Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1. February 1,2012 in the parking lot next to Estabrook Hall.

2. Parking lot lights in a row in the parking lot.

3. As I was walking home from rehearsal I was thinking about my Lighting Observation for the week and I realized I had not really noticed anything yet regarding light. Then I saw this light, and I noticed the dim light over the parking lot, and how it made me feel really spooked out, but somehow oddly calm. At first I felt really aware of my surroundings because the light was so dim I had to make sure I was safe. As I got closer to the light, I realized there was nothing spooky or scary at all. It was actually really peaceful, and seeing the shadows of trees and cars on the ground was really familiar. I have always associated darkness and dim light with scary and uncomfortable situations, but this was really the first time I have seen this kind of light and thought “Wow, this is really peaceful, and somehow I feel secure.” It was a really fascinating observation for me to see the peaceful side of darkness and dim light.

1)   4/14/11- 5pm – The Calkins Quad

2)   The shadows from some trees on the side of a building.  Created by the sun going down and casting perfect shadows on the side of the building.

3)   This moment was fascinating to me because of the way it did not make me feel.  The shadows that were cast on the side of the building were perfect shadows that reminded me of the quality of shadow in a dark night scene created by the moonlight.  The thing that struck me about this moment was the shadows and quality of light did not come off scary.  If the quality of light was whiter then the overall effect would have been more creepy.  I liked this moment because it showed me that a simple change in light quality can really change the feeling and meaning of a light even if the light creates what is considered a scary image.  I also found it interesting that as I walked around I noticed that many of the buildings had these shadows on them and even on the roof of a building.

1) Wednesday at 830 pm, walking back to Nassau/ Suffolk, at the weird looking tree in the circle near the graduate housing

2) 5 or 6 street lights, casting light on me, and the tree

3) As I was walking back, I thought I saw someone walking behind me out of the corner of my eye, I turned to see it was my own shadow even though there was another in front me. It was then I noticed that I had many shadows surrounding me, created by the circular arrangement of street lights. Some of the shadows were sharp as the light was close and direct, but others were more blurred and obscure as the light was diffused through the tree. It created a very strange, almost star shaped pattern of shadows surrounding me. This was a very unnatural scene because usually I am accustomed to only seeing one shadow from one light source at a time, but this threw me off and unnerved me. It made me feel like people were following or watching me.

Where:  On campus, around 2:30pm.

Objective Description:  Sun shining through tree branches onto sidewalk.

Subjective Description:  The sun shining through the naked tree branches onto the sidewalk made it look like there were crazy fingers splayed across the pavement.  The sun was very bright and the sidewalk looked almost white in contrast to the dark shadows from the trees.  The entire scene with the snow and academic buildings in the distance made campus look like the most picturesque example of an opportunity-filled university.  Seeing this brightly-lit sidewalk made me (almost) want to go to class and be studious.  The scene was surprisingly intriguing, and I wanted to be able to touch and hold the sunlight because it seemed so soft and warm.