Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1) 4/18 – 4:00 pm – Design Studio

2) Intelligent lights moving to match the music playing in the studio

3) While the music from “Spring Awakening” was playing through the speakers of the design studio, the intelligent lights to be used in the show were being tested as well. The lights were dancing with the music as many of the stressed out production majors took a song/dance break and enjoyed the music. It was such a great feeling to watch the lights dance around the room to the music similar to the way a dancer would dance about the stage. It seemed like the lights felt the music and was therefore able to match movements. the colors constantly changing with each beat or phrase of the music made the overall mood of the room more relaxed as the music continued on. Almost everyone was dancing around either on the tables or in their own seats to have a moment of peace from their work. The design studio rave was just what I needed to push through the rest of the day as it got my blood pumping.

1) 2012-03-29, 7:00 PM in the Design Studio

2) Shadow on the top bricks of the room all the way around the studio

3)

It’s hard to have lighting moments in the design studio, and I’ve run out of ways to say how much I hate florescent lights.  I noticed something new today, though, something that I’d never seen, something that took me a minute to figure out the mechanics of.  Looking up at the ceiling, I realized the top bricks all around the room are cast in a slight shadow.  It caught me off guard because I’m am so used to the classrooms, and especially a room I’m so familiar with, to have simple, flat illumination from all angles.  The point of these lights is the cleanest, cheapest, full illumination possible.  The only shadows you’d expect would be below distinct objects: projector screen, speakers, window frames, etc.  In rooms with dropped ceilings (common to conserve heating costs), the lights are usually flush with the rest of the ceiling, and therefore distribute at all angles evenly.  Here, the encasement is a good six inches from the ceiling, with not much light escaping the sides compared to the diffusing plastic on the bottom.  The result is a noticeable crown trim all around the room before the light is able to fully illuminate the wall.  Shadows don’t always have to be deep, film noir, expressionistic lines and holes in lighting, only enough difference in the levels to be noticed and remarked on.

1) 3/30/12, 12:38, Design Studio

2) Light from the light box

3) tracing a figure of a dancer from sketch pad paper to water color paper, I look up and see the reflection of light from the light box through the window in the studio. I looked at the bags under my eyes and sighed as I knew it would be another long night for myself and the others in the studio.