Since Halloween is coming up this Friday, I thought that I would talk about shadow play for this blog. I found a good example in my roommate’s room. Her room faces the parking lot. As a result, the light from the streetlights comes directly through her window. I thought the light has a more eerie and off-putting vibe to it. I took a sequence of pictures of the shadow of my hand moving across the wall. It reminded me of a scary movie where a killer is reaching to kill his prey as he holds a knife in his hand. I am really interested in exploring various ways to use shadows in different projects, especially for our Halloween music project and for the DCP I am working on. Shadows can work on a symbolic level, for example casting shadows on evil characters or they can work to help accomplish certain tasks like showing a fight happening behind a curtain with backlight or giving the illusion that many people are present for a party by having five people continuously walk back and forth behind a curtain with backlight in different styles or costumes. You can also use it as a way to create various scenic pieces, such as animals or trees, by using the performer’s body.
Shadows can be absolutely brilliant in storytelling! Directors tend to love it! On stage, it's all about using the right instrument at the right distance and the correct fabric for the effect you're trying to achieve. Lonnie did an absolutely stunning bit of shadow work for a production of The Glass Menagerie where beautifully delicate memories were re-lived via moving shadows behind flowy fabrics. Just gorgeous and slightly distorted as hurtful memories would be. Great fun to experiment with!
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