Beauty and the Beast Blog 2

I went back home to see my niece perform in A Dancer’s Pointe’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Due to their low budget and resources, I was very interested in how they were going to complete the transformation from the young Prince, who was played by a young girl, to the Beast, who was played by a grown man. To my surprise, it was executed well. The girl collapsed on the floor directly in front of an open door way after she realized she has been cursed. In a quick count the lights went to blackout. During the black out, the grown man came out and laid behind the doorway. A white back light came on at a low intensity aimed at the door way. The back light was followed by strobe lights coming diagonally from both sides. So, when the all the lights and the fog were cued the young girl and the man began to rise at the same time and at the same levels, but towards the end the girl stopped as the man progressed. Once he was fully standing, there was another blackout. The girl ran offstage then illuminating front lights came on revealing the Beast. As this lighting display was occurring, there was powerful music playing. The combination of light and sound made the change intense and frightful, especially because of the shadows and the loud booms of lightning. The light also served as a focal point for the audience as the crew made scene changes upstage. Overall, the lighting added a magical aspect to this well-know fairy tale.

Blog two

          I found this photo of my cousin’s birthday cake from this summer. After learning about light for about a month the picture struck me a lot more now then it did when it was taken. It was taken outside during the night so the picture was only illuminated by the candlelight. I appreciate how the darkness greatly contrasts the illuminated part of the cake. The light seems to shine more on the left side of the cake and cuts off some of the right, it is also darker at the front of the cake then it is in the back because of the nametag. There is also an amber glow that seems to be a filter but is caused because of the candles reflection. I love how the picture was taken and what the light does to the colors of the cake. The roses are both red and black, and although the cake was one solid color the picture shows different variations of beige. I am glad to be able to see light in a new way.  

LACMA

Aka...

 Lights Are Cooler than Most Art

haha. So Easter weekend I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with mother dearest. I found some interesting light usage! Light and art, man. Bffs. PB&J. Mac & Cheese. food.

The first art-light combo I saw was "Miracle Mile" by Robert Irwin. It's a pretty arrangement of neon-y fixtures…these lights do not need a filament! (That’s 50% a guess). Hey they look cool! Team USA.

But the exhibit that takes the cake was part of the James Turrell exhibit. There were two dark rooms. Dark is not even good enough! Like fully engulfed in blackness. I have never had a room's lack of light put me in such a position of hopelessness and loneliness! 

So you walk down a pitch black hall…and by walk I mean shuffle slowly as your eyes are straining to see the outline of some stranger in front of you because they are your only hope of survival as you cannot see your hand in front of your face let alone where you’re stepping or where the wall is or where the floor is! Eventually you round the corner into what seems to be a large room…with some faint light in front of you.

And that’s it. But for something so simple, it was very intriguing. and very terrifying! 

I turned around to try and leave…that was a mistake. I COULDN’T SEE ANYTHING. Like when you’re outside and you walk into a dark theatre and it’s such a struggle because you are blind. then multiply that by 45.

I walked so slow and so scared because I had no sense of what was in front of me, beside me, or what was behind me except for some faint light and the voices of people that just became obstacles because i didn't want to run into them!

But don’t worry y’all, I finally found a wall and slid to my escape.

This picture is from the second room, which was MORE LIT than the first. All I had was an iphone so it's kinda hard to see what's up...but the lights were in frame-like rectangles. The head outline is my mother. I’m such an artsy photographer guys.

Blog 2: Sunshine day!

I've always found sunlight so fascinating. The way it effects the appearance of an object, the way it effects color, heck, even the way it effects your mood. I was taking pictures of my hair today and I was amazed by how much the sunlight affected my hair color...

Trust me. My hair doesn't look that red in any other type of light. Sunlight is incredibly powerful and I love how manipulative it is when it comes to color. It's energy and natural shine can make anything look warm and bright with very little effort. That's why I agree that some of the most effective stage lighting is when they're trying to recreate sunlight. It is bright, warm, happy, and is the most effective form of "natural" stage lighting. It just makes everybody seem warmer and happier! Call me a hippie, but I'd love to bottle sunshine if I could. It's definitely a great starting point for recreating realistic light on stage. If you can great synthetic sunshine, you're well on your way to being a great lighting designer! :)

Cult lighting?

