Blog #5

This weekend I went to see a dance show called Bare Bones. This picture was taken from one of my dances that I choreographed for the show. It was an interesting journey to see how lights were managed through the space and how it can reflect off the dancers. The lighting from the sides made it seem very dark and myserteous. The purple light absorbed the dancers body in a cool and collective way, it made her look more organic. In this picture I can also see a tint of white on the floor, which is interesting because I only wanted to have purple, amber, and a light green color. I have gain lots of insight from creating these cues and understand how lighting works in a confined way.

Bare Bones 2019

I saw Bare Bones this past weekend. It was a good show! There were sixteen pieces, which was a lot in the span of an hour and a half. All of the pieces were short and sweet. The lighting throughout the show was mostly low side lights which creates fantastic shadowing on the dancers. The production was held in the 1100 studio which is where I will be presenting my thesis concert. As I watched the show, I kept in mind what facilities are available to me when I light my project and the kind of atmosphere I want to create.

The picture attached is a glimpse of my dear friend's piece "Sequence." Her dancers wore shear red orange shirts with red socks so she wanted red and yellow lighting. The piece was very warmly lit yet low in intensity. It was kind of burning glow which accented the
choreography.

Chicago Winter

The above photo I took in Chicago last winter. I really like this photo because it's all snowy and clean. It really shows off just how geometric the city is. The sun wasn't out at all that day, so the sky and everything was white, which just made it look that much cleaner. It reminds me of the feeling of one of the presentations that had purity and serenity as its words, and I though this could be a good reference image for lighting something like that.

Blog 5 : Shadows on the floor

Ok I understand I’m late but I passed out and I as I was about it do this and I literally just woke up and here we are. So I chose this picture because I love the levels of the picture next to the book and the small shadow of the picture frame to right on the book. I also really love how the shadow on the left edge of this picture completely changes the color of the gray on the picture on the floor. There are just so many colors in this photos yet it seems pretty simple to me. I just find all the shadows so pretty in this picture the way they can really create a sense of discomfort because of how unclear the picture is in those spots. But I really like this photo. 

Blog Post #5: Shout out to Nita

Is it cheap to use an actual theatrical lighting picture? Probably. Am I still going to do it anyways? Why yes, yes I am. I checked the guidelines, and I'm pretty sure there was nothing in the assignment that said anything against using such a picture, so here I am. This picture is from last quarter's grad DCP, Mrs. Warren's Profession, directed by Sara Rodriguez and just happened to be lit by our very own Nita Mendoza, and, yes this is part shameless plug, because that's me casually posing in the picture. It was my first DCP and when the big first meeting between the cast and crew happened, Nita presented us with images (much like we did for the picturization project) to represent each act of the play. This was for top of show (if I remember correctly), which took place on a spring morning in an English garden. Take notice of how Nita's lighting works with the minimalist scenic design by Kathryn Jug to create a full atmosphere of the scene. The sky is bright and clear blue through the use of the bottom cyc, gobbos are implemented and softly diffused to create the illusion of a lush garden shrouded by trees and their shadows, and the sun's warm rays shine brightly through the left casting a shadow on my face as it's turned the opposite way. We just got these pictures (photo credits go to Isiah Walk) recently, and it's mystifying actually being able to see the show from the audience perspective for once. Looking at all the various picture's throughout, I was struck by how colorful the lighting could be at times (with us cast in lavender, blues, and even warm amber depending on the scene) which sort of makes sense; Nita's picture's that she brought in bordered on impressionist (almost Monet like) for a couple of scenes. Mrs. Warren's Professsion was gorgeously lit by Nita, with it I hold many treasured memories, and being able to look at production photos fill me with such warmth and serenity... almost like a shaded English garden on a bright and beautiful spring day.

Blog #5 - Shadow Flower

I found this photo on Flikr and really loved the composition of it. I thought that the light had a very interesting effect for a few reasons. The first is that the flower when reflected on the rock looks like it is facing the other way within its shadow which makes your eye believe that there are more flowers that just the one you are seeing. Another thing that I find very interesting about this photo is the way that the sun is in such direct contact with the center of the flower making it seem as if it is bending. I think that this photo will make me look harder at nature in the future and to "stop and smell the roses" more sort of speak so that I can appreciate some of the beautiful nature that we have around us.
-Mikayla Slepicoff

Blog Post #5 Sunset

I've been saving my sunset photo for the end! This picture was taken at the beach during the sunset. What is most appealing about this natural light is the warmth of the sun, and the colors produced around because of it. I believe this picture best shows what was learned in class how cool colors, such as the sky, are almost never absent from warm colors, like the sun. Surprisingly, this blue and orange look was something I was not expecting to see outside of the theatre. Even though the sun is setting, it gives a feeling of rebirth and not necessarily the conclusion to a day. Regardless, when you look at the sand, you feel a little gloomy, but when you add the sunlight, the light included, but also the feeling you get internally become a whole lot brighter.

