Week 4 Blog, Justice

A Street-corner at Midnight

In this image, there are several different aspects of it that attracted me. First the color: from the left of the image, we almost have a turquoise hue that shifts to green as we move our eye to the middle of the image and follow along the side of the building. To me, this green gives a very erie mood because it is almost sickly and looks very flat against the wall. On the right side of the image the building is lit by what appears to be natural streetlight. the sidewalk on this side of the image looks to me like where the action of the play would take place if this were the set, and on the left side in the green there could be a stranger waiting; hidden. I also love the green stoplight that (to me) balances the green on the left side of the image with the pale amber on the right. And right in the middle we have the streetlight which looks like a dim stage light shining right at me, I really enjoy this look. Lastly the pitch black background of the night sky. This causes everything in the foreground of the image to pop and the absence of back light makes me feel like this is a secluded corner that doesn't exist in the real world; it has been plucked out of reality for this moment. I enjoy the theatricality of this image and how I believe a play could very wall take place here if this were to be recreated on a stage

Week 4 Blog

There used to be a lovely, yet slightly invasive cactus here next to the garbage cans. It provided a nice big chunk of green to the area next to the garbage cans. One thing that I noticed as soon as I saw that it was gone was the shadow that the stump left on the ground. The sun was high and hot that day so the shadow across the grass was very sharp. The strength of the light from the sun highlighted the loss that I felt of this cactus.

Week 4 Lighting Blog

I took this picture after I had been inside for awhile under some really harsh fluorescent lighting, and I saw this light through the trees. This light was much warmer than the ones I had been studying under, and it gave a really nice light to the trees. It was perfectly in a hole in a bush and framed the green around the dorm really nicely. It felt a bit like the moon peaking through clouds at night. 

Week 4 Blog - Adedoyin Domingo

I took this photo while walking on campus. It is a sunny day and I am standing under a cluster of trees. This reminded me of the photo we saw in class of a production where the stage was treated with light coming through trees. The color of the incandescent lights coming through the netting on stage made the stage look magical and the light felt inviting and whimsical.

Though this was a sunny day and the image has a cheerful daytime quality, it made me think of how the mood could be changed with a different color light. The shadows in the photo are very dark and overwhelming. If the light were a blue/gray or a red it would create a very scary and dramatic effect. This made me understand the importance of color choices because they influence emotion and atmosphere so much.

Week 4 - Stearns Dorm with Shadows

The picture on the left is a dorm on campus and the different styles of light and shadow that I found interesting. Additionally, I also liked the stark color contrast between the dull yellow/gray of the dorm, the blue of the sky, and the green of the trees. In particular, I found that the lighting on the left side of the dorm created a different mood than the dorm wall in the center of the photo. On the right, the atmosphere is lighter and brighter, while in the center, the lighting is, more somber and gloomy. Each wall has a distinct feel to it, and I think these walls are a great example of how mood and atmosphere can play a pivotal role in stage lighting. I would imagine that a lighting designer would be able to play around with the Roco swatchbook and find two colors that convey a different mood, then add gobos and other effects to their liking. Also, you could use the colors of the ivy to create an even more realistic mood, setting, etc.
The picture on the right is from the top of the building on the left. I wanted to show this because of the way the light hit the roof, and the way it hit the window. I think the window had a bunch of spider webs on it too, so the web made the light seem thicker and heavier. This is another example of what I find interesting about light, especially when seen through a different lens.

Week #4- Upstairs at the Ace Hotel- Tasha Spear

I took this picture last night at the rooftop bar at the Ace Hotel in Downtown LA. I took the picture looking through the tress because I thought the trees added a different dimension to the already beautiful light coming from the top of the building. The light used on the building was pretty yellow looking, but at the right angle, it made the building look very red/ orange. It reminded me of fire, or more specifically, because of the architecture, it reminded me of torch lighting. There was very little light other than this at the bar outside, only small hanging lamps on the trees that didn’t produce much light, so this light really stood out and drew your attention. When I looked closely, it seemed like the light was coming from the bottom most part of each window, shining upward, and then there was light shining from the top most part down, but those lights weren’t as strong as the ones coming from below.

