900s and nobody was making up elaborate technical jargon acronyms like "Graphical optical blackout"  back then.

My current thinking is that we could accept "Graphical optical blackout" as an alternate and very recent term, but not to the exclusion of the far more historical (and more widely used) "goes before optics". Jeh (talk) 16:46, 23 April 2017 (UTC)

Photographic uses
In commercial photography studios, from personal experience (in Australia) —but which I have verified from references quoted — the term 'gobo' is simply short for 'go-between', just as in 'SoHo'. It's a colloquial American term that dates back to Hollywood film studios. For photographers the gobo serves either of two purposes; to create shadows on, or shade, the subject (as described in the theatrical discussion that dominates this article); or to shade the lens of the camera to cut flare, especially where back-lighting is used. The gobo may be big (a 'flat'), or small (a 'dot'). but in each case it is used for shade. Heaven help the studio assistant that doesn't understand what is meant! Simple as that. "Graphical optical blackout"? the citations for that are much more recent, and the dictionaries cited each give 'go-between' as a likely source of the abbreviation. Jamesmcardle(talk) 10:50, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

"Cookie cutter (lighting)" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Cookie cutter (lighting). The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 January 25 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Hildeoc (talk) 13:52, 25 January 2021 (UTC)