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.