Drama 16 Stage Lighting

1) A Fall sunset in Vermont

For my Fall Sunset in Vermont, I looked at reference photos and saw a variety of different forms of light. I decided to achieve this look, I wanted to backlight my figure with a gradient of shades from magenta to amber. I made these beams wide to make the effect less harsh. I thought that the overall vibe was too warm because I saw some cool blues and purples in my reference photo, so I made the cyc lights blue and purple and added a couple of blue and purple sidelights with gobos for texture. I added one warm amber light downstage left to act as my sun that was setting. This image depicts the moment because it uses a variety of warm magenta and amber gels to depict sunbeams and cool purple and blue gels to depict the different shades present in the sky.
2) Easter sunrise in a Gothic Cathedral

For my Easter Sunrise in a Gothic Cathedral, I took inspiration from the church I used to sing at and tried to emulate the lighting from there. On Easter morning, everything would be very colorful and bright, and though the church was normally very warm, the light shining in through the windows made everything very cool-toned. To achieve this look, I decided I wanted to give the effect of a stained-glass window by placing 3 lights of different colors (light blue, cool white, and warm white) next to each other with gobos. I wanted to incorporate more Easter colors, so I added pink and purple to the cyc lights. Finally, I added some soft-focus beams to make the overall effect a little brighter. This image matches the moment because it uses Easter colors and gobos to look like a stained-glass window in a church.
3) Noon on a hot Summer day in the Caribbean

For my Noon on a hot Summer day in the Carribean, I wanted the lights to be brightest directly overhead. I also wanted them to be very warm. To act as a symbol for the ocean in the background, I made the bottom cyc lights blue, and I made the top cyc lights golden amber. The lights shining down from overhead are warm whites interspersed with a couple of golden ambers to increase the overall warmth of the design. I think it also gives the effect of sand before the ocean. This image matches the moment because it uses warm tones overhead to look like a bright noon sun and sand on the ground, and the cyc lights look like the ocean and bright sky in the background.
4) Winter afternoon just before the snow

For my Winter afternoon just before the snow, I wanted to keep the overall effect very dark and hazy, giving the impression that clouds have rolled in and the sky is about to open. I lowered the ambient lighting and added haze. I also wanted it to be very cool-toned, so I used mostly cool whites and a couple of blue gels. I added gobos to the lights placed downstage left to give the effect of flurries falling before a blizzard. I wanted most of the lights to be coming not from directly overhead, because it’s in the afternoon, but I still added one cool white light directly overhead for that distinct pre-snow glow. This image matches the moment because it’s dark and hazy, almost suspenseful, and uses cool gels and a couple of gobos to give a pre-snow effect.

• Lights:
  • ETC Source 4 36 degree in Deep Amber at 50% intensity
  • 2 ETC Source 4 36 degree with no gel at 40% intensity (gobos)
  • ETC Source 4 26 degree in Deep Orange at 30% intensity
  • ETC Source 4 26 degree with no gel at 24% intensity
  • 6″ Fres in Surprise Pink at 100% intensity
  • Cyc Light in Deep Straw at 20% intensity
  • Cyc Light in Light Steel Blue at 58% intensity
• Description:
  • Looking at my research of sunsets in Vermont, I was heavily inspired by golden hour, the sun in one’s face, and the long shadows that are cast around this time. I also looked at paintings by people native to Vermont and the colors that they used to depict this time of day. 

• Lights:
  • 2 ETC Source 4 36 degree in Off Color Straw at 30% intensity
  • ETC Source 4 36 degree in Surprise Pink at 70% intensity
  • ETC Source 4 36 degree in Off Color Straw at 20% intensity
  • ETC Source 4 26 degree with no gel at 20% intensity
  • ETC Source 4 26 degree with no gel at 60% intensity
  • Par 64 in Gallo Gold at 10% intensity
  • 8″ Fres in Surprise Pink at 100% intensity
  • Cyc Light in No Color Straw at 20% intensity
• Description:
  • When I think of cathedrals, I think of high windows with lots of light streaming in, and stained glass. A lot of the cathedrals I was looking at had stained glass in various jewel tones, and I liked the purples ones the best. I envisioned someone walking into the cathedral down the aisle as the sun shone in from one side of the cathedral more brightly than the other due to the sunrise. 

• Lights:
  • Cyc Light in Daylight Blue at 100& intensity
  • Par 64 in Pale Gold at 100% intensity
  • 6″ Fres in Light Straw at 65% intensity
• Description:
  • I knew about this phenonmenon in that occurs exclusively during the summer in Hawaii called the Lahaina noon which is when the sun passes directly above certain islands. It either creates really weird shadows immediatly below an object or non at all, which creates the videogame-like effect that I tried to replicate here.

4) Winter afternoon in North Dakota

• Lights:
  • 2 Par 64 in No Color Blue at 100% intensity
  • Par 64 in No Color Blue at 50% intensity
  • Par 64 in No Color Blue at 40% intensity
  • 4 ETC Source 4 36 degree with no gel at 100% (gobos)
  • Cyc Light in No Color Blue at 70%
• Description:
  • Winters in North Dakota are incredibly harsh. I tried to replicate the snow moving on the ground during a windy afternoon, and the stark brightness of the sky due to the snow’s white reflection.