Metaphorically close your eyes, and imagine Aldrich park in the middle of the night complete darkness, you can sort of make out the outline of the trees. Suddenly, in the distance, a tiny yellow light emerges, its bouncing up and down. Slowly more lights appear clumped together in a line all bouncing up and down. As you follow the yellow lights more being to appear, Aldrich park is slowly being lit up with a yellow hue. You follow the lights even further they begin to snake around trees, following the path of the park. Above the lights you begin to see the shadows of peoples faces, faces filled with sadness and pain, but there is hope in their eyes.

This is just what I saw at Take Back the Night a UCI event. Although I didn't take a photo of it, I did take a photo of this.

I think this photo is really cool because of how red the light is and it makes the people around it look very possessed. Kind of like a cult, I guess if I ever wanted to portray a cult on stage I would want to create something like this.

Blog 1: Eerie foreshadowing of the late 1920's.

On April 12th, I went to go see a fantastic production of Grand Hotel at the University Of California's Thorton School of Music. Although the show itself was adequate quality, one of my favorite parts of the show was the intense amount of sculpting lighting that took place. The show started off very positive and "happy go lucky" as some would say, but the lighting definitely gave off an eerie glow that seemed a bit off until bad things started to happen. The lighting designer did an amazing job of foreshadowing the creepy events that were about to occur before taking place. There was also an interesting choice that whenever the two main characters would meet in the lobby of the hotel in the first act, the main lights would dim and it would leave the characters swimming in a purple-red light. It was completely intoxicating, and although these two characters had other love interests at the beginning of the show, it was almost certain that at some point in the storyline, these two characters would fall in love. Sure enough, the act 1 finale was their love duet. I applaud this lighting designer David Hernandez for such creative emphasis on foreshadowing and for his love affair with dark purple gels.

(Please note the amount of eerie sculpting and intense blue lighting to create a creepy atmosphere despite the upscale 1920's costuming. Photo by Afton Reid.)

Cory Mortimer - Post 2 - Notorious Sunset Photo

(Photo credit to my brother. I was standing next to him and took the same shot but his phone definitely has a better camera than mine.)

I did not think that I would struggle this much with this blogging assignment. The problem I have about the lighting situations I'm in is that the sun produces a nice, even light during the daytime so the only interesting photos, in my opinion, occur at night or in special situations during the day. I have not found those special daytime situations, though.

There are several unique aspects about this photo that I think are really interesting. Even though the sun is still peeking out over the mountain, the light does not hit the houses that much. It has a "sleepy town" feel to it because there is a bright point in the distance but the immediate area is dark.

In the background by the mountain, it looks really hazy. The camera did not do a good job picking up how hazy it really looked. I believe the haze help refract the light, making the sun have more red and orange colors. Since reds and oranges have a longer wavelength, they are able to reach this camera better than the blue colors, which has a shorter wavelength.

One last thing that seems interesting to note is the difference in illumination throughout the photo. The darkest part of the picture is the very bottom and the most illuminated part is the sky. This makes sense, since different land forms are probably blocking the sun's light from reaching straight ahead but nothing is restricting it from hitting the sky.

The Effects of Different Lighting on a Face

I'm sure this doesn't count for the assignment, but I wanted to share this video with everyone because I think it's both relevant and super cool.
 

Blog #2- Sunset

Last night, a couple friends and I decided to hike to a look-out point in Irvine looking over Newport, Irvine, and the surrounding areas. As the sun started setting, I was expecting a warm glow, but instead it gave off more of a cool feel and seemed to just barely graze the tops of the city. It also was really chilly out, and the clouds were stormy so although a sunset could normally be thought of as serene and peaceful, this one could also be seen as foreboding or gloomy. The sunlight coming from the left also seems to be pushing through the grey clouds- a type of lighting that could symbolize wanting something more or even the end of someone's life. If one were to see this as more of a peaceful scene, It could be used as (obviously) the end of a long day. 

 

Michaela Jenichen 

Blog #1- Take Back the Night

On April 17th, I participated in Take Back the Night at UCI. Every year the CARE office puts on this beautiful event with a candlelight vigil and speak out to raise awareness of sexual assault and honor survivors. When it got darker, they lit probably 150 candles in little cups for people to hold as we marched around campus. I was with one of my friends playing around, and it was also interesting to see that when she moved the candle closer to her face it gave off a more intimidating feel. The vast amount of candles gave off a warm, incandescent glow and when everyone held them and walked around, they lit everyone's faces similar to a warm flood light or someone sitting by a campfire. It was lovely to see how a minimal amount of light can give off just the right amount of light. 

