Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1) DATE-TIME-LOCATION: 3/27/12 – 1:34 A.M. – Design Studio

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was working late in the studio on my 555 project. It was very dark outside the window and the lights were on inside. I was working on tracing over my drawings on the light table. I looked up and saw my reflection in the window and saw that the light was adding a yellow tint from the bottom of my face.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION:I was working late one night in the studio. I had been working for ten hours straight on the project and was sick of looking down at my paper and trying to draw the figures that I just could not understand how to draw. It was early in the morning and it was very dark outside the windows of the room. Inside the studio we had the florescent lights on and the light table. I was frantically running back and forth between my desk and the light board to see how my drawings matched up with the old image. I was having lots of troubles and becoming extremely angry with myself.

I threw my head into my hands and grunted and blew off some steam. I took a deep breath and slowly raised my head to look off into distance. I happened to look at the window and noticed my reflection. I stared at myself for a while realizing how awful I looked and how it reflected how my brain was feeling at that moment. I then noticed the interesting (and unflattering) lighting that was being cast upon my face. As I hovered over the light table the light from the lamps inside the table were casting upward and casting dramatic shadows from directly under me. The light of the room was very flat and white while the light that was beaming out of the table had a yellow tint to it and added an interesting and dramatic contrast on my face. I was finally distracted from my frustrated mood and began to play with the lighting on my face. Next thing I knew I was staring at myself in an empty room with my head cocked back and I was attempting to light the inside of my nostril. I was there standing trying to illuminate my nostril with the amber light from the light table as I studied myself in the reflection of the black window in front of me. I realized at this moment that this is why I am a lighting designer not a costume designer. With light, I loose all awareness of the things around me and play with my nostril but when I try to figure out how fabric falls on someones body, I rip my hair out.

1. 10-23-2012, 2:00AM, The Unispan

2. The late night unispan lights made the structure seem as if it went on forever.

3. Walking home after a late night in the studio is always hard. Bed seems interminably far away. Crossing the unispan last night, I noticed the perfectly straight, even row of fluorescents above me. A long line of lit up ants, stretching across the brownish ceiling, the perspective made it look like the unispan would never end. They line up like lane dividers in the desert, when the road is perfectly straight, and no car is coming your way for miles. staring at their bright, cool light, you were on an endless road, no idea where you will end up, trudging your way towards sleep, and perhaps, trudging your way towards possibility.

I was having breakfast with a friend after class and we were sitting in the quad by Roosevelt Hall, under a tree with bright pink flowers.

As I was sitting and laughing with my friend I looked up at the branches above me, bright pink petals against an azure blue backdrop. Just then the breeze began to blow and petals began to fall and scatter themselves all around us. As fluttered in the wind, the light caught them from behind, making them glow as they dances to the ground. With the light shining through them, and the wind making them twirl in the air, it was easy to imagine that some kind of magic had caught hold of them and they were dancing at the joy of spring.

This is a photo that I took late last spring, by the snake river in Idaho.

This photo to me represents the heart of spring, beautiful things growing and blooming when it barely seems possible. I was struck by the way this beautiful orange flower grew out of solid rock where only dry brown grass seemed to find a purchase for their roots.

DATE-TIME-LOCATION: March 17th, 4:42am, my dorm room

OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: Thick fog fills the air outside of the 10th floor and yellow light gently permeates it.  At random intervals, spots of brighter yellow light appear.

SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I awoke spontaneously, lying on my stomach, and raised my head.  Outside my window was a strange, seemingly opaque, pale and dusty yellow wall. It was incredibly eerie; through the wall shone strange source-less yellow lights: ghost lights. It reminded me of a scene out of a movie (perhaps one of the Pirates of the Caribbean series when they pass through the souls) as a place between worlds is depicted, the protagonist disoriented and frightened, unsure of their fate, or perhaps a foggy night in a horror movie, strange lights appearing in the woods where bloodthirsty somethings lurk. As my eyes traveled down the wall, I was transported to a damp, misty morning in the Amazon as the glare from the lights of a jaguar’s eyes catch me off-guard. Until I figure out that they’re just the double-streetlight outside of Liberty of course.

http://www.123rf.com/photo_836629_the-impassable-road-in-spring-wood-snow-melting-bare-trees-soil-and-stick.html

THEME: Spring

DESCRIPTION: I love this picture as a representation of spring because spring is really a lot of waiting for me. Waiting for the rain to stop; waiting for the green to really show. Waiting for the earth to dry and the corn to sprout. Waiting for the hay to come in, to see if you can get a good second cut. Waiting for the day you can wear sandals without having to slosh through puddles. Waiting for the barn to stop flooding; waiting for the new sets of critters to be born. Just waiting for all of the snow to finally melt! Despite the fact that spring is often rainy, generally damp, and too frequently dreary (really sometimes just a sad and soggy time) it’s still a time of anticipation: the good kind of waiting. There are those few shoots of green; a random tulip or tiger-lily, the gardens of the avid lawn-scapers that are already planted and manicured are a reminder of the explosion of sunlight and plant and animal life that are soon to come.

