Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Ending the photo assignments the way that they started, I honed in on memories of summer nights on a lake. The sunset is warm and calm and the silhouette effect of the foreground and distant hills creates an idyllic, post card feeling that brings the feeling of summer and long days and warm nights.

1. A Fall sunset in New England- To evoke fall, I selected a very warm color pallette with a soft discipline. To me, fall in New England is soft and comfortable, and as such I sought to create some softer, more ambient lighting. I also heavily used the breakup gobo to indicate the concept of fallen leaves on the ground.
2. Spring sunrise in a Gothic Cathedral- For this setup, I knew that I wanted to use gobos- and I was lucky to find the Apollo glass gobos. As for the rest of the scene, I imagined the cathedral rather dark, lit dimly by ‘candelight’, represented by Chan 4, and its cool shadows tinted blue by Chan 5-6. I took a lot of inspiration from the design of La Sagrada Familia.
3. Noon on a hot Summer day in Africa- For this scene, I wanted to use warm and neutral tones with a large amount of ambient illumination without over-lighting the scene. I used a lot of top-lighting to indicate noon and to make the lights feel almost obtrusive. However, due to the lack of bounced-light within the program, I realised that I needed to add front lights to light the subject. I also put a gradient on the cyc to accentuate the “heat” from above.
4. Winter afternoon in North Dakota- My main goal was making the scene feel cold. I think back to snow and the bright light reflected off of it, resulting in the high contrast lighting seen. I also chose to follow the cultural association of blue with cold to boost the feeling.

Reference Photo Via Pinterest

I selected this image because of the strange, almost unnatural lighting it displayed. Althought it is still on a single subject, I knew that it would prove as a challenge.

When making my diagram, I knew that I was going to utilise the cyc lights. I also planned on using ERS’s for the spots of color which break up the orange/red background.

In Light Lab, I would have made the floor and wall white to be more reflective but ran out of time.

Fixtures:

4 Cyc 100% Golden Amber

Chan 1- Top Light, Soft Focus, Light Red, 36 deg, 50%

Chan 2- Side Light Stg Left, hard focus, Golden Amber, 26 deg, 100%

Chan 4-6- Background lights, soft focus, Deep Straw, (10, 19, 26 deg), 50%

Chan 9-10- Top Light, Soft Focus, Light Red, 90 deg, 50%

Location: Breslin Hall, 4pm

Objective: Sun beams are seen from the thin area between the window sill and curtains. They are created by ambient dust and haze which dissipates as class continues.

Subjective: The outdoors stabs through an oppressive hall, impaling themselves into the minds of students who want nothing more than to leave.

Ref image via Pinterest

I had some issues with balancing the material properties of the original subject and the rendering engine of the program, but this is as close as possible as I think that I could get it. I ended up needing to add a side light on the left and a top light.

Location: LHSC Studio A, Friday 3/29

Objective: Light leaks from Barn doors of a fresnel onto the white wall of the cyc.

Subjective: Light glints against a wall, small whispers coming from nowhere.

Via Pinterest

I chose this for the dramatic style of lighting. I was not sure whether the warm, soft front light was present or not but I think something was present to fill out the shadows and give the whole thing a soft light. The front light being opposite the back light makes it feel very composed and pristine. Additionally, the warm light makes the chicken, bun, and tonmato really pop.

Setting: Equipment Room Loading Hall, LHSC, 5pm Mar 13th

Objective: A Fluorescent Light Reflects off of a semi-glossy black-painted door. The reflection is semi-specular and results in a rounded and diffused shape.

Subjective: An echo of the light above, almost remembered. A Hazy memory in a jet black void, marred with scratches and imperfections. Almost there, almost not.

Via Flickr, Damon Tighe

For me, the most beautiful parts of spring are not those which border on summer, but those that break the crust of winter. The first few days, such as those that we aren currently experiencing, in which the air is warm and the sun shines brightly. I wanted to capture that feeling of life and warm sunshine by observing light casting through tree branches. This particular image was captivating as you can see the light diffuse through the branches, altering their colour, and the remaining beams caught in the morning haze.

To replicate this photo with lighting instruments would be difficult, as all of the light is motivated by the sun. That said, I would likely select a large, open face light with a wide beamspread for the primary lighting source. I would consider fresnels for their parallel rays but worry that their spread would be too narrow. I would also gel the light with CTS. The remaining light would be overhead softlights with a light ctb and maybe some additional diffusion.

Location: Film Set, East Hampton, Saturday Mar 9, 2024 6:00PM

Objective: Light reflects off of a Full CTB Gel clipped onto an HMI Fresnel and bounces onto the underside of an awning. I use this opportunity to demonstrate what we spoke about in class on how gels reflect to the rest of the lighting department.

Subjective: From a cold metal beast, rays escape and cascade towards the sky. A soft blue glow. The ocean lives under this roof for a night.