Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1. Monday, February 10th. 1:00 AM. Amherst, MA. My friend’s apartment.
2. In the dark living room of my friend’s living room/kitchen, my friend stands in front of the oven checking his phone. The only source of light is the oven hood light, throwing a dim warm light on his face and the rest of the room. 
3. After a twenty hour day, I was ready to sleep. Up at four at the previous morning, I had driven six hours in order to pick up my friends on the way to Manchester, New Hampshire. Our goals? To knock some doors for the Bernie Sanders campaign and see a live podcast. Dozens of houses, one venue and multiple naps on my part later, we had completed both, and I was lying on my buddy’s couch hoping for a few hours shut eye before my long drive home. Alec never sleeps; kid needs a near constant intake of Red Bull and caffeine pills to function, and as I looked at him errantly scrolling Twitter, I reflected on our day. I was tired, sure; the weak light emulated that. But at the same time, it was rejuvenating, invigorating even. This was my first experience knocking doors, let alone volunteering with a political campaign. Trudging through the snow and talking to everyday people filled me with a sense of purpose; that I was making a difference. Though tired, I was ready to continue. Now here I lay, a moment of rest before the next day of the fight. 

1. Taken August of 2019, 8:00 PM on the rocks surrounding the Montauk Lighthouse Museum.
2. THEME: Romance
3. She had never seen a lighthouse before. Being from California, anything above fifty feet on a beachfront was prone to toppling at any moment. Montauk, with all it’s tacky merchandise and trendy eateries, seemed an appropriate location. Alas, the sun was rapidly setting when time came for the main attraction. Cold wind whipped across the island tip as we crossed the parking lot under the sparse light of the receding sun. The museum itself was closed (the price for her first oyster experience), but a path circling the coast remained open. As we hopped rock to rock, I looked back to see her admiring the ocean, and the pink-gradient sky atop it. While we had missed the lighthouse, shrouded in darkness above us, we enjoyed the moment of peace at the tip of the world. It wasn’t the experience we came for, but it was the one we remembered.

Time/Place: Taken on my iPhone during a senior film shoot in a Brooklyn apartment, Friday February 7th, 3:30 PM

Theme: Shadow

Description: The set I was on this weekend heavily utilized practical lights, one of which was a small bedside lap with a unique pink plastic shade. The resulting light was one of enhanced warmth, imbuing the room with the coziness of a crackling fire. What affected me most was how the light struck the pillow next to it, emphasizing each fold and crease. To me, it became snow-covered mountain range lit by the deep orange of a setting sun.