Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Date: 5/17/22

Time: 3:42am

Location: Lowe 216

Objective Observation: The top floor of Axinn library is visible just barely over the trees and is the only light really visible out the window.

Subjective Observation: It is pitch black outside as it is night and there are a lot of trees covering view of the sky. Peaking out from the trees is a narrow band of light that is the top floor of Axinn. It reminds me of a UFO as it just looks like a rectangle of light amidst nothing. It is piercing as it is in great contrast against the dark sky. It also has a yellow-ish light which contrasts against the cool white that comes from the outdoor lights below the window by Low.

Date: 2/9/22

Time: 5pm

Location: Constitution

Objective Observation: The sun is beginning to set but it hasn’t set enough where there’s a lot of colors and there is not a cloud in the sky.

Subjective Observation: Without clouds or pollution or anything to color the sky, the sunset seems lonely. The lone sun is shining brightly and is at a point in its descent where it seems almost level with where I am standing on the 5th floor. The sun looks like a spotlight if you stare at it as it is just a small bright circle amongst a vast sea of light blue. It doesn’t look like a traditional sunset but is still very bright and very cool to observe.

Date: 5/12/22

Time: 12:50pm

Location: a small park in the upper west side

Objective Observation: Sunlight shines in through a slotted wooded overhang onto a man-made waterfall and a lot of green plants.

Subjective Observation: The brightness of the sunlight seemed to greatly amplify the green that is found in the plants and trees surrounding the waterfall to an almost ungodly vibrance. The slotted overhang creates an interesting texture where the light shines as if there was a gobo in the sun. The slots create an interesting contrast in where the light shines as the patches where the sunlight comes through are crazy bright whereas the patches blocked by the slots are really dark.

Date: 05/07/22

Time: 9:30am

Location: Admissions building

Objective Observation: The lights are on in the building but it is heavily overcast so there isn’t much light coming in from outside even though it is the morning. 

Subjective Observation: It’s the morning but the light makes it feel like it isn’t. The skylight overhead shows the overcast sky which seems almost like its shining darkness instead of light. Usually on a morning in the admissions office the atmosphere is light and airy as the skylight provides a lot of extra brightness but with this heavy of overcast, there is little supplemental light.

Date:04/25/22

Time: 1:30am

Location: Spiegel Lighting Booth

Objective Observation: There is a yellowish light overhead in the small booth that radiates some into the dark theater.

Subjective Observation: The theater is pitch black and its so late yet I am in the small booth that is completely lit. Some of the light spills out into the audience but not enough to light up the space as it is so void of light. The yellow of the booth’s light is such a sharp contrast to the space of the theater it feels so separate yet it really isn’t.

Date: 04/04/22

Time: 8pm

Location: Kings Theater

Objective Observation: There are lights of all colors (mainly blues and reds) shining all around the ornate theater. There are also gobos on some of the lights creating a dispersal effect of the light.

Subjective Observation: The ceiling of the theater is very ornate with a lot of decorations like its taken from the ceiling of a baroque church. This means there is already a lot going on so when the multicolored lights are added that confuses things more and then adding gobos creates a wild texture pattern throughout the space. It is an interesting combination of old and new aesthetics as the lighting is so modern and technologic whereas the ceiling is so stable and old.

Date: 3/20/22

Time: Midnight

Location: Washington DC

Objective Observation: There are lights in a ring around the Washington Monument shining up on it from all directions. It is a no-color looking light which is very apparent as it is very dark.

Subjective Observation: The light makes no sense. The entire obelisk is lit up and visible wit the same level of light on every inch yet the only visible lights are small ones on the ground. It’s as if a fully lit object was photoshopped into a night-time background as there are virtually no shadows. Its like its in a video game that is still being rendered. It seems unnatural and physically impossible.

Date: 03/16/22

Time:9:15pm

Location: Radio City Music Hall

Objective Observation: There is a large rectangular setpiece at least 10 feet tall if not closer to 15 feet that takes up all of the middle of the stage. At one point in the show, the singer got ontop of it and lights shone up on him creating a silhouette as the lights were mounded on top of the set piece.

Subjective Observation:The lights made it seem as if he was floating on stage. All of a sudden, burts of white light illuminated the dead center of blackness. It didn’t make sense how light could exist there or how he was standing there. It was as if he was standing on light. The lights cast a shadow on the singer as they shone up on him furthering the idea that he is floating in the middle of the space.

Date: 02/26/22

Time: 11:20pm

Location: Broadfield

Objective Observation: There was a mixture of pink and blue lights shining all around the room in neon hues as well as an assortment of smaller lights spread throughout the basement. They are the only sources of light.

Subjective Observation: The pinks and blues combined in a way that seemed to alter time and space. There was nothing natural about the light in the room which, combined with the music and the atmosphere, transported everyone to another world. All of the lights were low making it hard to see adding to the sense of timelessness. 

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.