Drama 16 Stage Lighting

May 3rd, 8PM, Hofstra Gala

My friends martini began to shine in the ambient light.

I was lucky enough to be invited to Hofstra Gala, the biggest event Hofstra has every year to ensure its scholarship endowment. It was a fun night of dressing fancy and eating food that I wondered why Lackman didnt serve to us normally. Nonetheless, we entered the arena to find it completely changed and transformed. It was beautiful. There were intelligent lights that kept slowly rotating and changing gels. My friend went to get a pink martini and while she was holding it, the light was shining through the glass. The pink concoction began to glow. It seemed so pure and hopeful. It made the martini look more appetizing as well. I think light has a huge influence on food and drink. It can make us hungry or thirsty. Right away, I wanted a martini, which was a problem because it is illegal for me to consume alcoholic beverages at my age. The pink color became alive and started to dance around in her glass. It seemed like something this beautiful cannot be controlled, but there it was, in her martini glass.

1) DATE-TIME-LOCATION: 3/19/12 – 7:23 – In Roosevelt Quad walking out of ABP

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was walking out of ABP after a nice dinner with Athena. We were walking towards Lowe for rehearsal. We were walked under the cherry blossom trees in the quad and I looked up. The safety light that was on one of the buildings and lighting the pink flowers from the side with orange light. The sky had a slight touch of blue to it and contrasted with the colors of the light and flowers.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I was leaving ABP with Athena after a long day of classes and homework. I had a pretty rough day on Monday and was feeling stressed from many different angles. After a relaxing dinner of hardly anyone in ABP the two of us began to walk to Lowe for Spring Awakening rehearsal at 7:00. The sun had set but there was still a slight glow that was pumping the sky with a deep, dark rich hue of deep sea blue all across the sky just as Venus and Mars were beginning to show across the night sky. We passed under the cherry blossom trees outside of Roosevelt and I saw the most calming image that I had seen all day.

As I stood under the cherry blossom tree I stopped walking and stared at the petals that were filling the branches. One of the safety lights that was placed near the roof of the business school was pointed directly at the tree. The light being cast from the lamp was a deep and saturated orange glow that when it hit the pedals it became a more peach color as it reflected off of the vibrant pink of the blossoms. I stopped and looked up to see where the light was coming from because it appeared so stunning and pure as it hit the petals. I was shocked to realize that this sidelight was so orange and frankly unflattering as it left the light fixture. With these dramatically, side-lit blossoms appearing to almost glow I noticed how much they contrasted with deep dark blue that was behind it. The dramatic lighting and interesting side light that changed so dramatically when it hit the petals became so enhanced by the dark blue background and all I could do was stand in awe as I took in the beautiful springtime image that was hanging above me.

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1. 
2. I found this photo while procrastinating. Sadly, there was no author connected to the photo. It was part of a compilation of photos.(The link is http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=21713)
3. COLD
4. This picture, while the scene itself does not seem cold, the color and light gives off a cold emotion. The lonesome bench sits there, surrounded by an ominous blue fog. The tree’s dark branches hovering over, judging from afar. The pink on the ground and in the trees is warm, but it is this warmth that magnifies the cold emotion in the blue fog. The eye is drawn to it. There is no life, there is no presence. The sense of emptiness is enhanced by the open space filled with the blue light. The dark bench has no life to it. It seems so lifeless, nothing but an inanimate object in this light. The blue fog acts like a border, keeping the warmth of pink away. The pink in the background cannot even penetrate the blue fog. Imagine sitting on the bench, cuddled up on one side, stretching your coat over your legs to stay warm just like you used to do as a child. You feel cold, caused by the actual temperature or by the absence of lively substance. This lighting could be applied to the stage. This could create a cold social scene. The tree colors representing innocent bystanders surrounding the fog of baren existence. In the middle of this fog sits an old man, totally forgotten by his family. Everyone around him goes on with their lives, paying no attention to him as if he is not even there. He feels alone and cold, recounting old memories. He feels a shiver in his spine. The loneliness has set in and has transformed into physical feelings. His sadness is chilling. He views the people around him as an illusion. Surrounding yourself in happiness does not make you happy; it makes you envious of others. His cold fog will grow and push those that he cares about away. Eventually, he reaches a hypothermic stage of depression, and dies. No one notices though, the scene still seems as lifeless as it did before.