Blog #5: Oh Wonder Concert

A few months ago, I went to an Oh Wonder concert and spent the whole night captured by the music, performance, and lighting. In this specific video, I captured one of my favorite moments of the entire night and I believe that the lighting in this moment played a huge factor in why it stood out for me. When they began playing this song the lights all went dark and the single melody began playing, the beginning slowly builds up so the lights would flash accordingly. The color of the lights were simple, just white light to begin with to match the simplicity of the beginning of the song. Once the beat was added in, a purple light in the corner began to flash as well. So the lighting seemed to help highlight a new instrument or new addition to the environment. I believe this use of just the flashing white backlight in the beginning is super successful because all you see of the performers is their silhouettes and because they aren't singing in the moment you don't need to focus on their faces. The lighting helps to build up the anticipation and excitement leading into the song. This whole experience helped me realize why lighting is so important to making a concert or musical event even more memorable. Yes, it is possible to have a concert outside in natural lighting without any extra stage lighting, but adding that extra element really adds to create an environment.

Lighting Soulstice

This past weekend I had the privilege to organize and watch Soulstice, UCI’s annual talent show. There were so many lights used in this show, but there was one performance that caught my eye. The performer was a soloist who was singing a song from Les Miserables. She was lit very well with lights that illuminated her from a high side angle and from behind. The high side angle that illuminated her was a blue colored spotlight. The backlighting was from the ground and it pointed up toward her. This low back angle lighting was a dark, deep blue. I think this backlighting worked well because it gave her dimension and she stood out more. There was also red lighting from above and it was illuminated onto the curtain behind her. There was also white lighting from above that illuminated the curtain behind her, and in this white lighting there was a gobo that had a criss crossed pattern. I did not really see the necessity for the patterned gobo because it did not necessarily add to the performance but rather, to me, was distracting. Because of the white, blue, and red colors used for lighting, I think that the concept was to represent the French flag in Les Miserables. I thought that this was a creative idea because as soon as the lights went on, it reminded me of France and helped me to connect with the singer’s song more. I would definitely say that the lights used in this performance was flashy and was meant to be showy. I think this flashy use of lights worked because it made the performance lively and energetic. I also thought that the high angle light worked well because it was a spotlight on the performer and made her stand out more and made it dramatic. Because of the colors and flashiness of the lights, it was a very energetic mood. The colors and the lights brought the performance alive and gave off a very excited mood. Because the red and blue were so saturated, it made the performance more dramatic and pop. I really liked the bold colors used in this performance.

Blog #4

While working the opening shift at goodwill, I snapped this photo in our back warehouse. Initially I was trying to capture the elongated pattern that the flaps created on the floor up until my coworker walked into frame. What was originally simply an interesting pattern turned into an ominous image from the backlighting causing my coworker to be completely shrouded in darkness. Added to this, the angle in which the light comes through the back room elongates his shadow on the floor making him appear taller than he normally would.

Blog #3

The other morning my mom had woken up the household as a result of setting off one of our smoke alarms while making breakfast. It turns out that she had burnt the toast she was making but unintentionally made the morning's sunlight visible to the rest of us. The smoke from the burnt toast caught what few reys of light were unblocked from the window trinkets and thus made them into visible lines of light. I assume this occurs as a result of the light reflecting off of the smoke particles thus making the entire beam visible rather than just final point of reflection on the floor. This does however reveal that even household mistakes can accidentally create what is sometimes purposeful lighting designs.

Blog #5

Upon leaving work the other night the parking lot lighting really caught my interest. The warm amber tones mixed with the stylistic fixtures created this sort of otherworldly setting. I got the sense that if I ignored the asphalt beneath the lights I could imagine there being cobblestones in a place that by daylight would be seen as just an everyday shopping center. Even more so, the contrast of the yellow lights with the blue light of the sky creates a dynamic image, I suppose that is what lead me to take the photo in the first place and in turn found it to be fitting of a blog post.

Shameless Episode

I recently started watching a TV show called Shameless, and there was one scene that really stood out to me lighting-wise. One character, Lip, was going through a lot of internal struggle about possibly leaving home and starting a new life when his sister, Fiona, came to visit him and talk about it. Lip was sitting on a bridge at sunset - at what I believe is called "golden hour" - when Fiona visited him. The light from the sun made the asphalt and the characters on the bridge look yellow and orange, and was almost blinding. The imagery of the blinding-but-beautiful sunset was perfect for the scene because it reflected the unknown future and the possibility of it either being beautiful or dark. The warm colors of the sun reflected the love and warmth Fiona and the rest of her family had for Lip, which was Lip's main reason to consider staying. I really liked the choice to use such a strong, natural light source to emotionally and visually support that scene.

Blog #5: Grays and Greens

A couple short minutes form where I live there is a small patch of nature that separates my apartment complex and a parking lot. It used to be that this area was a serious fire hazard; packed to the brim with wheat colored grass, dried bushes, and piled up dead plant life unable to adequately decompose. However, since then the area has undergone a remarkable transformation. At some point, the patch was cleared of the dead overgrowth, the ground underneath was exposed to the elements, and after several months of pretty consistent heavy rainfall it is now a healthy haven of natural goodness. Green plant life has completely overtaken the ex-plant-graveyard and turned what was once easy kindling into something beautiful and pleasant. As I was walking back from school a couple days ago, the contrast between this patch of life and the environment startled me. The sky was a dull gray, overcast with a blanket of clouds, which perfectly foiled the patch of bright green grasses and bushes and shrubbery. For a moment, I could only marvel at the competition between the two moods, but after a while I realized something. In nature, it is more common that the bright colors are amplified by the presence of the darker ones, rather than everything being one or the other. The bright colors really and truly pop when they are offset with darkness, or just contrast in general. When they lie alone we can't see how magnificently the colors thrive, but when used in conjunction they create a chromatic concoction that really works wonders.

