Drama 16 Stage Lighting

2) ATTRIBUTE: Google

3) THEME: Summer

4) DESCRIPTION: I chose this image for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think sunflowers are the most summery flower there is. They’re bright, colorful, and always facing the sun (looking towards the brightness of life). Secondly, I think the lighting in this image is spectacular. The beams radiating from the sun are almost cartoonish in their perfection, and it’s also the brightest part of the image. The contrast of the colors and shadows make the image much more interesting and help the viewer focus on the central sunflower. The lighting of this image perfectly encapsulates the feeling on a hot summer day; free and hopeful, basking in the summer sun.

2) Attributes: Google

3) THEME: Wild Card

4) DESCRIPTION: This is an image of the Gaffney Peach, also known as the Giant Butt, in Gaffney, SC. I chose this image because I think the lighting and the shadows make it look and feel very intimidating. Its curves are hugged by the shadows, letting the Peach embrace and enhance that daunting feeling. In the image, it stands quite tall, making the trees appear small and insignificant in the background. The light also doesn’t really touch the trees quite as much, making them seem less important. Overall, the lighting and composition of the image exude power and create intimidating feelings for the viewer.

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2) This is a still from the movie Inception (2010) starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

3) THEME: Surreal

4) DESCRIPTION: I chose this photo because Inception is all about dreams, and I think dreams are the most surreal daily occurrence in human life. The buildings folding in on themselves are bizarre and off-putting to look at. There is a tunnel of light created by the folding buildings that acts as a spotlight for the figures in the forefront of the image. The image is very monochromatic, with a spectrum of cool grays composing the color palette. The color palette and tunnel of light both seem like they could be almost real, but the subtle artificiality confuses the viewers’ brains, which is what makes the image (and lighting in the image) so surreal.

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.

2) https://www.virginia.org/listing/libby-hill-park/6882/

3) THEME: Spring

4) DESCRIPTION: This is a photo of Libby Hill Park in Richmond, Virginia taken in the springtime. I chose this photo because I thought the sun created a beautiful dichotomy between nature and industrialism that also spoke to the excitement of incoming spring. On the left side of this image, the sun illuminates the trees and other greenery with a warm glow, casting shadows pointing to the right side of the image. The skyline is visible on the righthand side, but it and its surroundings are all a dull gray, untouched by the beams of sunlight. Simultaneously, this image shows spring pushing out winter, and the joys of nature working against the environmental stressors of industrialism.

1) DATE-TIME-LOCATION: 4/5/22, ~10:30pm, Long Beach

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: The hotel next to the boardwalk shone bright blue in the night sky, casting a glow onto the beach and water below.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: The beach was empty and cold, stagnant waiting for the thralls of summer tourists. The sky, pitch black, created a canvas for the lights of all the beachfront buildings to paint. A harsh blue glow coming from the large hotel interrupted the calm of the off-season and the dark night sky, blueing out the boardwalk, sand, and water. A mix of exhaustion, excitement, and anticipation filled the cool air for one of the last times, signifying the change to come in the new season.

ATTRIBUTES: This is a McDonald’s Cheeseburger ad I found on a New York Post article about McDonald’s. 

THEME: Advertisement/Desire

DESCRIPTION: I chose this image for two reasons. First, I thought the lighting almost intensifies the cheeseburger, making it much more appetizing to the viewer. The moisture of the meat and the ketchup shines in the light, adding dimension to the cheeseburger and making it look much more real (a quality I imagine fast food restaurants always wish to convey). The bun is perfectly round and plump, creating the ideal image of a cheeseburger, and its curves are highlighted by the sidelight shining on the burger. The second reason I chose this image is that I love McDonald’s cheeseburgers, and I think this image looks extremely tasty.

Date/Time/Location: 4/1/22, Hempstead Turnpike, 9:30pm

Objective Description: As I walked back to my dorm in the cold, a flickering streetlamp shone a warm, perfect circle on the sidewalk below.

Subjective Description: The dark sky made for a shadowy, mostly unseen walk home, eerie and frightening. Very few lights shone in the darkness, except for one by the crosswalk to the Netherlands across the Turnpike. Its beam shone straight down, casting a perfectly circular pool of light on the sidewalk below, which I promptly used as a spotlight (just for kicks). Though I was frightened walking home alone, the streetlight guided me out of the darkness, metaphorically and literally.

Date/Time/Location: 3/17/22, Emily Lowe 216, 10:30pm

Objective Description: Though the room was dim, the light from my computer screen illuminated my watercolors in a rectangle of cool white light.

Subjective Description: As I painstakingly painted the night away, mixing muddy shades of brown and green, my workspace was lit only by the light shining from my computer screen. Bright white and cool, the paintings took on new energy, almost coming to life under the artificial sun. My surroundings were dark; the only other light I could see was a warm streetlamp through the window in the distance, a reminder of the long trek in the cold ahead of me. Even so, I powered through, encouraged by the ever-glowing luminescence of my Mac screen.

Date/Time/Location: 3/10/22, The French Workshop in Garden City, 1:30 pm

Objective Description: The sunlight shone through the window in beams, turning the vines on the wall all different shades of green and creating a magical Parisian atmosphere.

Subjective Description: Energy coursed through my veins as my body soaked up the combination of the caffeine and the sunlight shining through the window. Surrounded by faux foliage on all sides, I took in the different shades of green radiating from the vines on the wall, illuminated by the sun’s warm orange rays. Dust particles danced through the air in the beams, celebrating the coming spring. I felt hopeful, ready for new growth, and driven by the sun’s rejuvenating powers.