Spotlights come in all shapes and sizes. A basic spotlight focuses light on one area of the venue, such as an important prop or performer. A pin spot focuses a narrow beam of light on an object as small as a table centerpiece, for example. Pin spots cost little to run, as they require low wattage.
PAR-can lighting illuminates broad areas of a venue. Applying gels and filters can change the color used and make the quality of the light softer or harder, creating different moods for different occasions. For example, an icy blue PAR-can light dispersed across a room provides the perfect ambiance for a chilled-out evening of techno music.
Intelligent (or robotic) lighting has lighting fixtures that can move quickly between different colors, positions, strengths and effects, according to a pre-programed pattern. Large-scale events such as rock concerts typically employ these expensive type of lighting effects.
Strobe lighting uses rapid flashing for an often-intense, disorienting lighting effect. In clubs and music venues, strobes combined with dancing gives the appearance of slow motion. The word originates from the Greek "strobos," meaning "act of whirling"--an appropriate summary of the effect it creates. Venues usually warn guests of strobe effects in advance, as they can trigger seizures in people who are prone to epilepsy.
Pyrotechnics use chemical reactions to create lighting and visual effects. Fireworks and firework-based illumination displays fall under this category.
Lasers enjoyed their greatest popularity in the 1980s, often as the main feature of a light display or as effects for a rock concert. The scientific process behind lasers--electromagnetism--creates strikingly vivid, narrow beams of light in different colors. According to event-planning expert Joe Jeff Goldblatt, shaping lasers in a cone produces a "Beam me up, Scotty" effect.
Fiber-optic lights guide light down extremely narrow filament tubes, of which there may be hundreds of thousands, all of them in an array of different colors. They also can form a fiber-optic "curtain," acting as a backdrop on a stage or venue.