What does a hamburger, a reptile, and you have in common? Benefits from a heat lamp!  Simply put, a heat lamp  is an incandescent light bulb that is used for the principal purpose of creating heat. We see them commonly in fast food eateries as a last attempt to make the food appetizing, as well as in animal tanks for our reptilian friends.  For both our hamburgers and our cold-blooded creatures; this incandescent light is their sustenance. Commonly in zoos heat lamps will be used when babies have been abandoned by their mothers and still require the benefits of their mother's warmth to function. Last but not least, humans also reap the medical benefits of these heat lamps to improve blood circulation. It is no mystery that light has been symbolized as a life asserting entity, and now science has unionized the functionality and beauty of light!

Since the class has concluded I have thought about different ways I can apply my skill as a lighting designer, and I realized that lighting design is not limited to the stage. Cinematography is the application of lighting and camera choices while recording for the cinema. However, there are some major differences between lighting a stage, which is a controlled environment, as versus lighting a film. For instance, a lot of film shooting happens outdoors. The cinematographer has to account for the time of day and the way that the sun, or lack there of, will affect the shoot. Moreover, on film, the viewer is watching in 2-D, so lighting depth in 2-D would also require an added skill. What I have appreciated most about this class was that it opened my eyes to a new means of expression. Where there is light, there is a story because lighting tells a story

Pretty

I went back home over thanksgiving break and took this picture. It gets super cold in the morning, cold enough to have frost on your car and over grassy fields. I thought it was interesting that the color in the sky looked so warm. It also has some cool coloring around the edge of the clouds. Then I realized that cool and warm colors exist naturally in nature. This is the shade of pink I wanted for the second lighting cue of my "Our Town" project.

Week 10: Light served on a plate!

Over the course of this class, I have found that I have become more appreciative and aware of the beauty and effect of light. Now that I am more aware of light, I've discovered that it is everywhere I go! There is light creeping through my blinds when I wake up in the morning. When I am stuck in a traffic jam on the freeway, the flashing of the red lights from the cars driving ahead of me dictate approximately how much longer I'll be stuck there. When I look up at the sky, I find that it is always conveying a different story through all of the mixed hues of light shining through the clouds. 

Light is everywhere and a couple of nights ago, it was served on a plate! I was celebrating my birthday at a Mexican restaurant called La Sandia and this yummy little birthday surprise was brought to me by the server. Tres leches, vanilla ice cream covered with caramel sauce, and flan... all topped with a firework candle! The light being so small only illuminated the small little area around it but as small as it was, it was still vibrant and strong. I was so intrigued by the light that came from this tiny little source that I did not even get the chance to blow my candle. I ended up letting it just die down on its own  but I didn't mind!

This just goes to show that light is everywhere! Its in the sky above us, its there to guide us during traffic and it can even be served on our plates! We just have to be more aware of it so that we are able to be more appreciative of it and thanks to this class, I am able to do that! 

Thank you, Lonnie! I really enjoyed our class! :)

Leah Joanino

Dinner Candles!

Week 10: Blog#5

Last Friday, I was back home in Walnut and my family decides to gather to eat dinner together. As dinner table was being set up, I was mesmerized by the dim lights from the candles and I took a picture of it.

The candles were dim and it made up the mood of the dinner setting! It was more like a romantic type of dinner, although eating with just my family.

I realized that the saying about lights make up theater is true. Without lights, there will be no focus in theater! The lightings we see in theater tell a story and also support the story in a play! I am glad to have taken lighting class because now I am actually thinking of designing lights as a hobby!

I am posting today about a new phenomenon - well new to me, at any rate - which I just discovered while at a friend's house over Thanksgiving break. The pictures above show this activity as I witnessed it; people are giving each other 'light shows,' or 'playing with your lights.' I've come to find out that this is a raver activity - I suppose because it accompanies music that is played at raves. Regardless, my point is that it's fascinating, I think, because is using only lights as some personal form of entertainment - performed by one person for [usually and most successfully] one other. And it's a trip. What these lights do to your eyes is incredible. One is white on its own, but when moving back and forth is green, white and purple. And with just waving your hands and rotating them around the viewers head, you can make some awesome effects. It's quite a pleasurable experience; everyone should experience it.

First I have to say I'm so sorry, I've tried to rotate the picture so you can see it the right way but for some reason I wasn't able to do it. Hopefully you can still see how amazing this is. My parents recently got back from a 30 day cruise during which they visited somewhere around 20-30 countries. My mom showed me some of her pictures and this one is my absolute favorite. It is from a mosque in Morocco and I love how the shadows hit the floors. There is something very spiritual about it and just looking at a picture gives me the feeling of being surrounded by a calm eternity (hope that makes sense).

Different lighting styles

I took this picture the other day in the car as the sun was setting. And the first thing I thought of was "How could I light a scene to make it have this color effect?". That really got me thinking back on our lighting class and these blogs that we have to do -- I remembered how when we were critiquing Our Town projects, many of us would light similar scenes that incorporated sunsets or moonlight, but we all chose different colors and had different takes on how to represent it. It's just fascinating how we all view things differently, lighting in particular, and how all these opinions and styles evoke different emotions in each individual person.

