Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Time: 9pm on Sunday

Objective Description: Someone bumped a crackled glass light and it spun around, creating an interesting texture on the walls.

Subjective Description: I was enjoying a brownie sundae in Hof USA with a friend when I noticed a peculiar pattern moving around on the wall. It looked very much like the reflection you would see on the ceiling or walls when the sun shines on an indoor swimming pool.

The culprit of this intriguing pattern was a hanging crackled glass light that resembled an upside-down fish bowl with a lightbulb inside. Some tall guy stood up from his table and accidentally jostled the light. It spiraled around, twisted on itself, and unwound, scattering its crackly, watery pattern all over the walls. I pointed it out to my friend, but she didn’t think it was as exciting as I did. I guess I’ve become a certifiable light nerd.

The pattern is present normally, but I guess I never noticed it until the movement caught my attention. This was an interesting example of how important movement is. Something still can hide in plain sight or go completely unnoticed, but when a little motion is added, it can quickly become the focal point. For me, this is a very important thing to keep in mind when designing later on.

2) Photo taken by Nic Christopher, December 2nd 2012, 3:23 PM in an alley in Boulder, CO

3) THEME: Vibrant, Colorful, Saturated

4) DESCRIPTION: This photo was taken a few years ago of one of my very close friends of him screwing around on his longboard. I took this picture Mid afternoon on a December day with just a few clouds in the sky. Unfortunately the clouds diffused some of the sunlight on my image so the shadows and emphasis is somewhat lacking. In some ways, I believe that this actually enhances this image. With the extremely colorful background and intense colors, I don’t believe that the lighting needs to be super harsh and direct. If the sun were to be shining directly onto this image, casting small shadows and adding that extra depth underneath each brick, the image would have too many elements and be too busy for it to be visually pleasing.

The composition as a whole is very interesting in this image. With the flat, yet still very bright lighting from the sun makes the vibrance of the background pop out and command the entire image. Having the background blurred behind him gives this amazing sense of movement behind him that I see enhanced by the fact that the lighting is constant and equal across the entire composition. The colorful background contrasts wonderfully with the dark colors of Heins clothing and also the fact that he is the only clear part of the image, against the smeared background behind him. What I love about this image is that despite the flat lighting, the bright wash of the lighting reflects brilliantly off of the rainbow of bricks that lay behind Hein. The wall transforms the flat lighting into a bright, brilliant, colorful, saturated and vibrant schmear of colors that livens and gives movement to the picture as a whole.