Blog #5 - Foggy Morning

What I love about this picture is the way that the sunlight bounces off of the particles in the fog and produces a subtle orange glow behind the trees on the right side of the picture. Since the color isn't extremely saturate and vibrant, it creates a much softer silhouette of the tree against the foggy background. I also like that the sunlight is bright and peeking through much more on the left side of the picture. The way it reacts off of the condensation in the fog causes the beam visibility, which gives off an almost angelic halo of warm light. What's really interesting is that despite a higher saturation in the sunlight's color, the hue doesn't reflect on the trees and they remain dark enough to still produce a really cool silhouette. The spreading out of the color also leaves one side of the picture feeling warmer, while the other feels a bit colder because the sunlight doesn't reach as far.

Blog #5: Supermarket Lights

I went to Pavilions last weekend and the second I walked in I was shocked at how bright it was. It was dark outside so the bright light was a shocking difference. Grocery stores in general are always very well lit but in the flower aisle it felt much brighter. This allows customers to really see the right color of each flower and each food item. This lighting does feel very cold and open. There are a bunch of very long fluorescent lights which gives off the feeling of vastness and openness. It is very spacious. Because of this lighting people can't stay in the store for too long because it is too bright.

Blog #5 - Lizzie Menzies

This was a picture I took in high school. I also used this picture for my picturization project. Because I used a slow shutter speed on this photo, I was able to capture more light in the water. We also have some natural lighting streaming in from the back of the river. The lightness of the water in this picture is really what makes it unique. It smooths over the water and sets it apart from other river pictures. It makes it more mystical and like it belongs in a fantasy forest. It helps to contrast the darker, more shadowy sections of the photograph.

Blog #5: The Yurt

I have class every Tuesday/Thursday in the Yurt. It is always a relaxing and nice space to meet in. As I was sitting in class, I wondered why I always loved meeting in the space so much. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that lighting was a large reason that the room has such an inviting atmosphere. The whole room is lit naturally, though there are practical lights installed, they only need to be turned on at night. The room has windows evenly dispersed on the many walls of the space. The roof also features a skylight that brings in light from above. This all allows for an the light to be evenly dispersed of light, while keeping the source from from wherever the sun shines directly through select windows. The room also is a little dusty and the air is filled with particles that catch the beams of light beautifully. All of the aspects of light in this room create a relaxing atmosphere to act in and meet for class each week. 

Blog #5 - Put lights in a jar...it'll be cute

This past weekend I was in Barebones' 2019 Showcase in a piece choreographed by Crista McClain with lights by Natori Cummings. The piece I was in was called "Searchlights" and because of the title the choreographer gave us all little jars with little lights in them as a present, it was very cute. For my blog I decided to talk about how using something like a string of lights and a jar you can create a quite bright light as you are condensing the light sources. The pictures attached are not serving their purpose very well but the intent was to illustrate how, outside of the jar the little lights are not very bright or powerful all spread out but putting them in a glass jar not only condenses the source, bumping the intensity, but since it is in an imperfect glass jar, the jar makes the light coming off of the string lights light glowy sort of shimmery in a way that the lights themselves on their own don't accomplish. As soon as I started thinking about how the lights when in a jar all together are significantly more intense I felt kind of silly because practically it was the kind of thing that I've always known about. Even in my own bedroom, where I also have string lights hung on the walls, I don't just use one string but I use two strings on top of one another to make the lights brighter. I knew that this would be the case but getting a jar of lights actually made me thing about it because the jar was magnifying the topic so well. 

Blog #5 - The Rain Room

My best friend and I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art solely for the purpose of seeing the rain room exhibit. It’s in a big black room with a giant panel overhead that drips water down as if it’s raining, but the panel has sensors that let it know when people step underneath and it will stop pouring water right where you are standing. Standing in the middle is an incredible experience to be surrounded by pouring rain, but not be effected by it. In the room there is one singular bright light on the far wall that is is high up and angeled downward as if to represent the sun shining through the pouring rain. It is the only light source in the room and is so powerful and bright that it fills the whole space, but casts shadows to make the room look like there is a natural light source. My friend snapped this picture of me in the middle of the room standing in front of the lamp. I am completely sillouhetted by the single intense lamp and it’s beautiful how it makes the rain around me look like glittering sequins falling from the sky. 

Blog #4: Living Room Lights

It is just a small thing I noticed in my apartment, but there are ceiling lights in my living room on a track. In one of them, the light bulb is out. It is interesting, because that light is facing the kitchen. The other two are facing the living room. It looks as if it was selectively only lighting the living room and left the kitchen dark. I like the juxtaposition that it creates in the space. I also like the idea that the kitchen is dark because no one uses it in my apartment. The living room is where all the action is happening in our lives as we are college students that do not have time to cook.

Blog #4 Edwards Theatre Lighting

This picture of the Edwards Theatre clearly shows the power of color in lighting. This lighting assists customers with recognition. If someone were not able to see the words "Edwards Theatre" they might still be able to recognize the facility: considering the fact that they've been exposed to it before. The bright sign and lights contrast with the darkness of the night, and our attention quickly goes to this location when driving through the street. The light blue and dark orange are two opposite colors on the color wheel, but together they make for an exciting presentation.

