This image of Chinese dancing has a very unique lightng cue. The colors used are very cool giving off a cold and almost lost feeling. This lost feeling is emphasized by the use of haze. The haze is built up so we can't see the dancers feet. This gives the impression that they are almost floating and are not in a realistic location. The cool color and use of haze combined together create a surreal atmosphere similiar to that of a man made purgatory.

This image of stage lighting in this picture is very striking. The color used for this cue is a strong blue-green hue. This color emmulates a strong surreal atmosphere. It almost looks like the light is coming off of the fairies as the light and the costumes blend together. In addition to the color the gobos used that are reflecting off of the bac of the stage look like patterns of trees. These things combined give off the impression that the location is a forest perhaps taking place in a dream. The cue seems like it would be appropriate for a scene in A Midsummer Nights Dream in the forest. It is a very well structured and well lit light cue.

Sunset Silhouette

This is a picture that was found off of a movie photo gallery. I love how there is a focal point in the center of the shot, which gives off a sense of solarization in the sunset. The silhouette is also beautifully captured of the individual skating off of the bridge. What was interesting to me was the light and dark contrast of the darkness from the shadows and the bright reflection of the sun off of the water.I have had this picture for a while now, but have never really analyzed the impact of the lighting and how it effect the overall feel of the photograph.

Dancing Lights

This photo was taken when I was at a bar with some friends. The camera's flash didn't come on for the shot so in the darkness of the room the faces are almost impossible to see. What I love about it is the way the lighting effects are visible. While we were dancing the entire room was lit by moving and flashing multi colored streaks of light. But after a while in the room you got used to the lights and then didn't really notice them any more. So when I took the picture I was surprised by the colors that had been captured. When I took the photo again, this time with the flash on, none of the colors were visible as the bright flash of white light was more powerful.

I thought the lighting effect worked really well in the bar as it gave energy and a fun feel to the dark room.

Since this is a lighting class, how could I not talk about the infamous Red Light District in Amsterdam? For those of you who do not know about this place, it is like 10 times worst then our very own sin city in Vegas. Every night when the sun goes down, the curtains of these little shops open, revealing a prostitute behind a glass window. There, prostitution and marijuana are legal!

There apparently are 3 ladies working at the window that night in the picture. I like that the two hues used in this lighting design are an orangy red and a hot pink. These two hues are complimentary and work well with each other. These hues are very feminine, and thus we characterize them as being feminine, which are attributes sex workers want to be automatically characterized as. This bold hot pink looks fiercer in comparison to a baby pink. The high intensity of the lights and the bold hues makes the ladies look sexier than sweet and innocent. Another interesting thing is that the reflection from the red lights light up the sidewalk, used by onlookers. Since there is not much light from street lamp and the only sources of lighting are from prostitutes’ shops, a shifty mood created from all the lights.

This lighting here is very similar to the lighting design in “The Threepenny Opera” when the whores were first introduced in the brothel. That lighting cue may have been inspired by the Red Light District.

One of my favorite things to look for are the sun beams that are created through clouds. I think they are the most beautiful light source. For me it connects to a feeling of someone watching out for you, and it is funny because it's just light fighting through dense rain clouds. This picture I thought really captured these beams of light and I was trying to think how that would be accomplished on stage. It seems that the light would need such a vast background in order to give this ambiance, but I think this look could closely be achieved by using hazers and just white light. The fixtures would just have to be centralized so that it looked as if it were the sun giving off all the light and I would probably put the fixtures far upstage so that it gave more aesthetic distance for the audience. In all, I just really love this lighting effect and thought it would be really intriguing to put on stage.

So I was looking for pictures that really influenced me for this blog and I saw this scape of the mountains and thought, "Wow, it has almost an even amount of warm and cool colors". Its the best of both worlds. This picture really incaptures a winter day. It gives off that cold feeling because of the blues and the cool tones, but then the sun must be setting, because there are oranges and warm colors reflecting. This looks like it could be a puzzle because it is so pretty, although because it has so many color shifts it would be hard to do. I just was really intrigued by the evenness of this photo and I thought it was pretty cool for nature to bring out all of these colors.

floor spread

One of the hardest things about this class was trying to control the spread of light on the floor. When trying to light a cue most of the though was put into thinking about how the light would directly hit the actor. How would that direct light hit their face? what shadows would it create? what color would it be? It was easy to overlook the reflection from the light hitting the ground and also what the spread would look like. The photo above that I choose is a shot that I tool of my car. I choose this photo because unlike a photo during the daytime when the light is pretty even across the floor, in this photo you can see where it starts and ends. It wasn't something I was thinking about too much when I was lighting this. I was mainly thinking about how the light would hit the car itself. I also used a red gel to light the inside of the car.

