Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Date: 3/20/22

Time: Midnight

Location: Washington DC

Objective Observation: There are lights in a ring around the Washington Monument shining up on it from all directions. It is a no-color looking light which is very apparent as it is very dark.

Subjective Observation: The light makes no sense. The entire obelisk is lit up and visible wit the same level of light on every inch yet the only visible lights are small ones on the ground. It’s as if a fully lit object was photoshopped into a night-time background as there are virtually no shadows. Its like its in a video game that is still being rendered. It seems unnatural and physically impossible.

Date: 03/16/22

Time:9:15pm

Location: Radio City Music Hall

Objective Observation: There is a large rectangular setpiece at least 10 feet tall if not closer to 15 feet that takes up all of the middle of the stage. At one point in the show, the singer got ontop of it and lights shone up on him creating a silhouette as the lights were mounded on top of the set piece.

Subjective Observation:The lights made it seem as if he was floating on stage. All of a sudden, burts of white light illuminated the dead center of blackness. It didn’t make sense how light could exist there or how he was standing there. It was as if he was standing on light. The lights cast a shadow on the singer as they shone up on him furthering the idea that he is floating in the middle of the space.

Date: 02/26/22

Time: 11:20pm

Location: Broadfield

Objective Observation: There was a mixture of pink and blue lights shining all around the room in neon hues as well as an assortment of smaller lights spread throughout the basement. They are the only sources of light.

Subjective Observation: The pinks and blues combined in a way that seemed to alter time and space. There was nothing natural about the light in the room which, combined with the music and the atmosphere, transported everyone to another world. All of the lights were low making it hard to see adding to the sense of timelessness. 

1. Theme: Advertisement / Desire
2. Objective Description: I chose this McDonalds online advertisement. The chain uses red and yellow colors because it is supposed to make viewers hungry. In the photo, bright white light is coming in from the upper left corner and a blurred out red object is behind the fries on the right of the photo.
3. Subjective Description: I think the white light was used to highlight the “quality” of the food and make the yellow and red colors very bright. Moreover, the red blurred out object on the right was not placed there by any chance. This was definitely placed to help appeal to the hunger of customers. Overall, I like the choice of white overhead lighting because it creates a clean finish to the photo and makes the cheese look glossy on the hamburger.

1. Winter Afternoon Before Snow: I chose to utilize dark and light blues to show the contrast of cold-toned colors during the winter. I also used modestly white light to show the brightness coming in from behind the clouds. Spotted gobos were used to show the haziness / fogginess of the sky before the snowfall.

2. Noon on a Hot Summer Day in the Caribbean: When I think of the Caribbean, I think of sitting with my toes in the sand staring out at the sunset over the ocean. Accordingly, I chose a bright centered yellow light to portray the dimming sunshine. Next, I used blues and reds to show the blending of the sky with the setting sun. On the very outer edges, I also added a faint orange color as though the colors were disappearing at the ocean’s horizon.

3. Easter Sunrise in a Gothic Cathedral: Gothic Cathedrals tend to be very large with a multitude of stained glass windows and dark colors. However on Easter, bright colors and pastels very prevalent, so I wanted to mesh these ideas of dark and pastel. As a result, I used purple and yellow to portray light coming in through the painted windows as well as pinks and blues to indicate the sky’s colors pouring in too.

4. Fall Sunset in Vermont: I have never before been to Vermont and am not familiar with its layout in the slightest, so I had to look to Pinterest for some inspiration. However, I did find one breathtaking photo of the Greenback Mountains in Woodstock, which I tried my best to recreate in the photo above. Between the mountains in the midst of the clouds, bright pinks and blues blend with subtle apricot colors. Overhead it is overcast and all the lighting is flooding in from the sides.

Attributes: Google Images

Theme: Surreal

Description:

This project draws on a range of references from the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico to architectural landscapes of Aldo Rossi. The ambiguous scale and striking silhouettes of the pieces give them an architectural quality. One of the central inspirations for this collection is the visual language of theatre director Robert Wilson and his approach to movement and stillness, moment and infinity. The project invites the viewer to pause and to reflect on their perception of time within the physical environment.

I chose this photo because I liked the contrast between the colors of the structures, the white balls, and the surfaces surrounding. There’s not real way to determine where you would be in space. I feel like I’m staring into an optical illusion almost. I also really like the shadows that were present. Because I see a lot of shadows from the structures on the right side of the picture it’s causing me to infer that theres a light source above and slightly to the left. The shadows are all very straight so I know there isn’t an angle on the light source. In my ACC, I showed the three structures and how theres a light source (white light) coming from the left (SR).

1. Theme: Summer
2. Attributes: March 26th 6:51 pm, Arizona
3. Description: I took this photo because it reminded me of summer. Arizona tends to have a summer that arrives early and leaves late. The colors in the sunset are so rich and warm. The sun looks somehow hotter and brighter now that it is so low in the sky. It feels like the lighting at the tail end of a barbeque as the last of the burgers have been pulled off the grill and all of the kids are wrapped in towels with dripping hair eagerly waiting for their parent to make them a plate of food. The perfect lighting for a family dinner in a backyard.
4. 

Photo Attribute: Google Images

Theme: Summer

Description: I chose this photo because it reminds me of vacation. Often my family and I will go on vacation upstate each summer. We always enjoy swimming in the lake so this photo made me feel nostalgic. I like how the person doing a flip into the water is almost aligned with the sun. The sun acts as a back light for the person jumping.

1. Theme: Surreal
2. Attributes: March 30, 6:15, LIRR
3. Description: This is a photo I took while reading on the train home. I liked the way the sun was pouring on to my book and the seats in front of me. The temperature outside was cold of the lighting on the train felt like a warm summer afternoon. The lighting almost seems too crisp, too warm, too bright, where it’s realistic because it did in fact happen but also seems surreal like there is something artificial about the overall lighting.

May 16th, 5:21 pm Cambria Heights

I was driving home from work and the lighting seemed to split the sky in two distinct categories. On the left, grey, blue clouds hung low in the air with small streams of soft golden yellow peering through. On the right the sky is deep bright blue without a cloud in sight. The sun in behind me, but there is a large shadow on the road in front of me because two semi trucks are behind me blocking the rays of the sun. It is interesting to see how the sun lights the sky above without lighting the road in front.