Week 8: Los Angeles Night Life

Its striking to see how the night life of a busy metropolitan city can become the setting for a breath taking light show. This was taken atop The Getty overlooking Los Angeles. The city instantly transformed to a relaxing landscape at this distance with the help, from none other, of light. The lighting from the surrounding buildings, housing, and vehicles helped illuminate the city and became a performance entirely on its own with the sustained glow. I couldn't keep my eyes off the view that evening. The lights kept drawing me in leaving me fully entertained as they traveled and flashed in the distance. The night skies should be thanked for the aid to the light show as well as the high altitude for the opportunity to witness a setting that is often not praised at street level. A view like this is always a reminder to how beautiful the glow of a light can be.

-Sandy Cisneros

Week 10 Lighting on Stage

I was fortunate enough to see two wonderful musicals this week. The first being a new musical titled Daddy Long Legs and the second was the National tour of Next to Normal. I did not intend to write my last blog on two stage productions, but having now taken this class my eyes have definitely been opened to how lighting works for the entire production and enhances the experience for the audience.

1st picture- Next to Normal:

I saw this show earlier this year on Broadway and did take notice to the lighting, but this time around I took more of an interest in it. I did not notice the first time how the colors used presented the mood of the characters. The colors I remember seeing were red, orange, blue, and purple. As you can see in the picture (1st picture) the lighting played an important role because there is no real scenery, so the lighting was a vital backdrop. Strobe lights and other "rockstar" lighting was used as well to represent the hallucinations the character, Diana has. These lighting effects also go with the rock style music.

2nd picture- Daddy Long Legs:

The lighting for this production was absolutely breathtaking. It played an extremely beneficial role, because there were no scene changes the lighting initiated when there was a change in time or place. One of my favorite things about this production was the use of lighting and visual design with writing. The dialogue mainly occurs through written letters, so when a new letter was written the writing appeared on the wall behind the actors. (I really wish I was able to find a photograph of this). This effect was also used to present a new month or year.

Because of this classI now appreciate not just the lighting aspect in performances, but also the overall design that goes into making a performance the best it can be. So, thank you for that Lonnie, and TAs. =]

Week 10, Blog 5, Light of OUR TOWN!!!

Its the end of our class, and I thought I can post the most beautiful pictures of light that I have ever see. These are the pictures that my dad send me through emails. They are the perfect examples of light. They inspire me to create and capture more light in the future. Also I searched youtube for some videos of Our Town and I found two videos but unfortunately I could not post them but do search in youtube and type this so you can also enjoy how Our Town is done. Even though light is not that visible in these videos but they are good examples of how this show could be represented. (Our Town Act 3, part 1, Penelope Ann Miller monologue). They are the examples of our most picked scene which is the grave yard and when Emily goes to see her birthday again. Enjoy and Have nice break and quarter to come.

Week 10

My friend scored a beautiful and reasonably priced house to rent in Long Beach. Part of it's beauty was how well lit the entire place is. Sun peaks through everywhere and makes for an uplifting atmosphere. What I loved about this particular part of her house was the way light created a framed image on her floor. It is as if the light is making its own claim as a presence in her household just like any of the furniture or really awesome SF Giant's rug she has. Now she has natural artwork on her floor to compliment the intentional art on her walls. If she had a cat, I'm sure it would lounge in this very spot as well.

Lack of lighting?

I was flying back to Irvine after this past Thanksgiving break and took probably a dozen pictures like these from my window seat. I found it very interesting how the LACK of lighting can really make an impact on something. I love not only the night lights of the city, but also how you can really see the landscaping/water because of the lights/lack of lights. I thought it was funny how "Southwest" was lit pretty brightly -- I definitely saw this picture as an ad for the Skype magazine on board -- and it made me think how focusing light on one particular area is all that is really necessary to convey a message across to an audience. Lighting doesn't have to be complicated to be beautiful, it can be simple and be just as powerful.

WEEK 10

My son's friend took this picture. He is a wonderful kid who has a passion for photography. He is obviously very talented and I wanted to feature this picture because it just took my breath away. The colors are so powerfully vibrant. I love how the green foliage in the forefront accentuates the orange colors of the sunset. Emotionally, the colors of this picture speak volumes to me. One of my favorite parts of this lighting class was the introduction of color and how we discovered the beautiful, complex, emotions it potentially invoked. I found a new appreciation of every single shade of color. We learned that our eye is naturally drawn to the red; it excites us and invokes energy. I thought this picture was a wonderful illustration of that concept. Thank you, Lonnie, for a wonderful class. You certainly opened my eyes to the emotional expression of lighting.

~ Jill Thomas

Week 10: The Happy End

To me, these photos represent happiness. It seems to paint a picture of a stereotypical "happy day": bright sun, blue skies and even bluer water. And even when the sun was not visible, it was still brilliantly present. The feeling is so wonderfully captured in these photos and I hope the sentiment translates because its difficult for me to adequately enunciate this feeling.