On Set: Natural Light

This photo was taken during the summer, when I was out shooting a Bank of America commercial. We were shooting at CSUN, and at this point I was in the shade waiting for my turn to film, when I decided to snap this picture (being on set is incredibly boring). For this particular shoot, we were playing college students and they were filming us outside, in very natural light. It was right around noon, so if they had shot the film without manipulating the light, it would have been too bright and harsh and we would have had too many shadows on our faces (like the girl in the orange). Therefore they had to diffuse the light to make it more natural looking. They used a huge white diffuser (the roof looking thing) over the actors so they wouldn't have any shadows at all. Notice how all of the crew guys have weird shadows from the various trees around, and how the two girls in the middle had none. Diffusing the light is an easy, effective tool to make use of natural light to make it look even and flattering, which is why a lot of photographers and some lighting designers use it.

This picture is taken from the Reeperbahn (red light district) in Germany at night. Usually, when my pictures come out blurry, I delete them, but the colors that were in this picture really caught my attention, and I think it gives the Reeperbahn an exciting feel to it.

The rain on the asphalt really enhanced this photo because of the color reflection. It almost looks as if the buildings and the street are completely stationary and the lights are the only things that are blurred and moving.

I think that this picture captures the intensity of light, represents all the colors and although everything is blurry, gives the Reeperbahn an inviting and high energy feel, which it definitely is.

German Bar

I took this picture when I was in a club in Germany...I really like the colors that are used in this photo because it really serves the purpose that I think it was designed for. The 5 screens shown in the photo continuously show advertisements and change colors and the lights highlighting the alcohol bottles also slowly change colors making the alcohol look more enticing and attracts attention. Everything about this bar has a heightened sense of attraction due to the lights and colors used and probably accounts for some of the income. The colors that I captured in this particular instance are very warm and inviting and make the above ceiling sparkle.

When first starting this assignment, I was only looking at natural light and the phenomenon's it caused, but now, focusing more on man-made light seems to parallel to our class more and makes me appreciate the work and effort put into something like this.

In this picture the trees are really  lit well. Alo of what makes this so pretty is the purple sky. It reminds me of a place I once dreamt of. The picture I am talking about is a photograph from Iraq during the war. It is interesting to see it so beutiful when we think of it as being so bad often. The sun is shining down at a soft angle on the trees and the grass is illuminated like fire on the bottom. 

Blinded by the Lights

I know in class today we talked about making lighting cues so that the audience doesn't really notice that the designer is making the cue; in other words, no one should really notice the lighting design of a show. It's kind of a silly thing to me though, not getting recognition for doing so much. Yet, it makes sense in the big scheme of things. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure this class has brainwashed me into noticing everything and anything having to do with light, so now wherever I go and happen to see a Source 4 I get giddy...great.

Anyway, tonight I went to see the Philharmonic Society of Orange County present a "Musical Journey through China." Essentially, it was the presentation of classic and traditional Chinese music through song, instrument, and puppetry. While the goal of the performance was to showcase the true Chinese culture, I couldn't help but notice that the only light was a few basic floods coming straight down from the Lekos. There were only about 6 lights in use, and each of them just dropped pools of highly intense light on the stage and lit up the musicians. I know that the focus of the show was not to use cool lighting effects but to instead represent a more natural state yet I was still upset that, after seeing our light frenzy in class today, they didn't produce anything a little more spectacular.

So I guess the lesson to learn here is: sometimes it is O.K to use simple and straight-forward lighting. I was blinded by my excitement in the many ways that light can convey mood. Tonight I realized that sticking with simple lighting is still effective, especially to a particular genre of theatre.

Sky

This is a picture of the underside of an overhang on the outside of a movie theatre. I asked my friend who was with me why he thought it was painted blue. He answered, "Ummm because it looks like the sky." Apparently he thought I was an idiot for even asking the question. And even a bigger idiot for taking a picture of it. But I obviously have a different theory.

The blue paint reminded me of our talks about color. We see blue because the ceiling absorbs every other color but blue, so blue light is reflected off the ceiling and into our eyes. If the designers of the building wanted the space under the overhang to have as much light as possible, it best serves them to paint it a light color so that the light that bounces off the ceiling serves some purpose. If they painted the ceiling dark dark blue, only dark blue light would be reflected, making the space under the overhang darker than if it was painted a light color.

Or, you know, maybe they just want it to look like the sky.

Lights from All Angles: Aurora Borealis

I'm surprised I haven't seen this image up here sooner; therefore, I think it's due time. As a frequent visitor and patron of the sciences, I always try to find ways to integrate the arts (in this instance, lighting design) into the physical sciences and realm of nature. Luckily, a phenomenon such as the Aurora Borealis (seen within the North Magnetic Pole region) seems to marry the two polarities, and I find it interesting in that we just recently discussed the properties and principles of light before delving entirely into the practical and hands-on aspect of design. Here is some pretense, in case you weren't already aware: The Aurora Borealis is constituted by interactions between the Sun and Earth's outer atmosphere; when it emits electrically charged particles (ions) that move away from the Sun in a stream of plasma (ionized gas) and comes in contact with the Earth's magnetic field, the ions become agitated into moving around the Earth. Consequently, some get trapped and interact with the Earth's ionosphere (about 70 miles above the Earth's surface), causing the ions to glow. This is not unlike the ongoings within a neon sign. Hence, you get an array of streams and curtains of vibrant color, ever-changing, in the sky. Rather than just summarize this as a mere blanket of random color, I feel that the Aurora Borealis conveys a feeling of mystery and (pardon the cliche) positive energy. It doesn't seem ominous, though it feels infinite and seemingly intimidating in its vastness and appearance of paint-strokes in the sky. This is truly nature's finest at work. It serves as an inspiration of color and creativity, and I find a sort of fascinating dichotomy in that it is best observed when the rest of the world begins to darken. The particles are omni-moving, but the best and brightest hues can be most accurately admired when the sky dims it light.

Fireflies

This is a picture of a firefly on a leaf. I picked this picture because it holds alot of meaning to me. I am choreographing a dance at Cypress College and it is about remembering your childhood and being a kid again. Often times things in go undiscovered and we never take the time too look at the details in nature that make this world beautiful. This picture, from the outside in, aims directly at the firefly. It is dark on the outskirts and it seems as if the leaf is gathering light from an outside source to power the firefly. If you look closly there are bristles on the stem and leaf that are being illuminated. But it kind of makes that leaf glow.