Cute lights

This past long weekend I made a quick trip to the snowy Mormon central: Utah. I was just walking through the city streets in the cold, frigid winter weather and noticed this cute outdoor structure. This structure was arc shaped and it was meant to be a walkway for people to walk under it. This arc had lights hanging down from it as a design. The lights were string lights and they hung from the arc. The lights were hung to look droopy. These string lights had multiple small lights attached and they were gleaming a warm, yellow-orange color. I would describe the lights as fluffy and soft. I describe the lights as fluffy because they gave off warm colors and are round shaped. I also describe the lights as soft because they seemed to subtly glow rather than shine bright; they were giving off warm colors at an intensity that was on the softer side and so it didn’t hurt my eyes looking at the lights. Because the lights were an orange-yellow color, I felt very warm. I think these lights reminded me of the sun because it was giving off heat and was a yellow-orange color and so it made me feel warm and calm. I think the whole concept of this design was very well made because to me it felt like they were going for a cute and welcoming vibe, and I definitely got both. It almost reminded me of a teenage girl’s dorm room because of the string lights, the soft glow to it, and the cuteness. The idea of the string lights spread across the arc made the whole atmosphere more broad but also very closed because it felt like I was being encapsulated by the lights that surrounded me as I was standing under the arc. Overall, this lighting design made me feel comfortable and happy.

Blog Post #4: LED Board

Over Christmas break, my family and I played white elephant, which is tradition that has been in my family for a long time.  At the end of the big exchange, I ended up with a LED light-box. I never knew such a thing existed and as soon as I plugged it in I got this magical feeling. For some reason, I felt a joyful/blissful feeling when it turned on. It was just a bright white light and it changed the entire atmosphere of my room depending on what words I put up. It made my room look trendy and also gave a sense of energy due to how bright it is.

Blog #4

I took this picture at Pikes Place in Seattle. The different lights in this picture brings up many textures  in this photo. The lighting from the ceiling gives off a luminescent feeling as well with the vibrant LED lights. I like the contrast between the two lights because it gives the space more character. All the different colors in the alleyway makes an inviting space to the people who are walking through it, which attracts more people to the scenery.

Blog #4

Ignore the snapchat filter on this photo. I took this photo over the President's Day Weekend in Santa Cruz, California. It is almost noon in this photo, so the sun is almost in the middle of the sky, lighting our subject from the top. We get shadows on the humps of the sand in the foreground, as well as in the middle ground of the photo. There are no clouds in the sky to block the light source.The lighting in this photo evokes feelings in its viewers and perfectly sets up an idyllic beach scene.  It creates serenity and relaxation and tricks its audience into thinking it's summer when it is actually winter (classic California).

Sunset by the Beach

My friends and I decided to go to Hermosa Beach in the fall. We visited the beach to destress and have a picnic by the beach. This picture was taken as the sun was about to set. The center of the sun is completely yellow in color and is surrounded by orange color. As I took the picture with the sun facing towards me, silhouettes of the pier and people are seen. This is similar when we have the lighting from behind the person on stage. The tone of this sunset is warm. As the sun set, the warm lighting also affects the surrounding which causes the water in the sea to be greyish blue compared to when the sun is at noon.

More Floats!

A decent amount of the pictures on my phone are from the Rose Parade across the years. This one in particular is from this year, the only float I took pictures of because my mom has much better phone camera quality than I do. It's the float for the new How to Train Your Dragon movie, which is a series holds a special place in my heart. Anyway, enough chatter, here's the photo.

I really like this photo. It feels so ethereal with the dragons swooping down and blocking out the sun. It doesn't feel threatening, but that is perhaps because of my familiarity with the story. It feels like something out of a myth or fairy tale, with dragons being said to block out the sun as they circle cities and fly overhead. It also reminds me of an eclipse, which is another celestial and otherworldly event. The light being almost present but blocked gives the entire picture a sublime feeling despite it obviously taking place on a nice, sunny day.

Blog 4

I found this picture on my friend’s Instagram. She took it in Paris. It’s not so much the location that I like about it though. I love how the sun being lower in the sky grabs on to the clouds and is spread throughout the clouds. I also love be way the building on the camera’s side is dark from the back lighting. And the way the sun peaks just over the top of the building. It is just overall a beautiful picture in my opinion but thats probably why my friend posted it

Blog Post #4: San Diego Surf and Sun

This is possibly my favorite pictures I've ever taken; this is a picture of a beach just outside of San Diego and I'm still shocked at how my old-ass phone was apple to take such a beautiful picture. And, without a doubt, a huge part of the charm from this pic comes straight from the galaxy's personal spotlight-- the sun. Look at the way it creates a glimmering shine on the crystal blue waters, and how it silhouettes the surfers and beach goers in crisp definition. What's interesting to me is how nonthreatening the silhouetted figures are in comparison to the how the back lighting has worked in class. If I had to make a guess as why, it would be that, factoring the bright colors and general radiance of the picture, it's missing that darkness and isolation that adds to the sinister mood that backlighting has created in class. All in all, I still think its a gorgeous picture with its range of color and light, and it makes me smile to see it from time to time.

