Week Four - Kristin Goodell - Chaos Frogs - Inspiration

Projections from Jimmy and Jacob's Project

Chaos Frogs!

This week, I had the pleasure of participating in Jimmy and Jacob’s Halloween lighting presentation. They used projections from a live camera and all kinds of new equipment that I had never seen before. I have been to several concerts in the past month that have also used projections in combination with lighting design. I recently went to a concert where the singer wore a sparkly white dress, and a projection was focused directly on her body so that the dress lit up blue and displayed the movement of ocean waves. She shone bright like a gem and popped out from the dark background behind her. Seeing the increased use of projections in the productions I have attended recently has inspired me to learn more about projections, think about how to incorporate them into my own designs, and ponder what the future will look like for projections in theatrical productions. 

I really enjoyed taking part in the graduate class and hearing the graduate students talk about the specific types of theatrical design that they are interested in such as absurdist and immersive theater. After being a little frog in the pond of chaos, I am inspired to continue preparing for grad school and am interested in studying immersive theater more.

Week 4 - Austin Geordge - City Lights - Inspiration

 This photo is from a recent drive over to campus during this week. I know it is pretty blurry but along campus road, when it slightly dips into the wildlife sanctuary, there is a pretty nice view of some of the buildings on campus and some further out. This photo is of those lights. I take inspiration from it because it is the first view I really associate with being a student at UCI. It signifies the first step towards all of my goals in theatre and how I want to pursue it professionally. Whenever things get to be a bit too much, I can aways ground myself a bit by taking a drive through here and seeing the lights that signify so much to me. There is nothing special about them, they are just the lights of offices, some parking garages, and other assorted buildings. Despite this, the intensity with which they shine will always catch my eye, even just for a short moment.

Week Four - Maggie Zhang - night color - inspiration

I went to Disneyland with my friends last week, and this is a picture taken after sunset. Even though Disneyland has a Halloween theme event now, this scene makes me feel warm, cozy, and peaceful instead of scared. I think the main reason is the color of the lighting in this picture. The color of the lamp is warm yellow, and the bottom color is darker than the top color. The decorating light line on the building has the same warm color creating a kind of coherence with the lamp light. The moon is the only light source that has a cooler color in this picture. Probably because of its relatively smaller size compared to others, it does not change my cozy feeling, like sitting near the fireplace. 

Week 4- Maia Lucas- Just Outside The Window- Inspiration

One place that I've been starting to draw more inspiration from lately is nature. I haven't always been the biggest 'outdoorsy' person, and have traditionally spent more time inside while creating. However, over this summer, I started spending a few hours each day reading outside, or doing crafting outdoors in the park. I was surprised by how stimulated I was, just by being in an outdoor setting, and how much more I noticed as potential for art. What I love about creating in nature is not only do you have visual elements to work with, but there's also so much sound that you usually barely pay attention to. Whether I'm getting inspired when acting, creating music, designing, or just brainstorming, nature always has so many elements to pull from. It's not just what you notice, but also what you feel.

While I had some go-to places to spend time outside, I recently moved at the start of the school year, so have been trying to find a good creative space in my new environment. This is a picture of the window view from my bedroom in my new apartment, where I've spent a lot of time creating recently. 

It not only provides a nice view of some trees and flowers in the courtyard below, but also offers some really dynamic light into my room. In the morning, you can see the early glow of sunrise spilling in. Throughout the afternoon (when this picture was taken), the light creates different beams and shadows on my windowsill. At night, you can see the horizon as the sun begins to set. 

I'm very hopeful for all of the art I will create in this new little corner of my world.

Week Four - Jayde Farmer - Early Morning with Zuko- Inspiration

 

I was never really thrilled by the view from my apartment window since moving in a few months ago. Zuko, my girlfriend's cat, likes it well enough. He enjoys sitting and chittering at the birds that sit on the roof of the building next door. Last week in the morning before school, I was sitting eating breakfast by the window when I peaked my head by his to see just what could be so interesting to him. 

The early morning sunrays hitting the building surprised me. I hadn't noticed that the dirty abandoned building next door got beautiful light in the morning. The cool reflection in the window sill contrasted the warmth from the sun, making for a peaceful moment while I had my breakfast. The early morning rays gave me the boost I needed to jumpstart my day, and gave me a new perspective on the view from my window. It reminded me that paying attention to the details can reveal something new.

I like to think that Zuko was enjoying the view too.

