Drama 50C - F20: Beginning Lighting Design

  This is a picture of my plants at around 4:30pm in the afternoon. The sun was not yet set, but it was definitely "golden hour" peaking through my bedroom window. I love the way the warm yellows from the sun brings out the warm earthy tones of the greens in the potted plants. Looking at all these colors together puts me in such a relaxing mood, and makes me so thankful that I have brought plants into my bedroom. There is a soft cascading yellow that makes this photo feel so warm and fresh to me. When I look at this picture I can feel the temperature of the room, slightly warm, but not stuffy.

I was out on a walk recently when I saw this pattern of light cast on someone's driveway. The way the lights was cut up into this interesting patters, and these clears shapes, immediately reminded me of somethinga a gobo might produce. I had to take a photo, it was just so uncanny. The clear, slenders rays of light gives this pattern an almost fantasy feeling, transforming ordinary pavement into something very interesting to look at. It seems to me to be the very phenomena a gobo tries to reproduce.

      So as a part of my house's holiday decorations, my mom has opted to use a green bulb for our porch light. Now in this picture if I were to back up a few feet, you would see all the Christmas lights and decorations on my front lawn, and the green would blend in with the bright festive lights. However, when the picture is framed like above, the green wash gives the scene a sickly and almost spooky feeling. This got me thinking about how different colors can drastically change the feeling of the scene. A lighting designer must be careful of the not only the color of the scenic elements and backdrops, they must also be aware of the skin tone of the actors on stage. A green color may cause the actor to appear sickly or creepy. Even a festive scene like above can take on a completely different mood through color.

  This is my Christmas Elf, he doesn't have a name. That morning he woke up on a shelf in the living room, next to the Christmas decorations. In the evening, when it was already dark, I turned on the carousel next to him and it looked like he was staring at it. I like this picture because I see a lot of interesting lighting elements going on at once. I like to think of it as if this was a scene happening on a stage. The Elf would be an actor, and he'd be getting light coming from a lot of different sources. It is not really noticeable here, but when the carousel goes round, it flashes green and blue lights. I took this picture when the blue lights were more prominent and they reflected on the left side of the Elf's face. Those lights are also reflected on the rhinestones on his costume, it looks like little lights sprinkled all over him. The green lights are mostly visible on the carousel. When I pay close attention, I can see how the green and blue play around and create s...

This is a photo I took bored one afternoon. My room gets a lot of natural light and my bed sheets are also a white/cream color, and I wanted to capture the openness of my room during the afternoon but I needed a subject. This plant is a beautiful contrast between dark and light green that adds a warm feeling to the harsh white sheets. I enjoy the different shadows that occur in the wrinkles of sheets as well as the texture from the pattern on the pot and the bedsheets. When taking this photo I wanted it to appear almost as a blank canvas, which is why you only see white sheets as the background; I did not want any other color in the picture besides green and white. I wanted the feelings portrayed in this photo to be pure, innocent, and calming.  

 I went to this shop and there was an art studio within it. While I was walking through and looking at the different paintings, pictures, and sculptures I noticed how the lights were hitting the pieces. For every piece they had at least one light pointed at it. I looked at how they arranged the lights to show off the pieces in the best way possible. You can't really see it well in my picture but it made the pieces seem alive and incredibly beautiful. Even this one painting of some fruit which on its own was nothing special seemed to be glowing and it made it interesting. This was a clear way of how lighting can make things come alive and I thought that was incredibly interesting and beautiful. 

Granted, this is not the lighting I would take my selfies in, but the statement still stands.  I think the shade over the window does a good job at softening the light, and I like how the clear box illuminates at the edges and corners. The red from the left is from one of those novelty nightlights you buy at national park gift shops. I enjoy the wash effect it gives without any distinct edges. The last light source is coming from the mirror reflecting the light seeping through the doorframe. I think this completes the spectrum, providing harsh, crisp lines clearly marking the cracks in between the door and wall. Something else I notices was that the red, yellow, and blue are the primary color palette (not of light I promise I remember it's red blue green).  My favorite part of this picture, though, is the difference between the outside light and the inside light, handily provided by the mirror. I'm not sure how mirrors have been used in lighting aside from inside t...

I promise this photo doesn’t do the colors of the sunset justice. I took this photo and it reminded me of all of the Anna and the Tropics presentations that contained tropical cycs in the background. It reminds me of the culture but also the gloominess that hovers over the characters as they struggle for the sunset sky below the clouds. I would probably light this as a tropical bottom lights with the top ones a pale blue to add cold to the atmosphere. The redness in the clouds also brings so much tension I couldn’t help to this of the play more. We gotta love California sunsets.

  A Day's Cycle         Midday. Andrew sits atop the couch when his cat, Mirabelle, jumps onto his lap. Light streams in from a few windows, the shutters half-cast. The room is diffused with the light of the midday sun beaming through the windows. All is calm.          On a surface level, lighting can seem simple. Figure out the best balance of lights, of colors, that work to represent the reality of a situation. Where it becomes complicated, however, is when the lighting designer must represent both the reality of the situation and the drama of it: the surface and the underbelly all at once. Not only must they do this, but also they must balance their lights with the design of the rest of the production: costumes, set design, even, in some sense, sound.     No design is easy. 'Good' art is not easy. To live with an artist within oneself is to live with the sometimes overwhelming desire to create. To instill wonder for wor...

