Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Photo Credits: Getty Images

Location: iStock

Theme: Happy

A woman is standing in the middle of all of her friends holding a cake. The woman as well as everyone standing around her are admiring the light that the fire from the candles give off. You can tell that the mood is happy there because everyone is smiling and hovering around the light. What I found interesting was how if you think back to all of the birthday parties you’ve ever been to, everyone always has a happy look on their face once the candles are lit. Why does the fire have that affect on people?

1. February 25, 2018 – 4:34pm – Adams Playhouse
2. I am standing in the theatre behind the Two Gentleman of Verona set. As I sitting there in mostly darkness, a green light came on. The light was to my right. Its primary job was to light the stage, however some of it spilled onto backstage. The backpack as well as a cord as right in front of me and the green light was casted upon them.
3. I was so intrigued by the beauty. You would not think that a backpack laying on the floor or a cord wrapped around the banister could be something that would really attract someone’s attention. But something about the way the green light lit them up almost looked like it was fake. There was a futuristic mood that the light created and I could not stop looking at the cord and backpack until the light faded out.

Photo Credits: Samantha Morris

Location: Bendheim Performing Arts Center, New York

Theme: Single Light Source

A woman is standing in the distance. She is standing on one leg with the other bent behind her. One of her arms is resting against the wall, while the other creates a circular shape above her head. All of her surroundings are covered by darkness. There is one white light that hangs above her head though. The light is projected onto certain aspects of the woman’s body. The light highlights a side of her face, a part of her chest, her fingers, and the top of her bent leg. The light also is projected onto the black floor in front of the female. This picture is interesting because it is so dark, yet highlights specific shapes. The dancer in the distance looks mysterious because you can’t tell what she really looks like, and it makes it more intriguing the more you look at it.

1. February 21, 2018 – 4:00am – My room
2. I had awoken in the middle of the night. Looking out of the window, I saw nothing. Fog had completely covered my view out of my window, and the orange street lights had tinted the fog an orange color.
3. When I had awoken, I had felt nervous because I could not comprehend why I was not able to see out of my window at first. Then I had realized that the thick fog had lowered from the sky and had covered my surroundings at eye level. The orange light of the street lights allowed the white fog to be colored. With areas of a lighter fog, the orange light was intense, and the areas that were thicker had a less intense orange coloring.

Title: Mystery Date

Photo Credits: Ken Koskela

Location: Ken Koskela Photography Website

Theme: Mysterious

A woman is dressed in black with red accents. The background behind the model is also black, allowing for her body to blend into her surroundings and highlighting the red accessories that she is wearing. The color of the bright red against a black background makes the photo give off an evil mood. The pose of her fingers in the red glove against the light that is hitting the model from her left side allows only certain parts of the model’s body to be seen. The contrast between the black and bright red colors, as well as the warm and cool shades of lighting allow the model to be seen, but not really.

1. February 15, 2018 – 4:42pm – Hofstra University Estabrook Hall
2. I was staring out of my window. The whole day has been cloudy and dark. There weren’t any clouds, but a deep fog had covered the sky. I had went back to doing my homework, when all of a sudden, the sunshine finally showed up. It lit up the intramural fields, the coliseum, and the buildings in the distance.
3. This was an exciting moment. With just the snap of a finger, the sun had enough strength to break through the clouds and cast its light on top of the earth. The team training on the intramural fields were now given strength to fight through their workout, and everything felt hopeful again. The light from the sun beamed off of the coliseum creating hints of gold for all of its surroundings to see. The day had now become so much more joyful.

Title: “Miami Nightlife”

Photo Credits: BBC’s “A Guide to Miami Nightlife”

Location: Miami, Florida

Theme: Nightlife

There are amazing lighting qualities incorporated into this picture. The sunset above Ocean Drive is a mixture of different shades of blue and purple, and the hotels and restaurants all have their names lit up in neon blue and orange lights. The speed of the cars traveling on the street next to these restaurants is fast enough to make the cars turn into a blur and their headlights to create almost a horizontal line of a yellow/white light. Like New York City, Miami is a place where even in the nighttime, the city streets themselves look as if it’s daytime, but when you look at the sky, it’s dark. This picture shows how the buildings here have an old fashion architecture (early 1900s), but their lighting has helped to keep this city as one of the most popular places in the United States due to a series of modern lighting designs.

1. February 8, 2018 – 9:30pm- Hofstra University sidewalk between the Playhouse and Calkins
2. I am walking on the sidewalk in between Calkins Hall and the Adam’s Playhouse. It is completely dark outside. There is silence and not a person to be found. About every 30 feet there is another light post. As you travel closer to the post, the light intensifies, and as I continue walking, the lighting dims. My shadow grew and shrunk as I kept walking.
3. I was so interested in the growth and shrinkage of my shadow based on the distance of the lighting posts. As I walked closer, the shadow began to shrink until the point where the light was on top of me and I was standing on my shadow. As I moved away, the shadow grew and then disappeared. The mood of my surroundings was chilling. The silence and darkness gave the feeling of darkness and the shadow added to it. Although no one was around, I would feel the presence of my shadow emerging out of nowhere and following me until all of a sudden, it was gone again.

Title: “Fashion Photography”

Photo Credits: Solve Sundsbo

Location: Pinterest

Theme: Shadows

The lighting is unique because it incorporates a fashion photo shoot with shadowing. Usually, fashion photo shoots try and eliminate the darkness, and even add more lighting so that all of the model’s lines can be seen. However, in this photo shoot, it looks as if the model is looking out of a window and the shadow from the blinds are being projected onto her face. The model’s body position looks as if she is longing for something outside, maybe freedom, while the blinds’ shadows almost look as if they are prison bars and she is a prisoner. What’s interesting is that the shadow from the blinds help to give this photo a more black and white effect, which also makes her yellow lipstick stand out even more.

1. January 31, 2018 – 5:43pm – Hofstra University’s Intramural Field
2. I am standing in the parking lot looking at Hofstra’s Intramural Fields. It is completely dark outside. The streetlight in front of me is tilted sideways casting light upon the bottom of a tree to its right. Only the bottom right branches are lit up orange. The lighting highlights all of the tiny details of the main branch, and everything else around it is in darkness.
3. The lighting gives off a dark mood. The tiny, skinny branches that are highlighted by the light look as if they are a mysterious creature’s claws emerging from the dark. Nothing can be seen in the distance, and there is a sense of hopelessness. The orange light itself, creates a feeling of comfort, yet the light it gives off gives the viewer a sense of fear.