Blog 4: Dance Visions

I spent eight days straight in the Irvine Barclay Theatre. As tired and stressed out as I was throughout the week, I wanted to take time to notice the work that went into the lighting design. This time, I was mindful that a lot of times we were called on stage, it was for lighting purposes. In this picture, you can see that there are lights everywhere and they all serve a specific purpose. During the first tech rehearsal, we were allowed to spectate the show from the audience. Every piece was very different. The first one took place in a Chinese village. The colors were vibrant to compliment the costumes and the lights faded in and out to lead viewers to the next scene in the story. The second piece was a classical ballet expert, I remember Tong Wang he wanted basic lighting so neutral tones were used to light the dancers. The third piece, was darker. The lights were lower than the previous pieces. Side lights cast shadows across the stage adding a demonic essence.

Blog #4: Sunrise

So often times when I head to work in the morning I head out around 5:30am and it is still dark outside, which is more depressing than you might think. But recently I had a day where I was called in a little later and was treated to a sight I didn't expect. You guessed it, I saw the sunrise, but it wasn't at all as magnificent as it is in the movies. In popular media, the sunrise view is almost synonymous with the sunset - an amber glow that washes infinitely over a sea of clouds as the day comes to a somber finish. But for me, at zero-dark hundred in the morning, the sunrise wasn't at all like that. Instead, what met me was a much darker version of what seven o'clock looks like: grey and overcast. However the difference between overcast and this particular sunrise was this, the sun had come up in such a way as to dye the clouded horizon a shade of pure white. Light hit the atmosphere and the clouds diluted the suns warm morning rays so that the dark grey and the amber orange filtered into white. And thus, sunrise felt like almost noon, and the clock in my head was confused. Nevertheless, the unusual sunrise made me think about color combos. If something as beautiful as the sunrise could be corrupted by grey, what other vibrancy could be lost with the wrong kind of angle wash? A change in color can compromise one feeling and shift the mood to something darker, or something brighter, or it could even contrast in a way as to make the light feel out of place - like my illegitimate sunrise. Color is an important tool in our arsenal as lighting designers, which is what makes it so important to realize its vulnerabilities.

Blog #4: Natural Studio Lighting

The other day during an early morning rehearsal, the sun rose over the Mesa Towers and shone through the window onto the floor of our studio. We were in the middle of the creation process and were working on individual tasks and creating phrases. For some reason, once that light came in through the window I felt drawn to it and once stepping into it, it seemed to make movement clear and the phrase came easily. That moment was fleeting, maybe 10 minutes, but it was such a nice experience. Natural light will always be something very special to me because it is only able to be experienced at certain times in the day. This is why when we talk about how the beginnings of theater had to learn to work with the different times of day, by performing a daytime scene when the sun was out then waiting until the sun set to come back and perform the night scene, is such an interesting process to me. Yes, it as a struggle and inconvenience not being able to control when and where the sun would be when you are trying to convey a certain environment, but how wonderful and powerful nature is that even with all this technology and progress we've made in lighting, some things like natural light coming through a window for 10 minutes cannot be easily and genuinely recreated.

Blog 4 - Dorm Room Lighting PART 2

Welcome back,

If you've been reading any of the posts I've made you will know that two or three weeks ago I made a post about the atrocious lighting of a typical Arroyo Vista dorm room. Today we will be continuing the series and looking at a different dorm room and how the residents of this room have used alternative lighting to completely change the vibe of the exact same set up room.

To briefly reflect, the original lighting of Arroyo Vista dorm rooms is a single fluorescent lamp positioned on one side of the room so that the cold light only hits one half of the room leaving the other half shadowy and dismal looking.

The residents of the AV room we will be looking at today have opted to not use the fluorescent light and have instead put two lamps on one side of the room and two strings of "christmas light" - esque lights (thanks Ikea) near the top of the room on the other side of the room. The bulbs of all of these lights have a much warmer temperature. The string lights are cooler than the lamps as they are LEDs but have been modified to have a warmer feel. The entire dynamic of the room feels a lot more homey than the other dorm room. The room also feels a little smaller but it is hard to say if that is because of the lighting or the mess. The way in which the lighting could make it seem smaller than the other room is that since more of the room is illuminated so the boundaries of the room are more apparent rather than part of the room being kind of shadowy. Overall the space feels a lot more comfortable and lived in rather than industrial.

Pictured: AV room with supplemental lighting (Please excuse the mess) (shoutout to Kristen the best roommate ever for letting me take this picture)

Blog #4 - Taco Tuesday Tradition

Every Tuesday without fail for the last eight months, my coworkers and I gather at our favorite Mexican restaurant for Taco Tuesday. We always sit outside under the string lights and next to the warmers. The warm-toned string lights above us give us a feeling of comfort and closeness. It’s almost like we’re sitting in someone’s backyard under rows and rows of bulbs. The fire places and warmers are so cozy and add to the homey affect. This is always our time to catch up and regroup and just be together in an environment that isn’t our chaotic restaurant. Having a warm fire dancing in front of you and light bulbs floating above you overhead in a dark night surrounded by friends is such a wonderful place to be and a tradition I’m grateful to be apart of. 

