Monday, 24 June 2013
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Lighting State Pictures from Tech and Dress Rehearsals
I wanted the opening number of footloose to be as bright as
possible but without giving away too much away. I decided to use a blue back
light with o/w side light to give it a fresh and open style that hopefully
settles the audience into the pace and theme of the show. I also found that the
white side light gave just enough depth to the space whilst giving a very
shadowed effect on the actors faces and bodies.
For the church scenes I eventually used a metal gobo with a handmade
multicoloured gel to create a very simple stained glass window, I found that
this looked very pleasing but didn't distract too much from what was happening
on stage, I could have used a prismatic and a steel gobo however they were too
expensive. I also wanted a stereotypical holy feel to the church so I decided
to use all of my general cover at 80% with my white side light at full. However
while I was happy with the colouring of the window and the style I was not
happy with the shape of the window in this scene because it did not look like a
window enough, so during the interval I decided to move it to the other side of
the reverend. I elongated the window and also narrowed it.
For this scene the reverend sings a very sombre song so I
wanted a lighting state that would reflect this. I used very minimal lighting
to create a very shadowed and dark effect. I used my white side light to give
some depth to the scene and to translate how he is struggling with being pure
and relaying messages of being pure to others, white is stereotypically know to
translate this message. I also used a spot light to focus the audience’s
attention on him completely as this is an important moment for the characters
development. I could have used a full front light state in this scene to add to
the brightness and hopefulness of this scene however I feel that this would
have diminished the vulnerable nature of this scene.
This is also a very
tender scene that I wanted to be very minimalist yet effective. I used only two
of my front light to highlight the two characters; this set a very warm feel to
the moment. I also used all of my backlight to give more depth to the space.
However what I did not plan was how the two colours mixed on stage. It created
a slight purple hue to the lighting which only added to the feel I wanted to
create. It also translates the messages of this moment as "Purple is the colour of good judgment. It is the colour of people seeking
spiritual fulfilment."
Job Role Analysis (Evidence) Video 3
This transition shows how I used my front light and backlight to represent a clear contrast that represents day and night and shows the passing of time. I did this by using a deep blue in my back light with the two actors crosslit to represent ambiant street lamps. Where as I used all of my warm front light to suggest a very sunny day.
Job Role Analysis (Evidence) Video 2
This scene has many parts to it and I needed to create an effective and clear transition and difference between each segment.
As it was an upbeat dance scene I decided to add a chase
with all my red white and blue lights on the floor and in the rig. I did this
to create an upbeat and excited atmosphere; also by adding this instead of a
general cover or one or two coloured lights from either side it made a more
dramatic and deliberate lighting change between, when the reverend comes in to
make his speech, it directs the audience’s attention to him instead of him getting
lost in the space and people not realising where the new voice is coming from. To highlight when the reverend comes in I found this perticularly challenging to highlight the actors chest and head because my spot or general cover could not reach far enough and I did not want to add in a white side light as it would have taken some of the change away from the chase to the highlight and made it less dramatic to avoide this I would like to have used a follow spot to pick him up better however we did not have the ability to do this so I decided to add in as much general cover into that space as possible. I also added in all of my blue back light to add depth to the scene and to enchance the change between the chase and this highlight.
Job Role Analysis (Evidence) Video 1
For this scene the director suggested that it needed to look like night time. So I decided to use lights from my general cover to highlight just around their actors and on to some of the back of the set (bails). I also decided that it needed to have a slightly dimmed ambiant light effect to translate that they are supposed to be in a home.
I could have just used my stage right o/w side light however this would have created a very dark shadow on the left side of the actors and would not be representational of an ambiant indoor living room light. However I still wanted more depth to the scene so I added in my rigged o/w side light that hit the actors from behind stage right which created an extra level of depth to the emotional scene as you can see in the video above.
Tech Rehearsal Notes
These are the list of
notes that I made during the tech rehearsals. I made these during the tech so
we would not have to be altering the lights on the actual show and so I could
check if there were any more mistakes or changes that need to be done in regards
to the lighting. Also I made these check lists because it helped me create the
best possible lighting design and states for each change of scene and
transition so everything look visually pleasing for the audience.
This is a picture of the notes I made during the dress rehearsal which took place after the tech rehearsal. There were only two things that I had to change because I had already made notes during the tech. I found this to be extremely useful as it meant that I did not have to rush in the morning of the show to fix any plotting or focusing errors just hours before the show. So when we came to the final run through everything with regards to the lighting was to the best of my abiility.
However there were a few things I could not change, for
example when the reverend stood on one of the higher bails I could not light
the top of his head with any of my front light or spot lights, next time I
should consider looking at the space more with regards to not just where people
stand but if they move to stand on objects so I will know whether I need to put
in any extra lights to light height of the set, not just depth. I also found
that on some occasions I could not light people that were talking at specific
times so the audience could follow them and have focus on who was talking. I
found myself searching for some people on stage when I heard an important
monologue, this could have been avoided if we had room or the budget for a
follow spot. In the future we could look into acquiring a follow spot.
Tech Rehearsal Lighting Plans and Lighting Groups
1. This is my lighting plan that I altered during the plotting sessions. I added in the (O) to show where the audience festoons were going to be. I chose these types of lights for the audience as I felt it was in keeping with the theme of the festoons over the set and made the audience feel connected and part of the show’s theme. I could have used three Minuetts in the rig to do this however I felt that it wasn't stylised enough for this show and was far too basic and general.
2. I also wrote down the sockets for the red white and blue side light. This helped allot during the tech and plotting as I did not have to search on my plan for the numbers. It made the session allot faster and more efficient.
3. I also repositioned the festoons to over the stage only for two reasons. One because I wanted to add similar light over the audience’s tables and felt that more festoons round the back of the audience would be too much. I also changed it because we did not have enough festoons to do my original idea this was due to the budget and that we did not have time to order any more, I also felt that it was not necessary to be so pedantic about where they were put, as long as they were surrounding the space and framed it. (The changes ar marked with a line like so ( _______________ stage right and ______x_________x________x__ stage left)
4. I also marked with an (X) any lights that were not working so we could change them when we next got a break. Making a note of this made it very easy to remember what I needed to change or do once we did get the break.
5. I also used the hand drawn lighting system to draw any changes to where the lights are positioned. This helped for when I was referencing lights that had been moved in the plotting so I did not get confused when I looked for a light that was not there anymore and did not remember that I had moved it. (Marked as so ( _____________> or I drew the lights symbol)
The group numbers are
important for the simple reason that it is easier to bring up each selection of
lights, for example when I wanted to put in my back light to give depth to a
scene quickly I would just type in group 2 @ 100 without having to type in all
of the numbers individually. It also helped allot during the plotting to create
lighting states quickly because again you don't have to type in each individual
light. Lighting groups make finding each type of lighting more time efficient.
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