Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Photo Credit: John Poppleton, http://www.ufunk.net/en/photos/body-painting-black-light/ (Check out this link, all of the photographs are really cool.)

Theme: Surreal

Description: The first thing I think of in terms of lighting when I hear surreal is blacklights, or UV lights. UV light looks crazy, like someone took normal light and turned it on its head. It makes the subjects look very strange and almost alien-esque.

This is surreal because the sunset is not something you typically see on a human body, and the human body isn’t usually blue, either. The blacklight cast on the woman’s back makes a sharp contrast between her plain skin and the painting, so it really comes to life. The orange light in front of her mixes with the blue color on her body and mimics the some of the pink and purple colors in the painting in her face and hair. It looks very otherworldly and surreal.

1. 4/20/2016, 9:47pm, Netherlands North Courtyard
2. Objective: The main source of light is coming from the lampposts outside of each house. There is a little light coming from students’ windows.
3. Subjective: Walking through the courtyard at night always feels like one of the skeevy night scenes from a really bad movie. The only light given are these foggy, orange bulbs that give off an unwelcoming feeling. That being said they don’t provide much actual light while they’re at it.

Time: 10pm on Wednesday, at the Met

Objective Description: I watched the lights fade during the last scene of Manon Lescaut, where the title character dies.

Subjective Description: It was the last scene of the opera Manon Lescaut, and Manon and her lover were stuck in a wasteland. She was weak and dying. The light in this scene was pale blue and pale orange, and throughout the scene, the colors slowly faded to monotone colors. It was so subtle that I didn’t even pick up on it until Manon said her last words and died in her lover’s arms. It was then that I realized all of the color had left the scene and everything was somewhere between black and white. I was amazed with this lighting choice and thought it mirrored death perfectly.

Photo Credit: http://imgur.com/gallery/J5HmrrW

Theme: Hot

Description: I was amazed when I saw this picture, and it was even more impressive when I zoomed in on it. The way the orange sunlight filters through the clouds makes it look as if the sky is on fire, and few things in the world are hotter than fire. The stark contrast of the bright sky against the dark, quiet forest almost gives you the illusion that you’re standing on a mountain observing an enormous forest fire far away – but it’s just an optical illusion, which makes it particularly cool (or should I say hot) … (sorry for the lame joke.)

I found this image online. It can be found at flickr.com.

The lighting theme is hot.

Orange, red, and yellow may be cooler in terms of degrees Kelvin but they are associated with warm things like the sun and fire. The big bright hues of the sky reflect the excessive warmth of the lighting. The sky is on fire, red hot. The golden ball of gaseous matter shines like the largest gem and greatest treasure in the sky and makes the sky its hue. It is yellow and white with a hint of orange like a match flame glowing bright to light a candle. It is thus a mass producer of heat parching the landscape like how a used match is charred. It silhouettes and gives a highlight of red to the things beneath it like what a dreamer might imagine the Martian landscape to look like. This red makes the world seem hot like a laser beam has been pointed at everything. The distribution is wide engulfing the entire sky and majority of the landscape in the warm colors and causing the silhouetting to occur. The light source glows with warmth, and the lighting is as hot as a bright red pepper tastes as a consequence.

Time: Sunday evening, around 5:30

Objective Description: I saw a beautiful orange and pink sunset, and when I looked at it again a few minutes later, it had changed to vibrant red.

Subjective Description: As I was leaving Michaels, I looked to the left to see an amazing sunset on the horizon. The sky was a vibrant wash of orange and pink. I attempted to take a picture of it, but the picture couldn’t even come close to capturing its majesty. I looked at the sunset a few minutes later and it had changed completely. It was now nearly the same attention-grabbing red as the stoplights on the road. I couldn’t believe how drastically the sky changed in a matter of minutes. The sunset was such a beautiful surprise and a reminder that change can happen quickly but often has wonderful results.

1. 2/8/2016, 8:12 pm, Walking from Netherlands to Vander Poel
2. Objective Description: lights from the street lamps and the few stars visible above
3. Subjective Description: small pools of light from each street lamp. The light coming from the lamps are an orange-like color that have a film around them.

1.

2. http://www.turbulentpursuit.com/Photos/20100714/sunset-silhouette-1.jpg

3. Sunrise/Sunset.

4. Nothing creates a warmer feeling quite like a beautiful sunset. The rich colors of the sun emit a dazzling mix of colors that range from burning reds, bright oranges and stunning yellows. As the sun just sets over the horizon, it sends out a beam of light casting on this fortunate man, who gets to see this wonderful display of light. The beam of light casts down leaving the back of him shrouded in darkness. Behind this man lies a dark and black light, while in front of him is a shining ball of radiance, wait to create a new horizon.

5.

1.

2. http://www.blingcheese.com/image/code/158/spotlights.htm

3. Amusement.

4. Theatre has always been amusing to me. The one element in theatre that always makes me think is the lighting design. Why is the designer doing this? That’s the question I ask regarding this picture. Why would four sharply lit spotlights be lit and positioned this way? Regardless of the reason, it is wonderful to look at. The sharply lit red overlaps the piercing orange and the radiant green. Completing the design is the faint blue, overlapping the orange and green. The small overlapped parts create four odd white colors that lay in between the shining colors aside them leaving this ascetically pleasing display of lights. This set-up of lights isn’t normally used but it make you wonder why it would be. Despite it’s abnormality, it is still a wonder to look at.

5.

1. March 31st 2014, at around 8 on my block.

2. The lampposts on my block. One in particular: A flickering light post. They had an orange and yellow glow around a dark area.

3. On Old Post Drive, you can walk down the block in a beautifully illuminated area. Each step you take is lit up by towering light posts that cast pale shades of orange. They leave very faint circles of light on the floor so late night joggers can see in the dark night sky. One area of my block wasn’t bright as the rest of it. A flickering lamppost kept casting rays of light that lasted for seconds. When the light was on, the sidewalk was lit to perfection with faint glows of orange. When the lamppost was off, part of the block was lost in darkness.