-Michaela Jenichen 

Lunar Eclipse

While witnessing the lunar eclipse several nights ago, I couldn't help but gain some insight into the ascribed mystical properties which people have attributed to lunar events in the history of human cultures. There was a certain powerful, ominous quality to the changing light as darkness ever so slowly made its way across the moon, altering the reflected light from a bright white to a blackened orange. Even though I am aware of the actual science of the eclipse, there is still something to be said for the bizarrely mysterious air that is created when something as familiar and as seemingly immutable as the moon changes so drastically. Of course, much of emotional quality evoked by this experience is due to the reddish hue to which the moon changed, which offered a darkly foreboding presence in the sky. All in all, this was a pretty cool phenomenon to get a chance to look at, and in my opinion its a pretty good example of how a change in familiar lighting can give rise to interesting new emotions. 

Eclipsey

As most of you were probably aware, there was an eclipse on Monday Night/Tuesday morning!
No, not this kind…

But THIS kind!

Look at that high-quality Canon XL725tripod55zz2000 photo. JK it was my iphone. And the moon was orange! “Blood orange” they say. (another Twilight reference? No. I won’t.)
OK so you can’t tell in my picture but still. I hope you all were awake and went outside to witness this awesome science dealio!
Conveniently, we discussed color in class on Monday, and so the concept of how sunsets work was fresh on my mind. I think I understand it. Maybe like 87% understanding. Anyways. I read that the coloring was basically from the sunsets on earth being reflected onto the moon. Gosh I hope that’s right or I sound like a fool.  #science
It just was cool to actually try and grasp the concept of why the moon was colored that way, instead of just staring at it in awe. I’m starting to see light as magic, guys!!!!

Air Freshener Beads (tiny lenses)

I was in my friends room the other day and she has this air freshener. It is a container filled with a bunch of small gel beads. She had it sitting in the window and when I looked at it I could see the sun glistening off of each little ball. I was amazed by the fact that each ball shined the light in just a slightly different way than all or the others and how some reflected more while others let the light pass through and projected a little bit of coloring. Also in some of the pictures it you look at the ones on the edge you can see how they act as a lens, the image is flipped upside down so the window seal is at the top of the bead with the screen appearing bellow it. Except instead of magnifying the image from the other side it reduces the size so the window seal appears smaller when you see it through the bead than it does when you see it directly.

First Blog

      This weekend I bought film for my Polaroid camera and really like how this picture turned out. The front candle was lit, and I believe that combined with the flash of the camera caused a blur in the picture. In the picture there is also light that stops at the center of the picture, which I do not know the source of. I really like the blue tint that happened in the upper left corner by Elvis’ hair. The metallic candle-holder is also very reflective and adds to the blur of the picture. I like the combination of color and the location of light in the picture.

    

This is a moment I captured while a dancer in one of my projects was improvising. The way the sun's rays pierce the center of this photo captivates me. The way the rays cascade across the figures neck creates a vulnerability, and this angle creates a feeling of being splayed. The sunlight compliments the dancers position in the heat it creates. The way the sun illuminates the grass spreads the heat, despite the condense ball of light in the center. This image pulls focus to the isolated event of sunlight in the center, but also allows the light to open and pour across the earth. The figures shadow is crawling out of the image. This light shapes the dancer as well as the climbing branches and strong trunk in the corner. I color of the grass was very green this day, but the sunlight creates a neon color in the grass, brightening it, electrifying it, saturating it. The tilts and contours of the dancer's body are complimented by the linearity of the sun's rays. Something about the light is softened in seeing the light filter through the figure's lace dress. There is high contrast in this photo in relation to the light, the angle, and the colors.

