F17 TA434 LIGHTING DESIGN

For my site specific blog, I chose to focus on Disneyland. The lighting all around the park had a different feel to it according to each park location while also keeping the magical park theme. The design goal for the main walkway of the park was to wrap the guest with Christmas spirit. As soon as guest enter the park they experience the drastic transition from the outside world into the "Happiest Place on Earth". Main Street is flooded with twinkling warm and cool Christmas lights with the castle in the far end lit with blue and lavender lights. There is a balance of cool and warm colors.  As you walk through the castle and into Fantasyland the usage of saturate nightly blue is used to illuminate each dark ride building. The inside of the buildings are lit with warm amber light to create that cozy feeling. The lighting in the western side of Frontierland was lit with very amber colored light and cool warm light. Again, we see the balance of warm and cool ...

These past couple weeks the only time I've really taken to observe my surroundings has been night time. This was taken when I made it home at about 3am. I love when the moon is bright especially when it is illuminating the clouds. These shapes made by the trees and the clouds kind of remind me of gobos on a stage.

I was thinking about light as a tool these days, since I spent most of my time as a director or director of photography on filmsets the last couple of weeks. For filmmakers, knowing how to use light correctly is mandatory. You can change the whole look of one scene by adding light - or removing it. The way light and shadows are used can tell stories - sometimes even better than any actor or dialogue ever could. In this photo, we bounced of the light from the white blanket to create a soft and moody edge on one side of the actors faces, while the other side was unlit. The scene we shot was a very emotional one, so I wanted the light to support the overall dramatic mood.

I went to a restaurant by USC called the Caveman Kitchen. The food was delicious, while I was eating the window caught my attention because the people that appear on the image look like if they were making fire or if they were cooking with fire. This type of effect was made by painting the wall of orange and also what it helped create this effect was the sun, the wind, and  the tree that was outside. This image looked like if there was actual fire on it. The movement of the flames look very real and all the little details they added to the image made it seem like if they were on a real cave.

I took this picture last Friday when I was at the Greek Theatre. We had an end of the season party, and we were allowed to go inside the venue to eat. I sat right in front of this “heater” that was lighted up with fire. This fire was giving everyone around me warmth, it was a very cold night so this kept us warm throughout. Although there were actual lighting fixtures on stage, I appreciated the light the fire was giving us instead. The colors on stage were very bold and saturated, but the fire was a nice warm orange. This light was very nice, and it stood out way more than the lighting fixtures. Just by sitting in front of it I saw the flicker of the fire. The fire softly washed over the area I was sitting at. It gave me a warm feeling both physically and mentally. It was heartwarming.

  I saw this beautiful monument a few days ago. It represents the earth in an abstract way, which looks so lovely. The globe was shining from the inside and the countries and continents were made out of metall and fixed on the outside. I guess there is a bulb in the inside and the light seems spread because of the frosted glass. Because of the glass, the light is not going further and is not lighting up the environment around the monument (there was a secon light underneath the plants). It is just lighting up the monument itself. Even if the color is cold, blueish and a bit greenish, the world seems to be full of freedom and peace. I think this is caused by the abstract shape of the countries and continents and shows me that the use of a gobo could change the story behind the color choice and the light you are choosing.

I took this photo on my drive home from school one day.  Traffic was at a complete stop when I took this image, but after so many long drives home on the 10-East freeway, I have grown to like the red glare of break lights during fall evenings.  The collective of break lights and the cloudy sky creates a sinister, uneasy feel. Red light is passing through my windshield glass, bounces off of my dashboard to the steering wheel. The green and red blend of the indicators on my gas gauge and speedometer add to this spooky feel. I wish I could have seen how I looked as the light hit me. 

This painting at a cafe was very cool and caught my attention. The lighting of the room is hanged above the painting and enhancing the white highlights on the painting. It brings up the texture, (looks wet and heavy)  of the oil painting, ( I am assuming it's oil paint) and sculpting the 2D painting. It is sad the painting is hanged cricket and sketchy, but it made a huge impact. I really like how it is shining and looks very 3D.

My eyes were drawn to this tree because of the lighting angle that lifted its life with. The warm light lifts up the tree as if pushing up and away all those urban life stresses. Its growing branches were being sculpted by the warm light coming from below it. As the light highlighted it's rough little branches and curves it also gave a glimmer to its leaves. The light helps the little tree to shout out saying, "I am here! This urban habitat will not get the best of me! Look at how beautiful i truly am!" I feel mutually to this tree. Times are hard, but there always comes a time to remind you of your future growth and beauty. We all have that shimmer within us, all it takes is a resource to help us channel out that shimmer.