Looking at the contrast between the black night and the light in this building, the building is very prominent in the picture and makes a statement. Because of the beautiful and ornate architecture, I would imagine whoever designed this wanted the attention to be directed at the fine details put into making the building, especially at night. Looking at the light through the trees gave the source of light a more mysterious and romantic atmosphere. The source of light was well hidden by the architecture, so it almost looked like the structure was glowing rather than being lit. This glowing effect also played into the romantic feel. As far as function is concerned, the light didn’t seem like it was to help the patrons to see, and it was more for a visually dramatic effect, which I think it achieves well.  

Week #4 - Two Flags - Alexander Waxler

I took these pictures on a perfectly clear day, as the sky behind them shows. While the light itself was neutral, white sunlight, it was still strong enough to clearly point out a difference in color saturation (not shown as well through the pictures). While this difference in saturation is clearly due to pigment as opposed to light, it is still able to show how much of a difference saturation can make. The first flag looked new, with bold, striking colors that made it stand out from everything around it. (Being struck by the strength of color of that flag actually prompted this post.) The second flag is much older and faded, especially on the orange bars. It comes across more as a tint and is far less striking than the fully saturated primary colors of the first flag.

Week 4 - Maricela Guardado

Thank goodness for my weird friends and their early Halloween shenanigans. My friend was having fun with his own prop box, and looked particularly eerie under the practical light behind him. I put both of these photos because I was trying to capture the warm, orange glow of the light in the lamp that lit him from behind, but I don't think my phone did a great job of it. In any case, even though the light looks whiter in the second photo, I thought the back light as an eerie effect looked really neat.

This came one beautiful afternoon in my home, where the sun gracefully treated our living room with light. I thought it was cool to see tree shadows and the warm light treat the cold stone of the fireplace, and that the light coming through the curtains adds some really beautiful warmth to the space. It feels comfortable, and almost forest-cabin comfortable. 

Me and my friend Wylie have a tradition of having late night pie and coffee at our favorite diner in town. There was a light above him, giving him shadows in his eyes and from his hat. The color of the light was a little sickly, a little green? Still some warmth, but I believe the light above him was an incandescent lamp, while the rest of the restaurant uses fluorescent lights. Still, the picture itself feels out of a film noir scene.

Week 4 -- Aiden Giuffre

Fireworks are classic example of the use of light to produce spectacle, but as I stumbled upon this particular fireworks display in San Diego I came to an important realization about fireworks. They are LOUD. The bangs, screeches, and pops that accompanied each burst of color were deafening, and the cacophony was only intensified by echoes and reverberations off the nearby buildings. The effect of the show was impressive and obvious: with each salvo the crowd on the street broke into unprompted cheers and applause. The lesson we can take from this as lighting designers is to be sure to coordinate our lights with the other sensory experiences happening on stage. The fireworks show would not have "worked" if it had been silent lights or invisible thunder; the combination of light and sound created the magic. By collaborating with musicians and sound designers, lighting designers can create experiences that would be impossible to create in a vacuum.

Week 4 - Natalie Makel

While studying in the library on Saturday night I noticed how white the lights were. It was clear these light's main function was practicality- they needed to light a large space and needed to light it well. As it became darker outside, and the natural light began to subside, it became harder to focus because the lighting was more harsh. In the reflection you can see the rows of lights in their organized order; this also plays into the practicality function: there are no nice lighting fixtures and there is no ambiance When my mom FaceTimed me, my face looked almost sickly and very drowned out. Also, the mood is kind of sad, because, well, being in the library on a Saturday night is sad.

Week # 4.Tree In The Light Of Streetlight. Yuting Zhang

It is very interesting to see how this tree looks different in the sunlight than in the light of streetlight. In the sunlight, the color of the tree's leaves is yellowish green, which offers viewers a warmer feeling. The sunlight is even, so that every detail of the tree is visible, and the color of each leaf looks the same.

The light of the streetlight is powerful, more focused, and sturdy, and the light distorts the tree's figure. Viewers cannot see any details of the tree. The leaves which are closer to the light have a brighter and lighter color, and the leaves which are farther from the light have a darker color. The different colors of the leaves make the tree less realistic and artistic.

People are directed to focus on the shape of the branch due to the stronger contrast between the color of the branch and the color of the leaves. People will hardly notice the shape of the branch under the sunlight, because the color of the tree is warmer and brighter, and the branches are just light brown, which does not contrast as strongly with the leaves as the black color of the branches in the light of the streetlight.

