Week 4: Architectural Texture

It astounds me how everyday architectural elements such as a staircase can create such an intriguing texture with the right light. Lit from below, this staircase places texture on the building itself and creates another layer that reflects the urban quality of this location. 

Even the tree creates a pattern on the ground! There are so many textures around us all the time and in our everyday lives that can be represented on stage in some way or another. I'll admit that I don't notice these textures all the time, but if I were to see these on stage I would be able to easily connect.

Week 4: Everyday Texture

I made an effort this week to try to find some instances of textured lighting in my own home.  I didn't expect to find much, but I did find a few examples that proved the idea that interesting lighting is all around us, in the most ordinary of circumstances.

 First I checked out the dish-drying rack in the kitchen, which afforded me some striped shadows on the wall behind.

 Then we further investigated shadows made my metal kitchen objects, and got some curved stripes made by the produce basket.

And finally, I spotted a polka-dot pattern created by the panel on a desk in our home office.

All three of these instances show to me that interesting lighting can be found anywhere.  And the source of light doesn't have to create the texture for you: it can be as simple as setting an object into the space and seeing how light interacts with it.

Week 4: Ceiling Texture

While studying in my living room this week, I looked up at the ceiling and saw this cool texture. However, despite how cool it looked I was confused as to how it got up there because the roof covers the patio area and I am on the third floor. So at the time of the day when I took this picture, the sun was not low enough to hit the windows at the correct angle to have this effect. I was talking to Holly about it during tech for the shows Here We Are and We Are All Fish. She came up with the idea of how it may come from the bounce from the cement outside of the window.  I thought that was really neat! After we talked about it, I was curious as to how this technique could be used in theatre, especially if you are trying to light in a difficult space. Could you have a light hit a mirror at a specific angle to hit a certain area on the stage? It also brought to mind an idea that I want to do for the character of Moon in Blood Wedding. I would tell you, but you might go see the show so I do not want to ruin the surprise. But, it is interesting to see the way light appears in mysterious ways or places.

Week 3: Reflected Light

I was house-sitting this past week and one day I pulled into the parking lot and came across these patterns of light on the ground. They were only visible in the shadow of the building, so I think the sources of the reflections are the windows.

I'm confused as to how the shapes were configured and the directionality of the light, but that's what caught my attention in the first place- how sunlight can be bounced off of and refracted through so many surfaces until it creates this shape. When designing for an exterior setting we have to take into consideration the reflective surfaces of the surrounding environment.

Week 2: Seeing the Sunset

A friend and I went on a small hike near Turtle Ridge as the sun was setting one evening. I never pay close attention to sunsets (as I prefer sunrises), but what caught my attention was how the colors os the sunset shift based on perspective.

From underneath the rays you can still see the landscape clearly below, and only a strong spot of amber in the distance.

 Then once you stand up and look directly into the source, you can see the layers of light spreading across the horizon.

I find it interesting how perspective can drastically change how we see light. While this sunset was quite lovely, I feel it connects to the theme by saying that love can be all around us but you have to know where to look. You might find love unexpectedly by just shifting your outlook on life.

Week 3: RED!

The other day I was loading in the week 4 DCPs with the help of the amazing Gabri. While focusing one of my pipe ends we were all struck by how stunning it looked with all the other lights off.

The color was a deep and vibrant red, R26. I had always intended to use this color in my show, but after seeing it by itself, I ended up having a cue where there was only one other light on besides my red pipe ends. I also added an opposing red pipe end after seeing how cool just one was.

This is the kind of angle and color that I would usually expect to use only as a tonal in most shows. However, since I've been shooting for a more slapstick, melodramatic feeling in this show, using this a a source for short periods of intense action proved very effective for me.

PS: If y'all have nothing better to do on Halloween night at 8pm (or more reasonably the day after at 2pm or 8pm) then come see the week 4 DCPs in the Nixon theater! Lighting designed by yours truly, stage managed by the fabulous Holly and fantastic Gabri, and directed by Shin Shin Tsai and Kym Butler.

The plays are "Here we Are" and "The Way of All Fish."

Week 3: Aquarium of the Pacific

Pretty recently, I went to Long Beach on a date with a cute boy. We spent the majority of the day at the Aquarium of the Pacific, where we pet ALL THE JELLYFISH... minus the stinging kind. However, it was awesome; the water was freezing and the jellyfish felt incredibly slimy and disgusting. In addition, the ones we got to caress (sensually) had just been fed and were glowing in the dark! Apparently their system for digestion illuminates their stomach and intestines, and being that most of their body is semi-translucent, it was really fascinating and kind of disgusting to see their food being digested.
However! I doubt the aquarium used any specific kind of lighting to accentuate their creatures, but the contrasting color of the jellyfish in opposition to the water and background in their tank was absolutely beautiful. There was light coming from the bottom of their tank, so as they swam up it got significantly darker, but their natural color that light reflects is absolutely stunning. Normally down light creates an effect to make something look frightening, but this had the exact opposite effect because of how soft the light hitting them was.

They also had a new penguin-o exhibit! And it was l'fantastic. That's fantastic in French, except not. There was a little cave type area to the exhibit, probably for small children, that the cute boy and I decided to climb into and watch the penguins swim over us and around us. It was around 4:00 PM and the sun hitting the water was coming through at the most beautiful angle. Here's my glamour shot of the penguin enjoying the sunlight. Isn't he beautiful? I loved all the blue and green in the tank and the natural gobo the light through the water is making. And those streaks of white light shining through those blues and greens is just stunning.
Lighting like this in a show would be extremely interesting and beautiful, if done right. I think you would need a mover so that you can get the movement of the water in the gobo. Also, semi-saturates and saturates would work well to create the atmosphere for water. I would have the mover be a light lavender, ideally.

So after the aquarium, we got a taste for seafood, so we went to Bubba Gump and ate an arm and a leg's worth of shrimp. Then, we were on our way home, but we got lost. We ended up near my sister's house, which is in San Pedro and very central to some great parks and hiking spots. We ended up going to visit the Korean Friendship Bell and park around sunset. We hiked around and found a bunker down the hill, which seemed interesting at first glance, but ended up being small and filthy. On our way back to the car, I stopped to take this photo. I thought it was something special that both the moon and sun are visible in one panoramic photograph. And that sunset was pretty romantic. I like the movement this photograph has to offer, with the white balance being greater on the left hand side opposite of where the sun is, and darker directly in front of the sun to contrast. But that moon over the Korean Friendship Bell with the rainbow cyc-like light mother nature is creating over the horizon just exemplifies the beauty of the moment, both internally and externally. I was there on a date with one of my best friends, which made it all the more special.

Normally, when I picture a source, like a moon or sun, I immediately jump to the idea of a par being a large source. But in this picture, while the sun could be either an Source 4 or par, the moon would definitely be a Source 4. Even so, I feel like I would also use a Source 4 for the sun and just flood it out. And a spectre-cyc would totally be great for this!
There's just so much that mother nature can do that I want to imitate. Mother nature is the ultimate.