Las Vegas

For my mom’s bachelorette party, we went to Thunder From Down Under in Las Vegas. To my surprise they had a great lighting display during the show. I included a picture of the front of house set up(Sorry that it's a bad picture. I was trying to be quick). Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any other pictures during the show. There was a point in the show where the men were gladiators. The colors the lighting designer used were very cold. They also used a large amount of red to mimic the blood spewed during the battle. When the main “Spartan” won his final battle, he was UC. He had a few red lights on him coming down from an electric behind, making his body look like a silhouette in a stream of blood. Then it went dark. White lights then flashed on him from behind and the sides, thus sculpting his body, adding contours to his armor, and the the shadow from his helmet landed on his face. It went dark again. Quickly they came back on him but this time he was center stage. They light were doing the same thing as before. It went dark a third time and when the flashing white lights came on again, he was DC directly in front of the audience members. This sequence was rapid and made this set magically giving him “god” like speed as he approached the audience. Throughout the earlier battles, they used strobes lights during the battles to make the fight appear to be more dramatic, smooth and provoke a sense of urgency and the need to survive. To me, with the combination of the music, it seemed to mimic the heart beat of the warriors as adrenaline pumps through their body.

Christmas tiiime...was here

As we all know, lights play a huge part when it comes to Christmas season. In fact, aside from opening presents, the lights are what brought my family together as a whole during this time. Back in my hometown, Fairfield, California, there was a place, or in this case, street that everyone visited around Christmas time called "Candy Cane Lane." I'm pretty sure that Candy Cane Lane was not specifically in Fairfield, this is just the one that my family and I live closest to. Our Candy Cane Lane is located in downtown Fairfield and is famously known for their Christmas lights display every year by the residents. Basically whomever lived on Candy Cane Lane competed against each other for the most spectacular house that year. I'm pretty sure their prize is getting front page in the Fairfield newspaper (they don't get paid...) and they still enjoy it. I really enjoyed the creativity in the decisions they made to decorate their houses. Along with the front of the house, the mailboxes, street lights, lawns, and sometimes even the side walks were decorated. People can either drive in their cars down the street (which is what we did) or they can park and simply walk down the streets getting better looks at the scenery (if they parked, they were served free hot chocolate). Here are some of the things that I saw when we visited last year. I apologize for the blurriness, we were driving. 

If the images are too blurry for you to see, here's a link to more images of Candy Candy Lane in Fairfield. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=candy+cane+lane+fairfield+ca+pictures&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pqRHU571LKLhygG24ICoBg&ved=0CCUQsAQ&biw=1093&bih=528

Cory Mortimer - Post 1 - Outside of Ruby's

A group of friends and I went out to Ruby's in Newport Beach for dinner one night and the restaurant's "lighting design" was interesting. From the outside, it looks like they are using a low pressure light: a neon light. It may be obvious, but the neon light did not illuminate anything. It only added a red accent to the red painted area on the wall. Moving down the wall, between the window and the wall, there are lights tucked up in a little crevice. These lights helped to create a pretty interesting (and in my opinion, pretty cool) effect. With the help of the indoor lights, these lights illuminated the area right outside the window and the ledge. If you look closely, there is a distinct change in lighting once you reach the end of the edge. The sidewalk and the side of the ledge is only illuminated by streetlamps. The lighting design basically marks the boundaries of Ruby's, which I find pretty cool.

It is a little difficult to see the full effect of the inside lighting but it worked a little like full stage lighting, not an ambient restaurant lighting. Every place in the restaurant was fully lit from above, so there were many shadows forming closely around objects. Everything was easily seen in the restaurant.

That super cool shadow dance your window does.

I chose my first lighting blog to be about shadows... go figure. I mean why not, it's kind of the crucial part of lights.

So there is this tree outside the window of my room which is the most annoying tree you will ever encounter because, on really windy days it decides to greet me by knocking on my window. Well one day I was taking a nap because that is a normal pastime of college students, and this tree decided to wake me up. In amidst my rage because my sacred nap was disturbed I was soothed by a dance, not just any dance but a shadow dance. Right there, free of charge on my venetian blinds! Anyway, you know how when your walking in a park and the sunlight shines through the trees and creates this super cool shadow... kind of menacing depending on the tree, well that is what was happening on my window, only I saw a story.

It was a story about a mother who had lost her child because this evil witch came in and stole the child away. A long chase began where the mother had to overcome high mountains and cross rivers to reach her child... In the end she finally made it and had to battle the witch to get her child back, but she was too late. You probably would have seen something else... like the shadows of a tree but I got a great show.

Mother (far right) attempting to cross a river to get to the evil witch (left).