Blog #4: Set Lights

I was part of a scene for a film class and it was a scene in the morning of a dorm room. The orang-y lights were supposed to replicate a sunrise. Watching them go through all the options and different shades of orange they had amazed me. I never knew how much of a difference one shade lighter could be or one darker. To get the exact feeling the director wanted was this specific shade of orange and it took going through a bunch of different shades for her to figure that out. The shade she ended up picking is the one pictured and it had a nice mix and range of different shades in itself. There's some white, yellow, red, orange all mixed together creating this peaceful, serene atmosphere through the window replicating a beautiful morning sunrise. A sunrise that you wish would shine through your window every morning. I thought it was interesting that they chose to have light shining only from the right side of the window not throughout the entire window. I feel like that is more believable because normally when sun shines through your window it is normally coming from a specific direction and especially if it's rising it wouldn't have spread completely just yet. Overall, when they chose to do this lighting I quickly took a picture because I thought it would be a very interesting thing to discuss.

Blog #4

I never noticed the intensity of a ghost light until Friday night. I had just finished doing an improv show in the Little Theatre over in HH 161, and the stage manager turned off the house lights as the audience was leaving the theatre. Only the work lights on the stage were on, and I could barely see the seats in the audience from the stage. Then, the stage manager turned the ghost light on. Suddenly, I could see every seat in the house, all the way to the back. My phone was sitting on the arm of a chair about halfway up towards the back of the house, and the light was reflecting off of it brightly enough that I could clearly see it shining from the stage. Standing at the edge of the stage, I almost felt like I was a floating, radiant being looking over an empty theatre. This experience made me think about the power of one, highly luminescent light in an otherwise dark space, and how that contrast creates an ethereal feeling. Contrast in intensity of lighting can be visceral.

Blog #4- My One Sunset Photo

I saw this natural Sunset on campus a while ago and decided to take a picture because it was so different than anything I had ever seen before. Usually at this time of the evening you could see the trees color and the sky would be blue but the lighting was different making it look like this. I thought that this was interesting how the different light refraction and reflection effects the color of the sky and everything around it. This helps me to look at light in the future especially when looking at reflection and refraction with lighting on stage as well. - Mikayla Slepicoff

Blog #4 - Night & Day

As I mentioned in my picturization project paper, I really love imagery that represents or portrays stark contrasts. Whether it’s through distinct lighting, colors, textures, or underlying meanings, contrast gives offers so much more depth and dynamism, and just makes an image or scene more interesting to look at. What I love about this particular photo that I found on Flickr is that demonstrates contrast in a myriad of ways as a result of the lighting. On the left side of the picture, the natural amber light of the sunset keeps the sky partially illuminated just above the horizon and highlights the surface of the water, leaving a vertical reflective column of warm orange light. The sunlight doesn’t reach the right half of the photo and the only light to be seen is from a lighthouse where man-made, cold white light reflects out onto the water in a much thinner column. The lack of sunlight bouncing around in the atmosphere leaves darkness above and around the lighthouse, giving the right half of the photo the illusion that night has completely fallen. What I love about this contrast is how the two light sources, while completely different in temperature and hue, are at the exact same height and reflect in the same direction across the water. It’s literally night and day represented as a mirror image on each side of the picture and it’s really beautiful to look at.

Blog #3 - Ivan Villanueva

           

It was recently my little sisters birthday. On this joyful day, I began looking at her and thought about how happy she looked to be apart of my family. She's the only child in the family as we have 4 adult children and two parents, so the fact that shes in the family is already a blessing.

Anyways, as I took in her detail, I began noticing that the light from the candle had a lot to do with how warm and happy she looked. I compared a photo where she's blowing out her candle, to a photo where shes slightly farther. Though she's given more shadow in the first picture with one candle, she still looks as warm and beautiful as she does in the second.  This allowed me to understand that a small flame can give the essence of hope, warmth, and living when used correctly in lighting.

Blog #3

This photo is a photo my friend took of me the other day. It shows the importance of light placement in photography. Most photographers don't take photos with the sun in this position because it casts shadows over the subject's face. However, I think that with this photograph the effect kind of works to create an artistic vibe. It creates more of a narrative as well. I think this principle could be applied to lighting design, as we have started to see in class. Shadows typically tell a story on the subject, as more villainous characters tend to be in shadow. But it can also be done for effect.

That one sunset photo: Hawaii edition

So over the last long weekend, I made a short trip to Hawaii. And yes, this had to be my one sunset picture for the quarter. Anyway, I was walking along the sandy, soft beaches of Hawaii and then realized that a sunset was happening! It felt very angelic and dramatic because it wasn’t your typical sunset photo; it had clouds covering the sun but some of the sunlight shone through the clouds. There were beams of light that shone through the openings of the cloud and made it look angelic. I think it was even more angelic because it felt very soft. The lighting felt soft and not harsh because a lot of the bright lights directly from the sun was covered by the clouds. I also think that the light that shone through the clouds looked and acted like spotlights, as if something was being presented or focused on; this made the setting seem dramatic. It also felt dramatic because there was a contrast between the grey and dark clouds against the yellow and bright lights. In that moment I can imagine like an angel coming down from the heavens through the spotlight. The color of the sunset was yellow and orange. These colors made me feel warm and comfortable. I think yellow and orange makes me feel warm and happy because I associate the sun as a heat provider and beautiful days. The softness of the light made me feel calm and tranquil. It was a very pleasing lighting. Also, there was still enough light where it still felt happy and uplifting rather than dark, gloomy, or heavy. I think that this type of lighting can definitely be mimicked on stage to make the audience feel a similar way as to how I felt when I saw this sunset: calm and happy. Although the clouds felt darker and heavy, it almost gave a perfect balance of light and darkness in the atmosphere.