Week 2 - Charlie Haakenson

Week 2 - Charlie Haakenson


I took this after going to the grocery store at around noon. What struck me was the quality of light coming in through the window. It was overcast so there was no direct strong sunlight. The lines and beams of light were not sharp but were very soft. The light came in through the window and comes distinctly at an angle, as side lighting. This soft light for sure gives off a quiet and sleepy day quality. Because I am so used to strong LA sun this change was especially apparent. Overall, this sort of light makes me want to eat ice cream in bed.

Week #2– Adedoyin Domingo

I took this picture while sitting on a bench outside a restaurant this week in the evening. The bench was a series of bars and there was a light shining over the bench. I dropped something and took picture seen here is the effect that the light created under the bench. I atmosphere above the bend was warm and cozy with a yellowish candle like light but under it was a bit more eerie and interesting. 

The reason I found this interesting was our lecture about the various light types and the accessories that go with them. I was thinking about gobos in particular. The bench reminded me of the affect a gobo used to create blinds in a film noir show would create. However, this image is much more messy than what I imagine would be on stage because there are people, other lights and objects interfering with how the pattern comes out on the surface. This image made me wonder how, when light is used to project images or create scenery, lighting designers keep the people and objects on stage from interfering with what is being shown.

Week #2 - Maricela Guardado

Attached are three photos from my bedroom this week. The first is some really interesting and sharp shadows one late afternoon. I really liked in this image that this is something easily translatable to lighting onstage -- especially if the stage design was an old, antiquated house. The sharp edges of the shadows and the soft light can be accomplished with a leko, and possibly with just simple adjustments with the shutters.

The color of the curtains with the light shining through was a very beautiful, almost late sunset kind of color. It was amazing to see even how much sunlight can influence color and how it's depicted. In terms of lighting design, I'm nervous to see how the light will look like against clothing, back drop, set, etc, and what adjustments can be made with it. At least with this photo, the warmth of the color is something that would be neat to play with onstage.

Here, I was projecting an episode of The Sopranos against my screen, and this was after taking the screen down. It's definitely not pretty, but it did get me thinking about how to play with projections and light over furniture, set, and fabric. I can see that depending on what the show requires, projections and different sources of light can provide very different moods and environments.

Week 2 Isabel Schwartzberg

I took this photo as I was leaving the library after a very long study session to go to dinner and I was exhausted, hungry, and pretty cold due to the library's over-powerful AC system. As I was walking I saw this warm light coming through the trees and it really felt like the light at the end of the tunnel (no pun intended). It made me feel more relaxed, it felt like it was beckoning me out of the library and into the quad, and the way it shone through the trees also kept it from blinding me (though after taking this picture I did get a little bit blinded for a short time)

Week #2 - Alexander Waxler

While brushing my teeth in my residence hall's restroom, I noticed a curious light pattern on the ground. As this picture demonstrates, I saw a natural "stage" with three different levels of light. The small, square spot worked as a spotlight, forcing focus toward that particular spot. The clear line on the right side kept focus away from what might be considered a "backstage." The plain sunlight through the window, coupled with the white tile "set" left a stark, industrial feel.

Week 2 - Nicholas Justice: Apartment Wall

          While sitting in my apartment, I noticed a very interesting light pattern that is thrown onto my wall whenever a car drives by during the afternoon. It is the sun reflecting off of the cars and casting the shadow of a gate out infront of my apartment through the windows and onto the walls. To me, it had a very theatrical look, almost that of a prison/gated wall being reflected into a plain off-white room which made me think of a mental hospital or some sort of asylum for the deranged, especially with how the shadow is duplicated next to itself due to the light's reflection. This is something you could easily recreate with LEKOs and gobos and could cast onto a set to give this type of affect I believe. I also noticed the way the sunlight naturally brightens on my wall near the lower right corner of the wall. This is an affect that could be accomplished with a Cyc and cycle lights, or by placing a PAR at the base of the wall and shining up the wall to give the fading flood affect seen in the photo.