Light Positions

This is an image from a text book called The Theatre Experience, by Edwin Wilson. I really like this photo because it clearly shows the lighting design chosen in respect of the audience. With the positions of the downlights and chandeliers, the audience on both sides of the stage can clearly see all the action. The light isn't too bright to hinder the audience's sight, plus it is very warm lighting, which is very pleasant to the eye. The amber color really enhances the formal sense of the scene that is being peroformed as well. With this kind of venue, the stage woould not have large structures since it would hinder the audience's sight. With the chosen light positions, the lighting designer was able to design the set with light. The strong light beams from the downlights define the play area, and the chandeliers tell the audience that the room is a place of elegance.

Early Morning

I was leaving to school one morning, and the moon was giving off such a beautiful light. I wish I had a better camera at the time, but I only had my cellphone with me. I was standing in my driveway when I took this photo, and I thought it was interesting to see how the moon lit the clouds around it clearly and caused a silhouette effect on the trees. When I took the photo, I honestly didn't pay any attention to the green yardlights at my neighbors house, and I'm so glad it got into the photo. The green light gives off an eerie feeling, being that it is the only thing you can see within the silhouettes of the trees, and it's simply a strange color to light a house with. It's funny how it was peaceful to see the moon when I was standing in the driveway, but when I saw this photo, the simple color of green changed the emotion from peace to disturbance.

Silhouette

I really think that this photo is a great example of using back lighting to create a silhouette. Obviously the photographer photoshoped the image to enhance the darkness, but it really emphasizes the loneliness in the photo. Even though our eyes are more likely to be drawn towards brighter objects in a photo, I find that my eyes instantly go to the silhouette of the little girl instead. I think surrounding the smaller dark image of the girl with light causes that. Also, the lit floor is very busy with crazy patterns and shapes, that my eyes want to see the more simple shapes in the photo, which is the little girl. I really like the fact that no color was used in this photo; it really makes me feel alone in a dark and unforgiving place.

Burned Bridges

This is a picture of a bridge in San Diego. I live in the Bay Area and have seen my fair share of bridges at night, but I saw this last Friday when I was in San Diego and it took my breath away. I know it's a far away picture, but the designer made such an eclectic design. The design is so beautiful. The electric blue is piercing and took me by surprise! The bridges in Northern California are beautiful at night, but this was a design I had never seen before. It was not the typical amber street lights. It has blues and reds and greens. It seemed unreal! What I really like is the reflection of the lights in the water. It looks so amazing, especially with the sunset in the back round. In the moment it was very romantic, the buildings were in complete silhouette and the bridge was surrounded by this gorgeous sunset. The worst of the cynics could not disagree. :)

African Sunset

I took this in Africa. The sunsets there were incredible.

It reminds me a lot of how we used the cyc in our lighting projects. There is a definite source (this one from below) but the light spreads easily to cover such a large space. The sun is the only light source in the photo, creating beautiful silhouettes of the land and the trees. I also like that the clouds are such an important part of the photo. They don't so much capture the light and blend in with the sky, but the lighting accents them and helps them stand out. I really enjoy how much of what we use in class can be found in nature.

P.S. If you move your screen back and forth, it makes the sun look like its setting.

This is an image of a hotel that is being lit up by LED lights. I really like the soft purple and blue tones. I have always been amazed about LED lights because they can be so small yet pack so much of a punch in terms of lighting. There are four LED lights packed into by blackberry underneath my trackball and it can change colors depending on the intensity is set each LED light at.

The lighting source is at the bottom of the hotel ground floor and is really bright. I am very impressed that the light from the ground floor can reach over 10 stories high, but still be so strong intensity wise over that huge distance. I am impressed that such small little lights can be so bright and use so little electricity. Because LED lights only come in blue, red and green, the lights that were obviously used to light this hotel must have been red and blue. I am fascinated at the varying colors that result from mixing and blending the LED lights. It seems that the purple light must have more red LED lights shining on there than blue lights because the purple light is more warm than cool and looks more pinkish rather than violet. The blue light probably has more blue LED lights shining than red because the hue is more cool color temperature wise.

Something that may help the lighting design on this hotel is maybe have a gobo of the hotel’s name shining in white light somewhere on the hotel. I feel like that would make the lighting design pop and be more interesting and different to look at. I like that the trees are not lit up by any light source. I feel like that would distract from the overall lighting design, making the lights on the hotel seem more pale or dull due to the reflection from the trees. I wonder if there is any reflection into the individual hotel rooms from the LED lights or if the lights bothered the guests.

Finsbury Ave

These are pictures of Finsbury Ave in London. It desigend to make a social and unique place in city and it worked! I personally didn't go that place, but one of my cousin visitied there last summer and told me about this place. so I searched on google and thought this could be a great pictures to talk about on lighting design class blog.

thos LED lights change its color time to time and make different mood. first picture, when it's blue, I felt like people are walking on the sky. Those lights cross over the bench, I thought desigener might be intend to mix with cloud somehow. when it's green, on the second picture, it looks like a forest. Even people who walk through that place are shown like a green tree. an the actual trees are even greener than real. according to a color, I can see the difference of each atomesphere.

