Week 10 - A Day's Cycle - Andrew Stefani

 

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 worlds that do not exist, and greater wonder in the world in which we do. Art is not easy in the same sense as being an artist is not easy. But we march on. Why? Because to make art is to represent a little bit of humanity in the worlds we create. There is something more to them. Instilled in them is a philosophy, and in that sense these worlds, these depictions of our world breathe more heavily than the world in which we live. And it is precisely because they are designed.

    I have gained a new understanding for the way creating moods is done, not just with lighting, but with design in general. And I hope to use what I've learned here onward.