Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1) March 16th – 5:35 p.m – Stairwell of my dorm building: I had my second lighting moment when I went to go get my laundry on Wednesday evening.

2) When walking down the stairwell to retrieve my laundry I noticed the overhead lights that lit the stairway. The are fluorescent lights and illuminate a lot of light for the size they are. The light looked old and dingy kind of reflecting the stairwell itself.

3) As I was walking down to the laundry room on Wednesday I noticed the lighting that we have in our stairwell in Suffolk hall. Hanging fluorescent lights that are placed over the door as well as to the right side of the door when you open it illuminate the entire stairwell from the bottom floor to the 6th. I was surprised that these were the only lights and that there was nothing overhead. The feel of these lights made me think of a grimy, dingy hotel room in a movie or a bad vacation experience. The stairwell itself added to this feel because of the chipped paint and the rusty railing as well as the cement cell-block feeling you get when you walk down the stairs. This light was perfect in keeping up with the decor or the area. The light felt cold but strong. I also was imagining a scene from a court/detective tv show where they interrogate the suspects under a light that makes them look pale and empty. This would be well incorporated in a scene that called for that mood.

1) March 12th – 9:15 p.m – parking lot near TJ MAX: On Sunday I was coming out of the TJ MAX not far from school when I had my lighting moment.

2) The reflection of the red TJ MAX sign was being reflected off a van that was parked in front of the store. The bright red light was seen on the side of the van and came out backwards.

3) As I was walking out into the parking lot on Sunday night I paused for a moment to observe the brightly lit TJ MAX sign that was reflecting back at me through a van window. The sign was bright and saturated and I felt like I was in a scary movie or something because of the color and it being really dark out. The lights from the stores were mostly off but the TJ MAX sign was on and still going strong. I wondered what or who was in the van that decided to park so close to the store that the reflection was so clearly visible. There didn’t seem to be anyone inside but you couldn’t really tell because of the signs reflection. The bright red light made me think of blood and horror and the dark night with the creepy van parked outside added to the mystery of things. This feeling swept over me and I immediately headed for my car before I could wait to see whose van this was.

2.) http://phantom-shilouette.deviantart.com/

3.) Sad

4.) I love how starved the color is in this pic, the overall gray tones create such a sad atmosphere to the already sad location of a grave. The modeling of the light on the roses and the gray tone is so cold and sad, so I think this pic really fits the theme.

2) I took this picture in Alaska.

3) Theme: SAD

4) The lighting in this photo feels sad to me.  The grayish tones reflect sadness to me.  The fact that there is no light source is interesting and it creates a muted palette.  There are many different shades of gray and blues and whites and blacks in this picture and that color scheme in terms of lighting seems to generally feel sad to me.  Gray lighting tends to portray sadness for me but something interesting I found about this picture is that I realized some shades of blue and white lighting also portray the same feeling for me.  Also the lighting in this photo is dark and I think that that is a crucial part to the feeling of sadness.  That being said I believe that there has to be a balance between dark and light in order to really create the optimal lighting environment for sadness.

1)   3/16/11- midnight- Student Center

2)   A whitish blue top lighting on a large piece of conduit.  Exposing the dust and grooves on the conduit.  It is very slightly mixed with a yellow light.

3)   This particular lighting moment made me feel curious.  The bluish white color lighting on this large piece of conduit reminded me of tense moments in action movies where there is a break in the action and its dark and the only lighting source is mysterious and kind of spooky top lighting.  The light exposes a lot of detail and I think that’s part of the reason it feels uncomfortable and creates a bit of tension.  To help aid that uncomfortable feeling is the combination of white and blue light that shines down and really just overpowers the warm yellow light besides it.  The light makes it feel cold and industrial.  The conduit is painted so that you couldn’t tell if it was metal unless you know something about conduit.  The white and blue light really makes it look like metal.  This moment was really interesting because the lighting made the conduit look like metal and like conduit.  When looking at a different section of the conduit it was painted red and therefore didn’t really reflect the true properties of conduit.

1)   3/18/11- 11:00 pm- Charlotte, NC looking up at a skyscraper.

2)   Looking up at a skyscraper and seeing up lighting all the way up the side of the building.  White lighting that was consistent throughout the building.

3)   This kind of lighting was seen throughout Charlotte and it gave me the feeling of authority and height.  The consistent up lighting seen throughout the city and especially here on this building made the city deceptively larger than it really was.  The fact that the lighting went all the way up the side of the building helped this effect and the white brightness of the light also aided in creating the optical illusion that the building was really tall.  The up lighting also created a sense of prestige and it heightened everything about the city.  Something interesting that this up lighting didn’t do was that it did not make the city feel overpowering even though there was a clear authoritative feel.  Instead the up lighting served as a way to finish off the city and make it look clean and homey.  This kind of lighting was some how inviting and very comfortable to be around.