Blog #3: Fairy Lights

Last quarter I decided to join Phi Alpha Delta, which is a Pre-Law fraternity on campus. Each new member that gets initiated into the fraternity gets a mentor/big. When I got my big at initiation, she gave me a basket filled with wonderful goodies and on the outside of the basket she attached fairy lights. I really wanted to make use of the lights so I took them off of the basket and decided to hang them on the dresser in my room. My room is pretty bland right now and I really wanted to make my room a little less boring and more cozy/trendy. My room is so standard and has no sense of style to it. As soon as I put these lights up, the entire atmosphere of my room changed. My room now felt peaceful and calming. The room felt warm and a safe space with the addition of these lights. I absolutely love sleeping with these fairy lights on because they put me at ease after a long day and I love seeing the shadow of them on my dresser.

Blog #3 Kusama Exhibit

Look very, very closely folks and you might just spot an eighteen year old Nick... like eighteen to the "T" because this was taken on my eighteenth birthday. Now I'm a simple boy, I didn't ask for much... just a visit to the Houston Museum of Art (which has a lovely collection and I highly encourage you to visit if you're ever in town) where there just happened to be a Yayoi Kusama exhibit in town... and boy was it breathtaking. In case you didn't tell, this exhibit features a small room surrounded by mirrors and floating lights. Everywhere you look you see an infinity of lights reflecting all over. It was truly magical and made for a very special birthday. Kusama uses light often in her instillation and has a wonderful talent for using illumination to its advantages. If you ever get the chance to see one of her exhibitions in person-- I can not recommend it highly enough.

Blog #3: Print on the wall

These two pictures are of my roommate's lamp and a print from the Bread and Puppet Theater's original art. I put one picture from the angle I see it from my desk, and then a picture of it straight on.

I have always loved how this picture was perfectly centered above her lamp. It reminded me of going to an art gallery and seeing a piece displayed perfectly surrounded by gallery lights. The beam of light is blocked by the shade of the lamp to create a ring that centered the picture in the middle of it.

It almost seemed symbolic also of the message of the art itself. It is print of flowers with the title "RESIST," as seen on the top in the picture. It is bold and outspoken, made with the intention of making others not fear being the same. The lighting is harsh, but this is purposeful to light the room. It is not intended specifically to light art. This is where I found it to be a happy accident. The art speaks for itself, but the light ironically enhances its message.

Blog #3: Fluorescent Groceries

The other day I found upon looking inside of my refrigerator that it was empty, and soon decided that a trip to the grocery store was in order. One brisk walk later and I was standing just inside the automatic doors of the local Albertsons and was greeted by the pale fluorescent glow of the lights installed inside of the ceiling. Although the sight of food and snacks was indeed glorious, my brain fixated on the terrible atmosphere created by the devilish fixtures. The white light given off by the fluorescents felt unnaturally bright and uncomfortable to even stand in, and gave the entire store an eerie feeling. Like just around the corner there was a hand inside of a soup can waiting to spring out and yank you into the canned foods aisle. Eventually, it got to the point where many items in the store ( even those with bright coloring) didn't stand out anymore and I had to physically tell myself to focus on finding the supplies I needed with the eyeballs in my head. I suppose in that way, the fluorescents had a dulling effect, or maybe more of a lulling effect that induced a sort of shopping coma, making me float through the shelves like a ghost or a jellyfish. The entire ordeal was horrific in an overly mundane way, but it did make me think a bit more about what kind of light texture and colors could encourage different emotions. Like if the fluorescent nightmare inside of Albertsons could do this, what other commercial locations have specific lighting schemes and what do they do to people? It all just has me dwelling again on the whole overture of lighting design that lies beyond theatre, and what they can and maybe shouldn't do.

Blog #3

This is a picture I took in studio four. This image struck my attention because as I was in class in this very well lit classroom there’s this spot off to the side under the bed and couch that is blocked from the light and creates this sort of mystery for me. Of course there is no mystery for me as to what is under the bed or couch but it reminds me of the monster under the bed tale told to kids. It’s sort of got a darkness to it that is more than just shadows and actual darkness. It reminds me of a campfire story. Or in toy story when Woody meets all the scary toys under the kids bed. I especially love the floor surrounding the basketball. Directly to the right of the ball, the floor is well lit and immediately to the left the ball blocks all the light and it is all shadows. And then behind the ball under the couch is just pure darkness. I love it.

Blog #3: Outside The Green Room under the Lights

In the daytime, The Green Room is an active environment with students, professors, and parents bustling in and out. But once the evening time hits and most of the UCI population has gone home, the lights outside The Green Room turn on and create a very ambient, cozy, and dimly lit environment that is perfect for that evening get work done type of mentality while waiting for rehearsals or the next engagement. I took this video and added a relaxing song to it and got a lot of feedback asking what new, hip, coffee shop I was studying in and received surprised feedback when I revealed that I was just studying at good ol' Green Room right on campus. The way that the lights are strung across the top with just bright enough lighting that you can read but not too bright that you're distracted by other things going on in the environment really transforms the area into an inviting space. These types of lights give me a similar feeling as when Christmas lights are hung up in the living room and create a whole new environment just in the comfort of your home.

