Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1) 3/13/13 9:30 P.M. Outside the playhouse

2) The slim crescent of the moon in a black sky without stars. The real light of the moon in contrast to the artificial light of the lamps and buildings

3) Surrounded by light, sometimes we are blind to the reality. What we now view as commonplace is only a production of our needs. The pure heart of the moment is that there may not be light. We take for granted the gifts light has given us. At the same time we have learned to be unaffected by where the orignal light came from. Seeing the pure white light of the moon, however small. meek, or hidden, is a reminder of our roots. It shows how far we’ve come.

1) 2/26/13 1:30 A.M. Laying in my bed.

2) Laying in my bed I looked out my window and the moon. The blinds were closed, so I could only see from a certain angle. The moon had a soft white light that I could see but did not reflect into any other part of my room.

3) Seeing the moon at night is almost like seeing a friend after a long time apart. You spend time away from each other but in the back of your mind you are aware of each others existence. You might remember every once in a while and smile while thinking about old times. But when nighttime comes in to your life and a feeling of solitude creeps up, you realize that your friend is still there. He may have changed since last time, but he is still there. Even when you can’t see the moon, it is always present and it will turn up when you need it to during the dark, as a warm, inviting friend to remind you that you’re not alone.

1)   4/6/12 – 9:32 PM – In airplane, roughly 20,000 feet in altitude somewhere over east coast.

2)   OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was flying from Philadelphia to Dublin for spring break. There was a close to full moon out as we took off. As we ascended above the east coast, I looked out the window on the right side of the plane and noticed the moon. It was shining brightly and was casting a long reflection onto the water. You could tell where the land was because there was no reflection.

3)   SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was finally given the break I was looking for. After a lot of work at school I could not wait for my flight to take off and take me to Dublin for a nice vacation with my parents. I flew in to Philadelphia airport and met my parents where we then proceeded on to Dublin. As we took off there was a low cloud cover that did not allow us to see any stars or the moon that was above us. As we climbed out of the city, we followed the coast north and broke out of the clouds relatively quickly. As we continued north, the clouds below us began to break and the moon became apparent to my mom and me. It was shining intensely and fully over the Atlantic Ocean. As we looked down to the ground below us we noticed the reflection it was creating on the ocean and all of the inlets below us. The pure, brilliant light was shining down and casting a very long and calming reflection all the way to the coast.

As we climbed higher and traveled further north the image became more and more brilliant and beautiful. The light was able to shine clearly through the air and make a very vivid reflection across the Atlantic. The image of this reflection appeared to be so calm and gentle. the water looked so calm and did not seem like we were looking out on the ocean at all. At most it looked simply like a pond of calm water no giant waves or rough water. Looking at the dark spots that represented the land provided a clear and vivid contrast of land and sea that truly enhanced the picture outside of our plane. I stared out of the window watching the light change and watching the dark areas of the coast fly by beneath us. It was so calm and relaxing… just like I wanted my break to be.

1) 3/6/12 – 6:55 PM – Entrance to the netherlands quad.

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was walking back to my room after the sun had gone down. The moon was high in the sky in the direction of the student center. The light from the moon was shining through the gate to the Netherlands and casting a shadow of the gate and bike that was locked to it.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was walking home from dinner on tuesday night. It was a nice night, relatively warm and very comfortable to be outside. The sun had been down for a while and the moon was high and bright in the sky. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon was almost full. As I entered the Netherlands through the sliding doors I happened to to look to my right and notice a very interesting image being displayed infront of my eyes.

In the entrance to the Netherlands there is a large set of bared gates to allow for people to move in to the dorms easier with all of their gear. The Gates are purely metal and are formed from a series of vertical bars about 3 inches apart across the width of the gates. There was a mountain bike that had been locked to the lower 25% of the gate that lay rested against there with the front tire slightly turned to the side to allow the bike to stand up. The Moon was shining brightly through the gate and casting a very long, striped shadow across the sidewalk. A series of very close parallel lines lay on the ground only interrupted where the bike was placed. The lines ran parallel all the way to the bottom where the lines of frame of the bike filled in the open gaps of light from the fence. It was a very cool image on the ground to see the organized lines filled in at just the right areas to be put together to make the perfect image of a bike on the ground, simply created from the light of the moon.

1) 2/23/12 – 6:22 – Walking outside of the Caulkins Quad facing toward NAB

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was walking to Bits from spanish class and the sun had just set. The sky was barely lit and I could see Venus and the moon. The moon was a sliver but I could see the entire outline of it behind the shadow of the earth.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was walking to Bits after a long and boring day of classes. I was in a bad mood as I had lots of homework and other things filling my plate. I was walking across the quad just outside of Caulkins enjoying the last few moments of light for the day. I was beginning to feel better while we walked as this was my first time outside to enjoy the spring like weather. As my friend talked to me about his day I gazed upwards, towards the sky to see the brightest objects in the night sky begin to appear as final rays of the sun beat down on campus.

The sky was a deep, and very rich blue that seemed to glow across the entirety of the sky. There was no sunset at this point, it was simply just the last bit of light that was reaching across the sky. I noticed that I must have timed it just right to be out there at this time. I noticed how usually when the sun has just set, it is still very clear where the sun is setting. The western side of the sky always has a brighter feel to it and on the eastern edge there is always almost complete darkness. Tonight was different. The sky was blanketed with an even coating of color all the way from east to west and there was no variation in intensity. As I looked up I saw Venus burning brightly in the sky. The pure, brilliant white light from Venus provided amazing contrast against the deep and glowing blue of the sky around it.

