Drama 16 Stage Lighting

2 Feb. 2016 – 9:18am – Classroom 0028 in the Basement of Breslin Hall

The room was dark besides the florescent light I let in from the hallway as I cracked the door open and a soft bluish green glow from the computer screen way over on the other side of the room. This light from the screen illuminated a circle on the white wall to the left of it, and one of the technical difficulty emergency phones was located just off middle in the circle. It is the lighting on the wall that caught my eye, not the pools of florescent lights that wafted onto the floor a few feet in front of me.

The lighting was mysterious and eerie since it was surrounded by shadows and darkness and since it was such a peculiar color. This lighting would not have been out of place in a murder mystery play in which a character is scared of the phone because the ringing of the phone always signals something bad. Thanks to the hue, the lighting seemed sickly. In the murder mystery play example, this could represent the mindset and paranoia of the afraid character. It mirrors the feeling of quintessential fear that a person home alone at night who starts hearing spooky sounds must possess. Soft, circular, and contrasting with the surroundings like something out of another universe, it could have been the light that emitted from an alien spaceship’s beams of abduction. This lighting moment touched a chord and got under the viewer’s skin by being a reminder of mortality and that there is so much uncertainty out there. It presented the fear of the unseen and the fear of the unknown mysteries of life like when a person will die. Thus, the lighting resembled in color, distribution, and intensity whatever the torch or lamp of the Grim Reaper looks like and inspired fear and thoughts of the supernatural in its beholder.

My roommate, the lovely Kayla Bickel, took this photo. She was excited after getting her new camera and was testing it out by photographing things in the room last week.

This photo was taken at night in my dorm room, and it is the lighting that best represents my own night life.

The little fireflies of color in the room guide me into sleep most nights. They shine with life in the dark right before I close my eyes. They are calming and soothing. The soft small lights are anything but imposing. They do not blind or clash with their surroundings. Instead, they mesmerize and encourage forgetfulness of worldly cares. These little spread of rainbow lights on the wall can open one’s eyes to other worlds. They give comfort like a warm little candle in the cold dark night, and, with their bright glow contrasting against the surrounding dark, they gently whisper that those who see them are safe. They could instantly be a child’s favorite night light for protection from the beasts of the darkness because of their pretty hues that are apt to bring smiles of delight. Thus, these orbs, these gems, that hang in the room at night are easily declared this college student’s night light, a vital part of my night life. In addition, the lights, themselves, only breathe and sing their soothing songs of color at night and could be considered to have a night life.

It was 10:45am on Jan. 29th, 2016. I was right outside the Spiegel Theater and seated on a bench when it struck.

The sky was clouded over with blueish clouds, and the sun broke through the clouds. It broke through right behind the very tip of a lamp post. Accordingly, from where I sat, it looked like the lamp post’s tip was surrounded by this circle of light and possibly emitting it. This light highlighted and gave great clarity and crispness to the edges of the tip of the lamp post.

The light was majestic in this moment. It came forth like a powerful wave crashing down on the beach or the whirl of a bullet heading towards its target. It broke through the wall of blueish, bleak clouds to shine forth in brilliant, bright contrast to the surrounding sea. It was like a light at the end of a tunnel: the hope in a world of gloom. The whitish sun was harmonious with the snow on the ground and shown like the empress of all things on top of the lamp post. It was the throned and treasured embodiment of hope. With its fierce and sudden glow, the sun claimed it could melt the snow, massacre the clouds, and restore the world to warmer weather days. The lighting reflected this resilience, this willingness to fight, and, above all things, this feeling of hope which motivated the “never give up” attitude of the sun. The elegance of hope and bravery colored and brightened the lighting of the sun at 10:45am on Jan. 29th, 2016.