Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Photo Theme: Summer

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/criminalintent/5235848024

This photo I found online while looking specifically for something that had a nice evening vibe. Summertime is know for the longer days and shorter nights, but I find that summer evenings are some of the best times to exist. In the photo it seems to be early dusk, most of the landscape in the background is in shadow and silhouetting against a dark blue sky. The sunset either just happened, or is across the sky on the other horizon. Under the cover of this porch there are two other sources of illumination that give contrast. The first is an exposed overhead bulb, good old fashion incandescent with a warm splash of amber light. Around the edge of the porch is a bunch of fairy lights that are loosely hung so as to dangle and overlap somewhat — which look to be just a hint warmer than the bulb. These artificial sources provide a warm glow that envelops this quiet and contemplative space. It is separated from the outside world, but only somewhat. A mere few steps away is everything else that life has to offer, but under this little wooden roof is a place to sit and enjoy a bit of peace. It feels calming, the kind of spot you could enjoy in so many different ways with or without anyone else involved.

Photo Theme: Surreal

Source: https://blog.shotdeck.com/2022/10/18/the-tuesday-drop-10-18-22/

This is from The Exorcist. I like the use of silhouette, especially when paired with the strong spotlight effect that is visible with the fog. The Overhead lamp also helps to give just enough context to really make it seem like this character is crossing into a new world. The stark contrast between the character silhouette and the glowing beam of light make it stand out. The spotlight also creates a strong line. There is a lot of mystery, involved, as it makes it seem like the very location itself is alive and aware of this outsider’s presence. For my re-creation I also utilized Gobo effects to mimic the lights in the house, which act as a bit of color contrast against an otherwise entirely blue toned scene.

From: My camera roll, taken March 4th 2023. Jaden leaning out a window in East Hampton, NY

Theme: Single Source Artificial Light

This photo is actually BTS from a film set I was recently working on. Our schedule was pretty tight and we had to film a daytime interior scene after sunset, and since the room had a window it came down to the lighting team to make it work. I was the Best Boy Electric, so myself and a few extra hands ran the biggest light we had out to the driveway and sent it up on a stand above the height of the window. This shot was taken a few minutes after the light had fully turned on, but before we sealed the windows and added a diffusion layer to the inside. It sure did the trick. It doesn’t quite show on camera, but the immense output from this light (and the lack of adjustment from our eyes at the time) made it seem like Jaden was glowing, and his hair looked especially angelic so we all asked him to pose while we took some pictures.

Date: 03/05/2023

Time: 4:48 pm

Location: The living room of a house in East Hampton

Objective: Soft evening sun coming in from the high windows on the wall in front of me, harsh rays coming from behind over the half wall in the center of the room. A little too cool, except for the yellow hotspots on the walls. They are parallelograms, broken up with the shifting patterns of tree branches in the wind. An orange glow is creeping in from the next room over, the chandelier chock full of hot incandescent bulbs. The coated wooden floorboards are reflective, creating a mirror-like effect with subtle highlights seeming to continue into the ground from my perspective.

Subjective: It is a cool evening, right before sunset. The space feels very homey, soft, natural. The distinct color contrast between the cool glow of the darkening sky against the yellow beams of sunset light and orange glow of the chandelier makes the space feel lived in, not exactly in line with nature but not clashing too harshly. If void of people, it could surely be populated by ghosts. But no vengeful spirits, just the souls of some past resident settling down for their afternoon tea, or getting ready for dinner. Neutral, even a bit welcoming.

From: https://randallwarehouse.com/3-ways-to-protect-inventory-on-loading-docks-this-winter/

Theme: Cold

I wanted to find something evocative of coldness that could easily appear warm with only a simple lighting change. Searching for basements and warehouses eventually lead me to this image. What drew me to it most was how simple it was. It is just a pretty typical industrial warehouse loading dock, seen from inside. There are only two sources of light, both of which are visible. The first is the sunlight that is blowing out the highlights on the windows, which is a stark white point in the image. The next is the overhead fluorescent tubes that you can spot in the upper left corner, but which more than likely cover the entire ceiling of this room. These lights are both tuned toward a very cool temperature, but only slightly. It might be a trick of the camera, but regardless it has a serious effect. What should be white light has an almost silvery/blue twist to it. The lack of color also helps sell the effect — with most of the image being made up of various grays. Although not directly related to lighting, the surface materials and texture add to the effect. The semi-reflective concrete feels like a garage or a basement, something you would not want to walk on without some good shoes and a warm pair of socks. Aside from that feeling, it also feels cold in the sense that is seems pretty lifeless. There are no human subjects, and no interesting objects. Everything you see in the image was created to serve a solely practical purpose, a byproduct of some industry that demanded things like garage doors and pallet jacks and tightly wrapped bundles of boxes shoved into the backs of trailers. Not exactly a place you would want to hang out or spend time with friends.

From: My camera roll, taken November 22nd 2022. Sunset from my bedroom window in Hempstead, NY.

Theme: Sunrise/Sunset

This was a photo from the end of last semester. I had just wrapped on a film project I had been working on, and this was my last night in New York before heading home for Thanksgiving break. I have a West facing window in my bedroom, and often have a chance to view the sunset over the trees and buildings. This particular sunset struck, it had already crossed the horizon (at least as far as I could tell from my perspective) and the deep twilight blue was taking over the sky — broken by a strip of glowing orange as the last streams of sunlight bent around the far curve of the Earth. The glow from the light silhouetted the neighborhood, which turned into a mass of shape and form. It looked pretty cool, so I took a few photos. I was in the sunset of the semester, and that Thanksgiving was the first real break I had from working on any big projects in months. It was a great moment of catharsis knowing I could relax for a while.