Week 4, Daisy Santos , Haunted Library - Inspiration

It's kind of ironic how this week we just begun presenting our Halloween projects and the perfect photo I have for this week's blog closely relates to why I was inspired to replicate the American supernatural horror film that "It" was. It's a full circle moment.  

Anyways, I took this photo Wednesday night at the Science Library as I was heading to a study room with a few friends. I turned my head and I was captivated by the spooky and haunting vibe the aisle gave as most of the automatic lights weren't on as we were passing by. In addition to the single downlight illuminating the stool at the end of the aisle, the one point perspective of this moment makes one anticipate something or someone lurking near the end of the aisle. I really love how there is so much shadow surrounding the book aisles but as you look into the center, that is the only area you are able to distinguish; almost like it's calling you to the end of the aisle. 

This photo is such a great reference and inspiration for our Halloween project that I kind of wish I used for my project if I was trying to recreate the library scene in "It" where Ben encounters the beheaded child coming down the stairs into the library. The one point perspective does it so much justice that I would love to see that portrayed on stage.

Week Four - Logan Brubaker - Patterns & Color - Inspiration

 

I spent the last weekend at my fiancée's family's house. When they were all at the high school on Friday (2 students and three teachers), I went outside to soak up some sun before it rose past 100 degrees later that afternoon. I noticed two things that the light contributed to.

In the first photo, I loved the sharp edge with the broken up light and shadow on the ground. If you copied and pasted the photo 4 times, you could make a lovely tile/square. I would love to see this either as a leaf gobo or as a stage floor.

In the second, I love how the colors of the fire-looking plant stand out so sharply against the green of the leaves and the blue of the sky. I am not a physical artist, I am not coordinated enough, however, it made me think of the paintings with the thick, dried-on paint and how amazing one would look with these small flowers against such a rich blue sky.

What struck me the most was that though it was light creating the images of what I saw, I was inspired to paint or even create something physical like a tile. How fascinating is it that one simple thing such as light can inspire me to do art I never would think of doing otherwise?

Week Two - Austin Geordge - A Moment In The Noise

 This photo is from the Dayseeker concert I went to with my friend and my girlfriend on the 24th last month. In this moment the main lighting coming from the stage is fuchsia. There also an overhead lighting that I am now noticing after seeing the photo but did not notice initially. There were three bands in total, the two openers and then Dayseeker themselves, and each band had different lighting but there were generally rally themes of pink and purple that sometimes mixed throughout. The actual lighting on the stage was pretty warm with the occasional bit of different colors as the moving lights changed in their path and went over the stage but the stage stayed relatively the same. I took notice of the lights that were going on during the show and during each band's set. Most of the lights were focused on the crowd but they did move throughout the show to highlight the performers. The only lights that were stationary were lights that were behind the performers giving them a silhouette until the movers would pass over them again.

Week Two - Kristin Goodell - Mountain Magic

These two photos are of the view of Mt. Shasta from my family’s home. I took the first photo at sunrise in February. The sun is behind the mountain and illuminating the underside of the clouds. The cloud line is above the sun, but below the mountain’s peak. The mountain’s shadow is cast along the underside of the clouds, creating a sharp triangle of shadow in between the orange and yellow sunrise. Because of the perspective, the lines of the shadow converge back to the sun’s position. I think that this photo is very dynamic because of the sharp lines and contrast between warm sunrise and cool shadow. The sharp lines remind me of when we created precise angles of light using barn doors in my introduction to lighting class. I wonder if you could create a similar effect on stage using floor lights behind scenery. 

The second photo is of a phenomenon called alpenglow (or alpine glow), which refers to when a mountain is illuminated by sunlight during sunset/dusk. According to my research, many nature photographers still argue as to whether alpenglow is the result of direct light from the sunset (with the sun being invisible to us on the ground but still visible to the mountain) or indirect light from the set sun being reflected from the suspended particles in the atmosphere. In this photo, I think that the alpenglow is a result of direct light since there is a defined shadow cast on the mountain. After the sun has set below the horizon, the mountain continues to “glow” in vibrant red, orange, and pink hues, while the rest of the landscape is cast in darkness. Eventually, the glow softens to a violet and then ultimately fades out, at which point the mountain is swallowed by the surrounding night. My dad and I love to sit on the deck and watch the alpenglow while we have dinner, especially during the winter when the mountain is covered in snow. The white snow caps deliver even more bright and saturated alpenglow than the snow-less mountain peak during the summer. Reading about alpenglow has reminded me of the color theory lecture and how we perceive different colors based on the wavelengths of the light. I think alpenglow is one of the most magical sights to see during a sunset. 