Also, I feel like now days we have so much things to be surprised by a beauty. although many beautiful nature is ruined because of mankind so far, humans are coppying the nature and make another beauty to this world like this place. and of course, lighting is vital for these morden beauty.

Dressing Rooms

At the beginning of class we talked about how so many places have had a lighting designer designed at least one aspect of it. I remember the mention of dressing rooms. It never would have occurred to me that the lighting of a dressing room could affect your decision to buy clothes. But it totally does!!  There are certain clothing shops that I have noticed I am more inclined to buy an article of clothing there. It might be a little inappropriate but honestly I have noticed the lighting in Victoria Secret's dressing room is very flattering. The room is lit from behind the mirror which creates extremely nice shadows that hit the body in all the right places. Every time I am in that dressing room I end up buying at least one thing. It is amazing to me that the lighting is a huge factor in the purchasing of clothes. But it makes total sense to me now. The better you look in the clothes, the more inclined you are to buy them.

Bash--A Pipeline Players' Production

This quarter I stage managed a show for the very first time. I am the treasurer for the Pipeline Players Theater Ensemble here at UCI and we really needed someone to stage manage our first production for the year, Neil LaBute's Bash, so I agreed to try it out. Overall, it was really challenging but also a very fun experience. The performances went really well and we got really good feedback from our audience members.

At the start of the production process, the Bash team's biggest concern was transforming Studio 4 into a jazz lounge, our setting for the show, with a budget of... $100. That wasn't a whole lot of money, but we made it work. To set the mood of a jazz lounge, we had a pianist and a singer, a bar, and special seating at tables. We decided that the majority of our budget was to be spent on lights--that is, household lamps. We scored 3 lamps from IKEA for about $60, used lamps we had in our own apartments, and set up Christmas lights to create the lounge atmosphere. Personally, I think we were extremely resourceful in our lighting and the lighting made such a HUGE difference in transforming Studio 4. It really surprised me how much we could do using 3 standing lamps, 2 desk lamps, and some Christmas lights. I'm really proud of what Pipeline accomplished in this production and now knowing that we can put on these really amazing productions with a limited budget is great for the rest of our 2009-2010 season.

Backstage Discoveries

I'm currently acting in a 10-minute play called "Will Work For Food" as part of the OC Playwrights Alliance and STAGEStheater's show "Holiday Stimulus Package" in Fullerton. This week is tech and last night we were running cue to cue. As I was waiting backstage for my cue to enter, I noticed that a large amount of light from the hallway leading to the restrooms was spilling into the holding area. I was holding a martini glass and noticed it's shadow. It wasn't a shadow, really. You could see the outline of the glass and my hand holding it, but something in the way that the glass itself was made made the shadow of the martini glass look pretty crazy on the wall. The light from the back hallway was shining through it and creating this crazy pattern on the wall. I noticed that it had a lot of spirals and crazy lines, something that I wouldn't have expected to see because the glass itself didn't have any sorts of patterns on it. I just thought that this was very interesting and found myself rotating the glass to see how the patterns changed, which they did with every rotation. It's amazing what you can find backstage.

Graffiti! With light! Oh man!

I'm sure everyone's seen the Sprint commercials with the light graffiti. It's danged cool. It's the only kind of graffiti to cause no damage, no lasting mark, and will only ever be seen by people who view the photo of its creation. AND IT'S STILL FUN.

Here's how it works: take a camera and set it on a tripod in a dark place. Keep the exposure for something like 10 to 30 seconds-- however long you want to make your masterpiece. Set the camera to iso100 and close the aperture as much as you can. Press your go button. Then, with LED lights, glow sticks, cell phones, or whatever light-generating instrument you choose (Source Fours might be a bit of overkill), doodle in the air. Once your time is up, you have a beautiful piece of art on your camera, and no one whom you just drew on is any worse for the wear.

I love the idea that light can be paint, literally now, not figuratively. The color schemes are bright and cheery in a backdrop of cold night or endlessness.

Power Outage

So this was the day my power ran out. It was when I learned how important lights really are. I always knew how important electricity is, I use my computer, fridge, and printer quite often, but it did not hit how much I use my lights (and in this case bathroom light). 

My shower is located in a bathroom with no windows, as many bathrooms in Irvine are. When my power went out I did not think much of it because we were told our water would be running. I thought to myself, "sweet, I'll just take a shower." Wrong. Very wrong. I closed the door and found myself in complete darkness. I had to shower by candlelight. Do you know how hard it is to shower with a candle? A candle inside the shower constantly getting water splashed at it? IT'S REALLY FREAKING DIFFICULT!!!! 

The next day I bought tap lights. 

This experience really made me appreciate the everyday normal lighting that is often not seen as beautiful or important. It is light that we take for granted because we see it every day. It's not very interesting to us anymore. But I can tell you.... It's pretty important!!