Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Time: Late afternoon, last Wednesday (this happened over spring break when I was home)

Objective Description: Afternoon sunlight shone on Big Tupper and the other surrounding mountains, creating patches of light and shadow on the rolling landscape.

Subjective Description: The sight of light and shadow on mountains is one of my favorite lighting moments in the world, ever. It seems like such an insignificant thing, but personally, I don’t think anything else could top it. It’s a sight that I’ve admired outside of my bedroom window for as long as I can remember.

I could see Big Tupper, the local skiing mountain, as well as several of the other nearby Adirondack mountains, from my bedroom window. It was late afternoon and the day was still bright despite the drab March landscape of dead, leafless trees. The sun shone brightly, casting dark shadows on some of the area. The shadows contrasted immensely with the parts of the mountain that were lit up by the bright sun. You could see every contour of the mountain. It almost gave the impression of movement, despite the fact that these mountains are some of the oldest and have been in one place for billions of years. The dark parts made the mountains seem huge and mysterious – you’ll never see every part of it clearly, because by the time the sun illuminated the shadowy spots, another part of the mountain had gone dark.

The light and shadow accented the mountains’ natural beauty. The sight was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Every time I see it, I am reminded that I am blessed to call such a beautiful place my home. I don’t miss the snow and cold weather and driving 40 minutes to get to a Starbucks, but I do really miss the way sunlight shines on the mountains in the afternoon.

Photo Credit: http://t.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3813330

Theme: Gentle

Description: The only light in the room comes from a stuffed animal turtle projector, which shines softly on the boy as he sleeps. The light makes the boy look very peaceful. The fact that the light comes from a stuffed animal rather than a nightlight plugged into the wall makes the light much more gentle, as stuffed animals generally have connotations of being comforting. The projected stars add to the effect, as they are less harsh than a beam from a typical nightlight. In addition, the light coming from the turtle is shades of blue, which is a calming and relaxing color. All of these elements make this the perfect gentle lighting for going to sleep.

Date: 4/3/16

Time: 11:00am

Location: Somewhere on 80 East in the Pocono Mountains

Objective Description: I am driving along a long highway in the mountains.  Currently I am in a valley, looking ahead I see a large mountain range with sunlight shining down through the clouds.

Subjective Description: Warm sunlight peaks through the gray clouds on a cold spring day in early April.  Beams of sunlight are visible in long streaks across the sky as it pours down over a small section of a large mountain range.  Clouds cast shadows across the rest of the mountain face making it appear a dark blue in the distance. The beautiful color is broken up by small patches of warm white light that was able to pierce the cloud coverage.

I took this photo

Theme: gentle

Description: A single warm yellow/amber light shines in a seemingly all dark room.  The warm light spans outwards and seamlessly dissipates into the darkness.  The warmth (both physically and metaphorically) coming from the light seems to welcome us in and show an area of solace from the darkness that surrounds. The light is gentle, warm and welcoming.

Date: 3/30/16

Time: 3:30 pm

Location: Anne Frank House, Netherlands

Objective Description: Delicate pages from a carefully preserved diary lay against a dark backdrop. The light, coming from small instruments on the ceiling and several instruments surround the display case create just enough of a dim light to read what is written. Notices on each side of the display mark just how delicate the pages are and how dim the display must be lit for preservation purposes.

Subjective Description: A dark and narrow room, grave like the circumstances of the second World War. A dark, velvet blue pillow cushioning the red and white plaid diary that would send chills across the world. A room so dark, the soft-yellow dim accompanying the displays all but forced your eyes upon the focus of such a grim past. Dark like that of her fate, but hopeful as the dim light illuminates the pages she so desired for the world to read. There is a silence as the stark atmosphere removes you from the outside world and places you into the secret hiding place, dawned with blackout curtains and the deprivation of natural light. An homage to dark days that still haunt the streets of the Netherlands and the history of the world.