Week Two-Yongxi (Maggie) Zhang-hiking sunlight

I took this photo when I hiking with my friend yesterday. My friend usually lives in NY, and she kept telling me how wonderful the sunshine is in California. Then, I noticed the sunlight streaming through the trees and forming elongated shadows in the same direction in the middle. The color of the sunlight is more yellowish and makes me feel warm and happy like I can eliminate all bad feelings. I guess because of the warmer and yellower light, this scene gives me a lighter mood instead of a peaceful, quiet, lonely feeling like other places.

Week 2, Daisy Santos, Home Sweet Home

 

The most accessible and beautiful lighting one is exposed to is that of natural lighting. Be that from the sun reflecting off the shore or a orange/pink sunset like in the picture above. The photo above is a great representation of such beauty that lighting provides in its own way. Thus, it's one of the reasons I chose it for my blog today. 

I took this sometime in September of this summer back home in LA. Although LA is very smoggy, I must say that when sunsets appear across the sky, they can be the most captivating thing you see. For me, in particularly, I love how warm, soft, and at home I felt by seeing this sunset. The vibrant warm colors of pink, orange, and a bit of purple were just the right amount and felt almost like a warm hug. It's almost like it welcoming you home (well at least I felt like that). Not just that, I also love how this angle captures a lot of features that remind me of LA such as the freeway to the right, palm trees, DTLA, and the wires connecting utility poles at every corner. Both the lighting and features in this moment are homey for someone who lived their whole life in an urban city so I couldn't help taking a picture of this before the moment was gone. 

Week Two - Maia Lucas - Halloween Happiest Place

This photo is from my trip to Disneyland last month. This was my first time ever going during the Halloween season, which was such a fun and memorable time. I'm very big on Halloween and "The Nightmare Before Christmas", so the photos I took on this trip definitely spark a lot of joy for me. I came across this photo area outside of the Haunted Mansion ride.

I think that this is an excellent example of places where we see actual lighting design outside of performance. Although it's just a quick stop on the way out of a theme park ride, someone designed this little area, from the types of lights and colors used, to playing around with the tree shadow above the backdrop. Without the lights, it would simply be a backdrop under gift shop fluorescent lighting. So much of the attractive factor of the area comes from the eye-catching design and how it compliments the atmosphere of the Haunted Mansion ride. Most people would just walk by and take a picture without realizing what went into creating it, so I'm glad this gave me the opportunity to appreciate the effort behind something so simple. 

Week Two - Jayde Farmer - The Fort

 

This picture was taken at a place that is really important to me-The Fort. In high school myself and a couple friends went on a hike in a canyon in my home town. On the hike, we decided to build a fort for ourselves to hang out and visit. We found a clearing under the shade of three trees and cleaned away the debris and lined it with rocks. 

This is a photo I took on my film camera of my girlfriend at the fort. A small opening in the canopy created a beam of sunlight that produced a halo like effect. The light streaming through the leaves made me feel peaceful and serene. The light creates an almost divine image. This tranquil moment in The Fort reminds me of the warm happiness of being in such a majestic part of the desert.

Week Two - Logan Brubaker - The Sky

 

I love to travel. Perhaps because I wasn't able to much as a kid due to financial constraints when all my school friends went around the world for their vacations and I went to grandma and papa's. But now, when I have the chance to travel, I take it. Be it to Seattle, where I proposed, Denver, where my best friend lives, Tahoe, Hawaii, Paris, or Munich, I have lovely photos all about light from all of those. And while I could also talk about the thousands of theatre photos I have, I wanted to focus on this picture here and my favorite aspect about it, the sky.

This photo is from Sun Valley in the center of the state of Idaho. I went there with my mom and sister for a week two summers ago and absolutely fell in love with it. Whenever I'm traveling, I like to pay special attention to the sky. In this photo, I notice the gradient of the blue as it gets brighter towards the mountains. I notice not only the gray and white cuts of the clouds amongst themselves, but the shadows they create on the mountains. I notice that while I am not in the sun, I can still see the ambient light around me, though the light itself is shining into the next valley.

There is so much beauty in the landscapes and skies of the world, and every minuscule shift of light reveals to me new colors and focus that I never saw before.