The whole lighting design is called the lighting plot or plan. Lighting designers take lighting templates, which are skeletal drawings of the stage, and create a stenciled drawing of their light configuration. The director, stage manager and lighting technicians carry copies of the script with notations for each lighting state, which is the summation of all lighting effects at any given moment. Elements of lighting design that are limited only to a certain production, or a leg of a traveling production, are marked as restricted lighting.
Lighting and set designers refer to different kinds of lighting by the parts of the stage they illuminate. General lighting refers to the broadest lights that cover most or all of the stage. Front light is that closest to the audience, back light covers the rear of the stage, and down light comes from directly above its target. Other terms include accent lighting, which is a light shining on a particular set piece, and the babu spotlight, which lights an actor's face from a short distance.
Stage lighting incorporates a variety of technical hardware. Some are self-explanatory: automated lights toggle on and off on their own and intelligent lights dim or brighten in response to actors or other lights moving. Floodlights are lensless and illuminate the stage broadly from above or below. A special lamp that involves a colored covering and a rotating mirror inside is a fuzz light, and can produce a siren or disco-like effect. Colored plastic filters that adjust a light's hue are called gels.
Some terms are used for giving commands during a production, often initiated by the word "cue." Cue fade means either a gradual increase or decrease in lighting levels, while bump means a more sudden change. Blackout means all lights off and takes the form of such commands as "GOBO" for "go blackout" or "F.B.O." for "fade to blackout." After shows and at intermission, the phrase "cue house lights" means to turn on the audience lighting and other lights that are dimmed or off during performances.
Lights used for artistic effects have their own set of terms. Crosslights, for instance, are multiple lights that cross paths to more brightly illuminate something. A key light in a certain area provides enough light to focus the audience's attention there. A light curtain means the effect of producing a wall of light, either by strongly backlighting something with no light from the front or by lighting a cloud of smoke from a fog machine.
Some terms exist for on-set communication during planning and testing phases. Flagging a light means to wave a hand in front of it to judge its effect. Patching means to connect lanterns or other lights to dimming devices. On lights with adjustable beams, to increase the light by adjusting the beam more directly towards its lens is called flooding the light; moving it away from the lens is called spotting the light. To direct someone to turn off a light, tell them to kill it.