Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Theme: Romance

Attribution: Léonard Cotte

I was struggling with finding an image for this theme, but after scrolling through many images, this one caught my eye. To me, romance is more than just romantic love – it’s a feeling about anything, whether that’s a person or a place or a situation, and the lighting of this image feels very romantic to me, on many levels. The street lamps lining this bridge are the perfect brightness for maintaining a romantic tone without obscuring the people or view present. The rippling reflection of those lamps draw the eye away from the total darkness under the bridge and out into the gorgeous open air. And the sky ties it all together with this soft, delicate lilac color, more periwinkle in some places and more cotton candy in others, but neither too bright nor too dim. There’s a visibility in this image that can get lost in efforts to “set the mood,” as romantics are wont to do. You can see everything happening here, but you see it gentler thanks to the warm glow of the lamps and the lavender haze of the sky. It’s an image that feels nice to look at, and one I could easily romanticize.

Theme: sunrise/sunset

Photo taken by me on Jan. 18th, 2023, 4:58pm.

I took this photo on Tel Aviv beach in Israel in January. I’m very fond of sunsets, and my dorm room at Hofstra – where I’ve lived since freshman year – has a west-facing window, so I’m lucky enough to get to see many sunsets behind the Manhattan skyline. Those are pretty, but the sunset on the beach in Tel Aviv was different from what I was accustomed to, which made it more special. I’ve always been intrigued by the quality of a sunset that is both orange and pink and when you say it’s one it seems to appear as the other. In this photo the gradient of the sky from a pale blue-gray to an orangey-yellow to that bright orangey-pink is stunning. The way the light makes the water shine in an almost metallic way, contrasted with the complete lack of reflection from the sandy beach, creates a beautiful image. It also brings back nice memories of my trip to Israel – I was with two close friends when I saw this sunset, and now it will always remind me of them.

From: My camera roll, taken November 22nd 2022. Sunset from my bedroom window in Hempstead, NY.

Theme: Sunrise/Sunset

This was a photo from the end of last semester. I had just wrapped on a film project I had been working on, and this was my last night in New York before heading home for Thanksgiving break. I have a West facing window in my bedroom, and often have a chance to view the sunset over the trees and buildings. This particular sunset struck, it had already crossed the horizon (at least as far as I could tell from my perspective) and the deep twilight blue was taking over the sky — broken by a strip of glowing orange as the last streams of sunlight bent around the far curve of the Earth. The glow from the light silhouetted the neighborhood, which turned into a mass of shape and form. It looked pretty cool, so I took a few photos. I was in the sunset of the semester, and that Thanksgiving was the first real break I had from working on any big projects in months. It was a great moment of catharsis knowing I could relax for a while.

1. Theme: Summer
2. Attributes: March 26th 6:51 pm, Arizona
3. Description: I took this photo because it reminded me of summer. Arizona tends to have a summer that arrives early and leaves late. The colors in the sunset are so rich and warm. The sun looks somehow hotter and brighter now that it is so low in the sky. It feels like the lighting at the tail end of a barbeque as the last of the burgers have been pulled off the grill and all of the kids are wrapped in towels with dripping hair eagerly waiting for their parent to make them a plate of food. The perfect lighting for a family dinner in a backyard.
4. 

1. Theme: Surreal
2. Attributes: March 30, 6:15, LIRR
3. Description: This is a photo I took while reading on the train home. I liked the way the sun was pouring on to my book and the seats in front of me. The temperature outside was cold of the lighting on the train felt like a warm summer afternoon. The lighting almost seems too crisp, too warm, too bright, where it’s realistic because it did in fact happen but also seems surreal like there is something artificial about the overall lighting.

1. Attributes: Google
2. Theme: Summer
3. Description: I really love this image because I feel like it really shows the mood of summer. The brightness of the sun through the leaves really feels like how a summer day does. I also love the vibrancy of the colors in the image. The bright green of the trees and grass easily says that it’s a summer day, but what really makes it obvious is the brilliant blue color of the sky. That color is not often present in other seasons

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.

Attributes: Google

Theme: Summer

Description: I chose this photo because I think summer nights have a really interesting relationship to lighting. I love how all of the lighting comes from these small individual bulbs but they come together to provide enough light to see everyone and everything. I also like the warmth in color of the light as I think the slightly yellow/amber hue provides a warmth that really shows that it’s summer. I also like that between the electric lights and the candles, there is light everywhere and pretty dispersed which makes the photo interesting to look at.

1. Found on Google
2. Theme: Summer
3. The light coming from the setting Sun fills the sky in a way that gives off a very warm feeling. It also gives the clouds and the ground a pinkish tint that the waterfall seems to be reflecting, which I find to be quite fascinating. I also found that the layout of the clouds in the sky gave the Sun a nice framing that gives the illusion that the clouds closest to it could be on fire.

1. Theme: Summer
2. Attributes: vista Today
3. Description: This is a photo from the “Dining Under the Stares” event in Media, PA. Every Thursday, they block off the streets in the city and all of the restaurants set up outdoor dining for their patrons. I used to go to this all the time in high school, and this photo reminds me of summer. I love the way the warm bright lights of the restaurant light up the otherwise dimming alleyway. The sky shows the sun nearly set, with a great whisk of white clouds still flooding the skyline. I love how saturated and bright the colors appear.