Mama D's

Last night, I went to Mama D's Italian Kitchen to celebrate a friend's birthday.  The small restaurant was quite crowded because they are popular for their delicious Italian food. It was my first time and I loved it. I forgot to take a picture which actually makes me happy because that means I was present with the people I was with. The space was relatively low lit. All of the lights were on the ceiling. There were a couple strips of globe lights and some of the ceiling fans had lights. The brightest area in the restaurant actually flooded through the kitchen bar window which was one of the first things I noticed when I walked in because it was directly across from the front door. Because it was centered in the back of the restaurant, the warm kitchen light reached almost all of the corners. This set up helped make my experience feel cozy and comfortable.

The Green Room

Green Room 

In this picture they're two different types of lighting, natural light and ambient lighting. I like how the natural light is coming through the windows of the Green Room, it sets more of an ambience. The natural light is reflecting off the stainless steel that's in the room which makes the environment more vibrant and clear. The ambient lighting from above brings more of a different shade of light in the room, the contrast of the two lighting brings out a warm and inviting feeling. 

Blog #3: Ruby's Second Floor Lighting

This is a picture of the second floor of Ruby's diner on the Huntington Beach pier. I had never been to the second floor before and it looked like a tiki room. It was very dimmed and the only lighting were these colored ones adding to the fun tropical vibe it was going for. This was a great contrast to the first floor which was 50s diner themed so the lighting was very bright and well lit. I was at a birthday dinner so it made sense that they put us in this room because it has a much more inviting, party, loud aspect to it. Every thirty minutes all lights except for a couple blue/green ones would turn off and they would play a song that made it feel like you were in the jungle. The colorful lights made me feel very comfortable because the second you walk in its very casual and the ambience is just very warm and fun and vibrant.

Blog #3 - Survival Project

First off Survival Project was amazing and I got the honor of being lighting board operator and working with Nita to help program and then carry out her designs and cues alongside the legendary Bradley Zipser. Now Nita did a lovely job with all of this show but this one particular scene I think at some point Every crew member commented on.

This sequence was called "Exchangeable Duet" on my cue list, I always referred to it as the fight scene and it always reminded me a lot of a harlequin and columbine dance sequence. The lighting of this scene was particularly striking and everyone loved it. The reason everyone remarked they loved it was that it was subtle but strong. It didn't need much to be super impactful. There were dance pieces in the show that had dozens of cues illuminating and accenting, this piece once it entered the cue for the actual dance it stayed there until the piece was over but it was amazing how one light cue could keep the energy of a space so alive. The simplicity and balance of the scene and its lighting was beautiful, it moved so well in and out of the sequence and held this little bubble of a dance perfectly.

So many people talked about it I felt nearly obligated to discuss it in more depth in a blog post, so here we are. I first of course asked Nita if I could talk about it and if I could take a picture which I have attached below. Since I was simultaneously trying to watch cues and it was taken on my iphone this picture does not do Nita justice but gives you a hint.

Blog #3

This week, I acted in a play called "Picasso at the Lapin Agile." While I was doing the show, I payed close attention to the lighting. Something really interesting I noticed was how subtle shifts in lighting could completely shift focus on stage. The play did not have any black outs. There was one part of the play in which one character had a large monologue from upstage-center. I didn't notice until closing night that, in this moment, the lights on stage-right and stage-left faded slightly, while the brightness of the lights on the upstage-center part of the stage increased slightly. It was a small enough shift that I didn't notice it until closing night, but I realize how important it was. There were three other characters on stage during the monologue-character's monologue, and it would be really easy for the three characters to pull focus. I could feel the audience's energy focused completely on the monologue-character, and I think that the lighting helped this happen. The lighting shift, though small, focused the audience's eye on the main character speaking, giving them all the attention. Even if audience members didn't notice this shift, as I hadn't for most of the process, it undoubtedly turned their eyes towards the important character in that moment on the stage.

Blog #3 - The Getty

I took a trip to the Getty Museum with my best friends last year and astounded by how beautiful it was. Not only the art pieces, but the way the whole building was built. It was so open and had giant windows that brought in so much natural light to bring out the true beauty of all the displayed art. At one point, my friend was admiring the painting on the ceiling and was standing perfectly behind a glass case with an old Greek clay pot. The large windows in the back shown in so much light that she was perfectly sillohouted in front of the vase right in the middle of a doorway. It was such a perfect moment I had to take a picture of her. The natural lighting turned her into a real life work of art.

Blog #3 - Middle Eastern Architecture

When I was researching images for the picturization project, I came across a lot of really interesting photos on Flickr that I loved but couldn’t use for that particular assignment. This is one of the pictures I found and liked, but decided not to use for the project. What I love about the lighting in this photo is the stark contrast between very bright lights inside the hallway and the complete lack of lighting on the outside. Having light coming from only one direction inside the walkway really serves to highlight the unique and beautiful architecture from the inside out. What I also find interesting is how even though there isn’t much color incorporated into the building’s decor and the light itself is a pretty neutral hue, the way the light bounces off of the walls and reflects onto the water feels very warm and has a yellowy, almost gold tone to it. I love how much the light brings out the details of the gold fixtures and black designs on the pillars too, really giving it some volume and life amongst the neutral beige of the walls.