Just to the right of venus I noticed the moon very high in the sky. It was only a sliver of a moon and will probably not even exist tomorrow at this time. This sliver, like Venus, provided an amazing contrast that was so vivid in the beginnings of the night sky. Despite the fact that the moon was only a tiny sliver tonight I was still able to see the entire shape of the full moon being illuminated behind the shadow of the Earth. It was a very interesting sight and one that is very vivid in my mind. It was very cool to me to think that the Earth itself was blocking out all of that light from the sun that was being reflected from the sun. Even though the shadow was there, the sun was still powerful enough to illuminate the entire sphere for me to see against the glowing sky.

2) Saturns moon Rhea, taken by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 8, 2010

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12696

3)Photo Theme: Shadows

4) This is a photograph of Rhea, one of Saturns moons and it’s rings. This photo fits the theme of the week because it the shadows, not only give the items definition, but it’s the reason we see the items in the photo. Because of the shadows being created by the sun shining on saturn, we may notice each crater on Rhea, and we can tell that it’s not a circe, but a ball because of the definition that the shadows are creating. Since we are looking at the rings, almost straight on, the background is a well lit “backdrop” created by Saturns brightly lit atmosphere, nicely  decorated with strokes of shadow from the rings.

1) 2/8/12 – 9:40 PM – Fields at the corner of campus just past the fitness center

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: It was a relatively clear sky with a few clouds scattered in sky. It was a full moon and it was casting shadows and lighting up the entire field and short but clear shadows.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: Tuesday was a long day; after working against the clock all morning on the Much Ado set I sat through a pair of hour and a half long classes on pure lecture and was assigned double homework due for thursday. Spanish then followed and by the time 6:00 rolled around I was exhausted and  decided a quick walk would do me some good so that I could clear my head and enjoy some fresh oxygen to the brain (free of sawdust and steel shavings). I grabbed my IPod and left the grounds of the netherlands and headed north east to the fields just beyond the fitness center where I like to walk and enjoy the little grassy sanctuary in the middle of the modernized Long Island I was surrounded by. This spot was a little place that reminded me of home, untouched by buildings and simply serves to house the bunnies and offer a clear place for me to breathe and de-stress.

As I got closer to the fitness center I began to relax and let myself wander in my thoughts. I strolled on to the grass and began walking to the far field. At this point I was in a secluded from the bustle around me and was overtaken by my music and the calmness of the cool air. I began to notice the clarity of the air and the full moon shining above me very high in the sky.

I started looking down the ground and noticed how each blade of grass seemed somewhat shiny in the cool light and each blade cast its own faint shadow just beneath it. Even though the darkness of the grass reflected very low intensities the dark shadows hashed into the deep green created a mess of crooked lines into the ground. As I wandered through the grass noticing the faint resemblance of the bunnies I sat down on the bleachers and looked up. The sky was glowing in a dark blue and only the brightest objects in the sky were visible, Venus, Mars and two other stars. There were three wispy clouds directly above me. The  light from the moon made the edges glow white contrasting with rich blue background. I sat there and took a deep breathe and soaked in the air and the world around me. I looked at the moon and realized how for me it was looking in to the sun. I realized that with a life in the theater, seeing the sun would be a privilege on most days and that for as long as I was going to be in this field of study I was going to have to get used to the shadows and feeling of only the suns reflection.

Monday 6 February, 2012
Outside Emily Lowe Hall and the Cranford Adams Playhouse
Around 8:00 pm

I’m walking from Lowe towards the Playhouse and I see the moon in the sky. It’s visible through the branches of one of the trees and is framed on either side by the lampposts outside of the Playhouse.

I appreciated that the first thing I noticed, despite the tree branches, despite the shining lampposts, and despite the overall light pollution that shrouds Long Island was the visibility and brightness of the moon. It was just that shade of yellow that’s hinting at a harvest moon to come, and it’s appearance through the tree branches against the pitch black backdrop was beautiful. But the invading abruptness of the unnatural light from the lampposts added a certain level of sinisterness to it, as if the lampposts were planning on overcompensating for something and outshining the moon so much that it would be drowned out forever.

2) Found photo on PBS website in news article about the moon

3) Modeling photo

4) I was really looking for a picture that can show the importance of shadows in revealing what an object or features look like. This picture of the moon’s surface has numerous craters, rocks, and bumps that are all highlighted by the light. The light is casting shadows in such a way that they reveal all the contours and shapes of the features in the picture. Any and every indent or bulge is highlighted and can be identified due to the presence of light and shadow. I like the picture because it is very deceptive in the realm of scale. In fact, the main crater is 19 miles across. The picture creates a feeling of insignificance when you realize the true size of what you’re seeing. The picture also creates a very desolate, lonely, and isolated feeling by the nature of the gray color and barren, rocky, landscape.

1) Thursday February 17, 10:00, Outside Hofstra Hall

2) The light coming from Hofstra Hall is bright, and aimed right at me. It is white. There is other lighting coming from lamps. The moon is bright white and almost full.

3) The light aimed right at me is abrasive, and reminds me of a police interrogation. If I look up without being careful, I’m blinded for a second. However, it lights the whole area better than the side lamps, with their almost calming lighting that does little but to cast the area immediately surrounding them in a soft orange. The moon, meanwhile, serves as a great contrast. Just as white, whoever the moon does not blind, in fact, it is on and off blinded itself by the clouds.