  This past Thursday marked the first night of Hanukkah, where candles are lit every night, adding one each night until 8 (plus 1) candles are burning on the final night. This photo was taken on the 3rd night, at the very end of each candle's life. One had already gone out, and two as well as the "shamash (leading candle)" remained. I think it's such a satisfying thing to watch a candle melt down until it extinguishes. The tiny flame trying to stay lit at the very end is my favorite part, as it slowly gets smaller and smaller until a single strand of smoke is released and the candle is out. I like this photo because of the way it captures the different stages of the flames. There's a nice contrast between the middle and sides, especially in color. The flames also provide a nice focal point being the central and brightest spot of the photo. But there's also the lights out the window and in the background which add dimension. And the overall darker tones balance...

  Now I'm a sucker for classic signs, especially when they're lit in the dark. This was taken on the night of my best friend's wedding and seeing the sign while on my way back home really felt like a good end of the night. The dark night mixed with the pink of the sign held a nostalgic feeling, almost like watching an old movie while your parent(s) are cooking dinner. With this image, I can feel calm and just wait for the mac & cheese to come on my plate. I truly do live seeing these type of signs as it does bring more of an emotion in me that I just love.

  This is a spot I have been going to for the past couple of years. I took this on a cloudy morning where the overcast made the air feel cool and crisp. I love the blues, green, gray and white this photo encompasses. The cloudy blue and gray tones make this morning feel melancholic but at the same time very soothing. The white wash combined with the green bush brightens up the photo and adds the calming quality against the gray shadows. I find this spot so nostalgic because I used to come here all the time. I used to come here to do homework, hangout with friends or just get the chance to clear my head. My boyfriend and I went on a hike one the morning and I remembered I haven't been here since before the pandemic hit. During these hard times, I'm finding it important to get the chance to really appreciate your surroundings in any way that you can. 

  I chose this picture because I liked the fact that the lighting is coming in from only one side, making the colors go all around. It also caught my attention that one side can be bright and vibrant, while the other more dim, with shadows. Every time I look at this picture sometimes I have a difficult time identifying what time of day it is, whether it is the sunset or sunrise. Although the clouds seem a little all over the place, this image makes me feel calm, it makes me think of a relaxing drive on the town, and heading home after a long day. In this image I like that you can clearly see a dichotomy between the warm and cool tones, it’s just a really nice combination in my opinion. The sky looks as if it was painted, especially with the way the clouds are and how smooth they look, everything about the picture is pleasing to the eye.

  This has become the favorite corner of my apartment. The Christmas lights, tree and stocking are all very symbolic of the Christmas holiday and all of the traditions that go along with them. This year is very different as I will not be going home for the holiday and it will be just my partner and I this time. My tree is substantially smaller than the one back home and not as beautifully decorated like my mom's but is still comforting to have. My favorite part of my evenings now are to dim the lights, light some candles and turn on the Christmas lights which creates the perfect, cozy ambience one craves during the Christmas season. It's definitely looking different this year but exciting to start creating some of my own traditions. 

      In my last post I shared a picture of the Christmas lights outside my partner's parent's house. One of the lights was a fun projector/Gobo type gadget that shines upon the front of the house. My partner pointed out to me the other night that if you lie on the floor in his brother's room at night, you can see those projected lights shine in from the window, and they create fun shadows. His brother's room is filled with Star Wars merchandise and collectibles. From the ceiling hangs at least ten to twelve different action figures of ships from the Star Wars movies. In the pictures above I show you the same angle of the room with the lights on versus off. With the lights on you can see some of these ships. Once you turn the lights off you can see the projected fun lights from outside create really cool shadows of the ships in the room. With the color of the lights and the intense shadows, I almost felt as if I was watching a space battle above me. I think shadows are ...

Every year when it is time to get holiday decorations out, my family is always very excited to set up this light up polar bear that we appropriately named "Poley". My family thinks that we have had Poley for over fifteen years now. He's pretty old and we've had to replace several pieces over the years yet here he still stands ready to light up our home for the holidays.  I really love the glow of cool light that Poley gives off because it really reminds me of snow (even though we don't get any snow in my city) and just the winter season in general. You can also see how much Poley illuminates my porch. At night especially, when it is a little darker than pictured, he really makes my house look very festive and inviting. Every time I see Poley on my porch for the first time of the season, I can't help but get really excited for the upcoming holidays. Obviously this year, festivities look really different than normal, but decorating the house, putting up lights o...

  I took this picture almost 2 weeks ago after a drive with my family. Just as we were walking back inside the house, we looked up and saw this ring around the moon. It was absolutely beautiful, and honestly this picture doesn't do it enough justice. Nonetheless, the ring was so clear and appeared iridescent in person, it looked almost supernatural. I loved the coolness of the overall light from the sky and moon. Something about the blues and whites just gave a sense of hope despite their coolness. 

In October, my fiancé and I took a trip to New York to surprise my best friend. She had no idea we were coming and she also had no idea that I was going to ask her, officially (she knew), in person to be my Maid of Honor. This photo was taken on the subway right after I had asked her and we were all heading to go get dinner in Manhattan. We took off our masks for a quick picture, and it honestly turned out so cute and candid (the best kind of photos). My favorite thing about this picture though is the feeling of nostalgia I get when I look at it. New York is one of my absolute favorite places to be, especially when my two best friends are there and I'm in California. The colors and lighting of the subway, and the outdated advertisements and subway maps remind me of that "used to be" feeling. Although florescent lighting is usually the absolute worst, the overall hue of this picture added to that feeling. I catch myself looking at this photo all the time because it encompa...