"The Oxbow"

This painting by Thomas Cole was created during the "Hudson River School" period in art history when artists portrayed the wide open landscapes of the Americas. Cole uses dark colors in the foreground to contrast the savagery and beauty of the wild landscape with the placid, open, civilized valley. The winding river in the background reflects the sky, giving a sense of boundlessness. There is a little light being shed on the stump in the forground, causing it to catch the viewer's eye, and to continue the line that the clouds seem to lay across the painting, dividing it into thirds.

The man who makes rainbows

I read this article about a man who makes rainbows. He does them for everything from children's birthday parties to world peace rallies. He uses fireman's hoses and floodlights to make them and angles the light to determine the position. I don't know how he keeps the audience dry.

Remember the Titans

Right now the Movie Remember the Titans is playing in the Hendrix center, and there are several interesting uses of light. First of all, there seems to be a lot of backlighting. In a scene where the african american players are in the gym, there are sunbeams coming in the windows from the back and lighting them up from behind while they talk about soul power. There is a halo effect around their heads. However, in the scene when they are first at camp and everyone gets into a fight, they all run into a shadowed part of the hallway. Before the camp scene, when the white players are confronting the coach outside of the buses, their faces are in shadow while his is lit up. Similarly, every time there is a scene that adresses racism the actor is dimly lit and every time something epic or hopeful is happening the characters are usually lit from the back or the side so their faces appear to be glowing.

The Holocaust Museum

Doing the second lighting charade made me think about my experience in visiting the holocaust museum in Washington D.C. The architect specifically uses light in the design of the building to add to the meaning of the displays. Upon arrival, you get in an elevator and go to the fourth floor, which is extremely dimly lit and has displays of Nazi propaganda along the walls. As you continue, the darkness deepens, guiding you through displays of children's shoes and railroad cars. At one point, however, you walk from a very dark room into a room made of windows on all sides, and the glass is inscribed with the names of victims. This is an expression of hope and celebration of those people's lives. You continue in the darkness/ light pattern until you finally emerge into the lively, brightly lit foyer. It's a fascinating and thought provoking experience.

Rent

I had been meaning to write this one for a very long time.
One night during a production of Rent I was observing the way the beams from the movers caught in the haze and how particularly distinct they were.
Then I left to walk back to the dorm and it was about ten thirty pm. There was a light mist in the air, and the beams from the street lamp were doing the same thing, shining in neat little mushrooms of light.

Rent Tech Reflections

I've never been a part of a musical before. It's a completely different experience than being in a straight play, especially in terms of lighting. The new moving lights have also changed the experience, because their capabilites allow for a lot more variety. Musicals use more color, it seems, or maybe that's because I'm paying more attention now to the colors being used. The movement of the lights also adds an effect that would probably be distracting in a straight play, but which adds to the drama and characterizations of a musical. The gobos being used are stylized and exaggerated, and looks are very specific for specific scenes. Spotlights are another element of the more stylized approach of the musical, because it accentuates the direct adress to the audience. The lighting looks change many times over the course of a song in a musical, while they seem to change fewer times in a straight play. Conclusion: Musicals are a lot more work. But they are also a chance to take risks and play around with new lighting techniques.

Memorization tactic

In our electricity class, I kept thinking of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" until I was singing this song to that tune:

E-L-E-C tricity!
P equals I times E!
E-L-E-C tricity!
A over W equals V!
Shock it to me shock it to me
Shock it to me shock it to me...

It's mind blowing that we can understand electricity, and use it to recreate natural- seeming conditions in an indoor location.