The lighting in this picture is very flat and far more grey than sunny and cheerful. Still, the glimpses of that bright blue, summery sky tell us that the life is coming back! Soon these woods will be lavished with green and a soft, warm yellow-green will filter through the leaves, creating an inviting shade. The colorful birds will soon adorn the branches and fill the air with their chirps and songs. Soon that lovely, lively blue-sky feeling will pervade the whole scene and the summer will be on its heels.

March 21st – 12:30AM – NAB parking lot

I was walking with Meaghan back to my car. When I hit the unlock button on my clicker, the yellow headlights illuminated in the fog.

Once again, I was helping out Meaghan with her directing scene. After a funny night of playing around with the scene, we decided to call it a night. We thought it was a wonderful idea to go to Dutch treats to get a late night snack, so we started to walk towards my car which was parked near the NAB. As I reached in my pocket, I pressed the unlock door button and the foggy air in front of us was filled with the yellow light. I immediately shouted, “Lighting moment”! I loved how the fog made the yellow light feel infinite and limitless, yet still gave a feeling that kept me alert. The problem was, that I wanted to get a picture of the lighting moment but my lights wouldn’t go off anymore. I then thought it was a better idea to turn on my car alarm at 12:30 in the morning for a photo shoot on my car in the fog. I really do have wonderful ideas. The yellow light flickered in the fog and I could see the light trail from my headlight, outward. I could see the particles midair in the light much clearer. The light reminded me of the prison spotlights. The yellow was very protruding on the eyes, like if a spotlight was on me. Anyways we went to Dutch Treats; I got a ham sandwich on wheat with mozzarella and fat free mayo. It was wonderful. And no one bothered to think twice than my car was being stolen…..

Photo taken by Tanner Alvarez. Taken in Brielle, NJ April 20th 2011 at 5PM

Spring

I love my home. I really didn’t appreciate it as much until I went to college. Spring to me is a time of relaxation and reflection. The season takes a toll on me for the better. I constantly feel happy in the spring, opposite to the winter. It is a time for me to reflect all that I accomplished this year, and what I will accomplish next year. This is one of the things I miss the most. This is a view from my house, overlooking Debbie’s Creek. It has quite a macabre story. It is about a girl named Debbie who went out canoeing one day and mysteriously vanished. Her canoe was found in the middle of the creek. Besides the scary story, the view is breathtaking and it is very relaxing to sit near the creek, in the late afternoon, and just reflect upon the day. The light blue sky is such a perfect blend of white and blue. It gives off this calming feel that lets you exert your emotion right into the creek. The sky is reflecting in the beautiful water, but this does not give the water a blue color. The water is a light tint of green. There is so much shrubbery surrounding the water as well as foliage under the water that it takes this magnificent color and pushes it to the surface for all to see. The lighting effect in this picture reminds me of relaxation. I can picture this being the background of an intimate scene in a movie. A young couple kissing for the first time, an old man remembering his deceased family, or even a young boy wondering where his father has gone off to. When I look at this pool of water, I want to just sit back and reflect on my life. It has that effect. One of my favorite things to do in the Spring is to go canoeing into the middle of the creek, and read. This is my time. Time to build my mind and spirit. A time of replenishment. A time to just relax and wonder how I can improve as a person. This is my Spring. This is my Brielle, New Jersey

1) 3/20/12 – 9:30AM – Quadship Enterprise

2) When I woke up it was very foggy outside my window.

3) As I woke up to the sound of birds chirping, I rolled over and opened my eyes expecting to be greeted by a bright shining sun. To my dismay, I opened my eyes to a grey window, no shapes of buildings, no color, just grey. I couldn’t believe it, so I rubbed my eyes and looked again , still grey. I felt like Rapunzel looking out at the clouds from the highest peak of the tallest tower. The only view of the outside world I had was completely surrounded by fog. Dismal, grey fog. I felt claustrophobic, trapped inside a glass case of emotion. Luckily when I got up to investigate, I was able to make out the ground below me, and that got rid of a bit of the vertigo. That poor Rapunzel.

1)

2) Christina Bracco (c) 2011

3) Spring

4) This photo was taken in Nerezine, on the island where my grandfather was born. I love this picture because even though I went just about this time last year, the weather was very cloudy all week long. From this picture, you would not even be able to tell that was the case. The color of the flowers is so vibrant that it just jumps off the page. That is the most beautiful part about Spring: the colors. Whether the sky is cloudy or sunny, the colors of the flowers in bloom, the grass, and the leaves on the trees will always stand out after the cold, colorless dismal winter.