Natalie Makel: Week 2

While studying in Haines I felt very inspired and moved by the light coming in from the window. It was around 1PM when I took this picture, so the light cast shorter shadows, rather than longer ones, if the sun had been positioned differently in the sky. The light was bright and white and when it hit the gauzy curtains, they seemed to glow. The natural light functioned as our main source of light for studying. I liked that this was the case, for this room specifically, because the walls are lined with old law books, so when we opened the tall windows, the light and wind revitalized a seemingly dull room. It also felt very Harry Potter/Game of Thrones esque, which made me super happy and I felt very sophisticated.

Week 2 - Library Patio

These two pictures are from right outside the library, on the front patio. It struck my eye because of the way the sun peeked through the branches of the tree, creating an interesting shadow on the patio. I got the sense from these shadows that it could be a gobo on stage. I also like the messiness of the shadow, so maybe a small Fresnel to accompany the Gobo is some way would be beneficial. Between the shadow created from the railing, and the shadow from the tree, there is a lot going on around the patio. The sunlight and tree create a tropical feeling for me, and I suppose another gobo could give off a tropical green and blue look, if need be. The picture on the right, especially, is almost blinding, but I think this intense light could be useful in some areas/scenes of the stage. I think a sharp Leko would be ideal for creating this blinding effect, sparsely - so the actors/audience can still see! To create a less intense effect, like the sun on the right photo, I think a Fresnel could work, because of the softer/flood-like effect, but it depends on the exact design and direction of the show. The combination of the Sun through the branches and the shadow created from it caught my attention, and I think there are a number of ways to play around with this effect on stage.

Week 2 -- Aiden Giuffre

    These are some cyc-lights being tested for a scene late in The Rake's Progress, which is currently being rehearsed in Thorne. In this scene, the protagonist is meeting with the devil in an eerie graveyard; the background light reflecting off the cyc help to add to the atmosphere of the performance. Originally, I thought that the combination of blue of green was what really underscored the menace of the conversation on stage, but on reflection I think that any strongly colored light could provide a similar feel of the supernatural. In real life, almost all light is either white or golden/yellow, and comes from the sun or some light trying to imitate the sun. Even at night, moon light and street lights typically follow the same white/yellow color scheme, so anything else seems kind of off. While the blue/green color combo here is less intrusive and certainly more "night-timey" than, say, a red would be, the use of intense color definitely pulls people away from a sense of realism, and suggests the supernatural or otherwise aberrant.
   In this scene, the characters are primarily lit by uncolored or amber front and top light, which can be seen on the bottom half of the cyc. This is because the scene is still happening primarily in the "real" world. I suspect, however, that had this been a dream sequence or other "imaginary" setting, the designer might have added even more color to give the actors themselves an unearthly hue.

Week #2- Harry Potter World- Tasha Spear

The first picture on the left is of the outside of the Hogwarts castle at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios and the one on the right is a picture of the inside of the castle. I found the lighting in the castle interesting because it was very similar to the picture I have here, throughout the entire castle. Thinking about atmosphere, the low lighting made the castle seem ominous and almost dingy. It was difficult to see, especially with so many people. It made it seem like we were about to walk into something very dangerous. Coming from outside in the daytime, it felt like a completely different atmosphere from the sunny Los Angeles day, which you can see by looking at the two pictures next to each other.

The lights that created this darker mood are seen on either side of the picture on the right. They are medium sized sconces mounted to the wall that give off a very deep yellow shade of light. The sconces are old fashioned and fit the architecture of the castle very well. As far as functionality, I’m not sure this was the best choice of light. I found it very difficult to see, especially with the masses of people in the area. I think the lights could have been better placed in the space that I was in.

Although there was a clear atmosphere created in the space, I didn’t really understand the choice. Even going through the entire castle, these sconces were placed throughout the exhibit and it made the castle seem monotonous and spooky. I would have liked to have seen different dimensions of color and mood/ atmosphere throughout the castle because the dark, spooky yellow tones became mundane after awhile and lost the effect I think the lighting designer was going for. In addition, the yellow light was very harsh. I think the idea behind the dim, harsh lighting was to make the experience more exciting because it made you feel like you were in danger, but Harry Potter isn’t just about danger and Hogwarts isn’t always a scary place to be. The story they were trying to tell could have been more effective if other forms of light and color would have been used, possibly some softer tones to lighten the mood at some points.