 He rejected painted two-dimensional sets for three-dimensional "living" sets because he believed that shade was as necessary as light to form a connection between the actor and the setting of the performance in time and space.Through the use of control of light intensity, colour and manipulation, Appia created a new perspective of scene design and stage lighting.Directors and designers have both taken great inspiration from the work of Adolphe Appia, whose design theories and conceptualizations of Wagner's operas have helped to shape modern perceptions of the relationship between the performance space and lighting.