Drama 16 Stage Lighting

DATE – TIME – LOCATION : May 4, 2022 at 7:50 pm, Pride Pavilion

OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION : The sky is a pale blue color and the sun is shining brightly. Trees scattered the grass field, creating shadows on the ground.

SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION : The strong green tones of nature glow in the light of the evening. Life seems to radiate from all sides. Even as the day heads into night, the sky seems awake and full of energy. As I lay on the field, relaxing from a long day of classes, the calm sky gives me energy to finish more school work. The shadows dance along the ground as the wind blows the leaves. The shifting of the shadows creates an almost hypnotizing pattern, intoxicating me into relaxing longer in the field. In the hurricane of finals season, this serene setting is a refreshing break to allow the soul to become ready for the work that must be done.  

ATTRIBUTES : This photo was taken as promotional material for the Maldives.

THEME : Summer

DESCRIPTION : My first association with summer is lots of warm tone colors. However, when thinking more about it, I realized that a large part of my thoughts on the summer have to do with the beach and spending time in the water. So, for this picture, I wanted to highlight the excess amount of light blue tones. The color pallet of this picture gives off the idea of summer to me because of its specific shade of blue. Further, the bright natural lighting that washes the entire landscape is a keystone of summer to me. During the summertime, there is not a spot of land that the sun doesn’t touch, and the ability to take in all the light is what makes the summer so amazing.

DATE – TIME – LOCATION : April 29, 2022 at 11:36 am, Jones Beach

OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION : The sky is clear blue, and the sun is brightly reflecting off the ocean. The wind blows the sand around, creating a haze-like illusion. 

SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION : The dusted sand creates the feeling of extreme heat as it blurs the vision of the ocean. Replicating an almost heat stroke like mirage, the sand distorts the view of the vast expanse before me. The bright blue of the sky flows uninterrupted by even a single cloud, making me feel at ease, staring into the vast expanse. Both the ocean and the sky seem to lead on forever. The washed natural lighting of the sun leaves not a single shadow behind. It is as if the space continues on forever. There is nothing to worry about, and I am able to relax, knowing that whatever troubles that I may have can be ignored for the next few hours.

ATTRIBUTES : This photo was taken by Jeff Schultz.

THEME : Wildcard

DESCRIPTION : The first thing that I noticed about this picture was the use of color. I love how the picture has generally muted colors, and then there is the bright strike of green against the muted colors that pulls focus. I love how the limited use of the green makes it that much more impactful. I also enjoy how the water reflects the skyline to create a mirrored effect. The cool tones of the picture give the feeling of cold weather.

DATE – TIME – LOCATION : April 19, 2022 at 6:40 pm, Lowe 108

OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION : The sun sets in a cloudy sky, creating an orange like filter on the entire sky. The lights are all off, so the building is flooded only with outside light.

SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION :  The dusty orange sunset creates an unsettling feeling inside the studio. The usual vibrant colors of the sunset are diminished, and the weather creates a precarious feeling. The darkness of the studio increases as the sun continues to set, creating tall shadows all along the room. The structure of the archway outside the back of the studio makes the silhouette of the shadows even more pronounced. It seems as if the day is setting faster inside than it is outside. This winding down feeling emulates the energy level of the students as they reach the end of their academic day.  

ATTRIBUTES : This photo was taken by John D Sirlin.

THEME : Surreal

DESCRIPTION : I chose this photo because of the combination of colors. I feel like our usual expectation for a sunset sky is lots of warm tones, oranges and reds, but here the sunset sky is full of purples and blues which makes it feel more unsettling. The dust storm is also interesting because when I think of dust I often associate it with something small, and easily moved. However, this picture makes the dust seem large and powerful. This betrayal of expectations encapsulates the idea of the surreal for me.

DATE – TIME – LOCATION : April 13, 2022 at 7:22, Hofstra Athletic Fields

OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION : The sunset reflects off of a glass building in the distance, making the building light up in shades of red, orange, and yellow.

SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION :  The reflection of the sunset off of the glass building mimics the creation of a second sun. The building is aglow with deep reds and oranges, making the building seem almost on fire. Against the pale blue sky the building pulls attention as a center of focus. As the day comes to the end, the sun is almost in a final swan song, lighting up in one fantastical eruption of light before it sinks below the horizon and night begins.

1) A Fall sunset in Vermont

In this scene I used an orange, red, amber, and colorless sidelight to create the effect of the sun setting. I used a variety of colors in order to make the sunset seem more vibrant. I used the window gobo to create the feeling that the character on stage is watching the sunset from inside their house, and the sunset is flooding the room from the single window. I also included a colorless top light to give more dimension to the character on stage without messing up the shadowing. The cyc is also orange so as to give off the effect of the sunset filling the entire room.

2) Easter sunrise in a Gothic Cathedral

For this situation, I imagined a large church with colored glass windows. I wanted the entire room filled with light to create a feeling of rebirth and life, which lends itself to the idea of Spring and sunrise. I used mainly  light blue and light pink colored lights because I felt that these colors would be present in stained glass windows, and the soft nature of the colors lended themselves to Easter. The blue and pink lights are both used as top and side lights to create the effect of multiple windows. Once again, there are top colorless lights to give the character more definition. In addition, any light that comes in through an open door would be colorless, so it makes sense that there would not just be colored lights.

3) Winter afternoon just before the snow

When I thought of winter right before the snow, I imagined it to be gloomy and overcast. So, I used multiple top lights with a gray gel to give the gloomy feeling. I then added top lights with blue and violet gels to give off the cold feeling. I did not add any gobos because the snow is not falling yet. Overall, I wanted the lights to feel extremely heavy on the character, and the exclusive use of top lights does this because it creates an almost pressing down sensation on the character.

4) Noon on a hot Summer day in the Caribbean

I kept this design much more minimalistic in hopes of giving an isolated feeling. This summer day is on a deserted island in the Caribbean. Thus, I wanted a strong yellow light shining directly down onto the character to create the sensation of a drowning heat. There is a limited use of color because I want the stage itself to seem dry. There are also side and top colorless lights to create a sensation of depth within the space as a whole, but they are dimmer so as to not create another distinct source of light for the stage. I included blue top lights and a cyc to create the sensation of a tropical sky and to balance out the strong yellow of the top light.

DATE – TIME – LOCATION : April 4, 2022 at 5:57, Dance Studio in Communication Building

OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION : The lights are all off in the studio, but sunshine floods in through the windows. The sun is still far from setting, but there is a clear beam coming in from one of the windows. 

SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION :  The bright sky fills the dark room and reflects off of the wall of mirrors, making the room shine brightly. The almost blinding beam of light is focused in the corner of the room, creating an almost spotlight like effect. One can not help but feel energized by the amount of light in the room. It wakes up the senses and fills you with the motivation to get through class.

ATTRIBUTES : This photo was taken by Rose Andrews to be a stock photo.

THEME : Spring

DESCRIPTION : I chose this photo because of the different angles of light on the tree. The shadows on the branches overlap with one another suggesting multiple  angles of light. I enjoy how even with this all encompassing light source that is the sun, there is a sense of delicacy. The shadows aren’t too sharp and crisp. I also enjoy how the white flowers seem fragile against the pale blue sky. Even though there is a vibrancy in the color, there is nothing harsh about the environment. I also like to think of how the intertwining branches would be creating their own unique shadow on the ground which would give an interesting perspective to the photographer that we wouldn’t be able to see unless we saw it in person.