Drama 157 - Undergraduate Lighting Composition: Fall '21

 I took this photo early one morning before the sun had really come up. I love the contrast between the blue light coloring the door and the bright light coming from the room. I think the way that it frames the door creates a really interesting image, especially how the light gradients from the center of the door. It also gives me some spooky vibes, curious of what might be behind the door.  It's a little mysterious and peaks my curiosity.

 I like hanging out at the park and the reflection of the sky in the pond inspired me this week. The scenery is already beautiful, but to see the sky on the ground was amazing. It was very uplifting to see, like just sitting absorbing nature and the beautiful scene was stress-relieving. The warm pink in the middle was the most interesting part to look at because it stood out from the blues and greens. 

  I hardly ever open the blinds when the sun is at its brightest, but when I do, I see interesting things happen. I wish I had enough knowledge to explain exactly how what we see in the picture happens, but I don’t fully understand it. The sun was coming through the blinds, hit the bottle, and it reflected this beautiful and interesting indoor rainbow. I like how nicely the background contrasts with the bottle, which I think is the main object in this picture. Although the colors on the background are beautiful, I feel like our eyes go to the bottle first, maybe because it’s easier to perceive a sense of source? This is not very related to the class, but the colors and texture in the background remind me of the lights that we had on Curie, Curie, when Marie dances with the wings on. I really like this combination of colors and how they appear to be iridescent. I wonder if there is an effect that would let us achieve a similar look (the way the colors are mixed) on the Cyc. I also ...

  Maybe this image is in the spirit of the Halloween weekend or just something I was thinking about when I look at my bruised forearm. Quick backstory: Last weekend I slipped and fell in my Mom's bathroom. I fell pretty hard on the floor bruising my forearm and breaking my nails. Just telling you these details so you can understand the impact and the results of the impact. This image was taken today in the living room of the AZ apt as the sun was peaking through the blinds.  As I stare at this image, I was thinking about if I gave this image to a Lighting Designer and told them I wanted to create these colors on stage to show pain, hurt or danger... could this image help in some way. In person it looks extremely colorful. In the photo the colors purple, dark blue and touches of black stand out to me. Also the center (obviously prominent) is the hematoma that is still healing but as you can tell it stands out proudly. Now, the issue I see with asking for these type of colors is...

I was outside in the sculpture garden talking with my mom on the phone when I took this picture below. At first I was not paying attention to any of my surroundings until I was walking near the side of the stair cases leading up to studio 5. The tree right in front of the stairs was sort of acting like a gobo, and the sun was pushing the outline of these gorgeous wreath like branches of crisp leaves. I love a good foliage gobo as much as the  next person too.  Earlier this week, the reflecting pool in the courtyard near the Claire flooded and it was a sight too see. It was such a serene scene with the calm sound of flowing water all while looking so chaotic as it was all over the grass and slowly taking over the cement floor. The pool of water in front of me acted like a mirror and projected the reflection of the trees above which looked so beautiful. You can see so many variations of leaves making it an interesting spectacle. If you were to unfocus this, it would st...

  I really enjoy the harshness of this picture. Just looking at it, with the rough texture of the rocks and gravel paired with the brightness of the sun, makes me start to sweat. I love the solitary figure of the pine cone. It reminds me of a character alone in the desert. I am attracted to all the shifting of textures throughout the photo. In the bottom left there are larger rocks and pebbles, but as we move up through to the top of the picture it seems to get finer, more like a rough sand. There are even a few smooth patches from larger stones embedded in the ground. Overall I'm attracted to the complexity of the landscape in the photo. From the shifting textures to the subtilty in color, I find that each time I study it I find something new.

  This photo is taken from my the airplane window as I was leaving San Andres, Colombia. This was my first trip ever to South America in the summer of July 2021. My husband and I went for a wedding of our friends. They decided to tie the knot in the groom's homeland. As we were taking off from this island and heading to Medellin, I looked over to this lovely island and took a picture. Now, since it has been months of this memory, from a lighting perspective I can tell the many layers of texture this image has.  On the left side of the image there are variations of blue, light green and black. I feel that they blend together endlessly. The natural light hits parts of the ocean that give depth to the sea, sand and buildings surrounding the ocean. So rather than it looking flat, you can see the movement in the sea and even in the bottom right of the image it looks smoky.  At the top part of the image, there is less natural light which makes the variations of blue look like i...

      I think it is fair to say I am a big fan of the sky. I spent most of yesterday outside while the world was overcast with giant storm clouds. It was fantastic. Off in the distance there are gathering storm clouds foreboding rain later this week, but right above us are these beautiful, soft wisps. Desert skies have the most calming texture. The gentle and sparse wisps of clouds seem to remind me of the feeling of a cool and dry breeze. The more I think about it the more I can't wait to take a nice long desert road trip this winter.

  I took this photo of a bird of paradise from my grandma's garden earlier today and immediately loved the texture on the petals and the GOBO effect from the bougainvillea bush right next to it. There is a huge bougainvillea plant next to where the birds of paradise are and where the sun light was hitting the plants it created a GOBO effect on all the flowers, including this one, it is a little less noticeable because of how zoomed in the photo is, but it's there. The way the sunlight is hitting the petals also emphasized the texture and color on the petals. Thanks to the light, you are able to see all the ripples, ridges, and line work on the petals which, to me, emphasized their beauty even more. Lighting allows for us to highlight and create textures where we want them in order to better tell the story. To me this lighting shows off the intricacy and beauty that exists naturally in nature. 

  I took this picture as I was coming down the stairs of my dorm. It was right when the sun was setting and it painted the sky in cotton candy tones, which I find very beautiful. There are many things in this picture that catch my eye. I think it’s a very layered picture and each layer has a different texture that is affected by light. The sky has a texture that reminds me of velvet, and its colors, besides how beautiful they are, remind me of the way that the colors are arranged and remind me of the effect that we were using on the cyc this past week where the different colored lights would dance around. Overall I think that the combination of the soft texture and the pretty colors of the sky transmit a calming, even romantic feeling. I also really like the silhouette of the tree and how sharp its branches and leaves are. In terms of texture, I think it's an interesting contrast between the softness of the sky and the harshness of the tree. I think the window could have a texture ...

This week, I went to the beach with the Tomo no Kai club. We arrived around 3pm, and as soon as I saw the ocean, I was in awe of the way the sunlight was bouncing off of the water. The light created a beautiful, shimmering texture on the moving waves. It looked like a painting!    I found it interesting how some waves caught more light than others. I believe this is because of the height and angle of the different waves compared to the angle of the sun. I understand that we can create different light textures on stage using gobos, props, and fabrics. I wonder how I could replicate these ocean waves? This image definitely spurs my imagination! 

 Blog #3: Serene Yoga Plants Earlier today, Sunday, I went to do Yoga with my best friend and my sister. It was lovely and serene in the yoga studio. It was funny, at first I hadn't noticed the plants by the window but after two relaxing classes I was moved by their serenity, color, and shadows. It was interesting to me how my  mood affected the way I saw my surroundings. In lighting we talk a lot about how lights, their intensity, their composition, their color, can affect others moods, which is of course true, but this time I found my current state affected how I saw lighting. I'm sure this is not an out of the ordinary experience, but it was the first time I had ever thought of light in this way. The light seeping in from the window made the plants look more alive and arranged, at least that's how I felt when I took this photo. Now as I stare at it, I feel like the lighting is less bright and cheerful and instead almost feels drab; I feel as though not enough light is hi...

  This photo I think is a great spooky season photo. I was walking out of rehearsal the other night and found myself mesmerized by the light emanating from the bottom of stair case. It gave me a sense of curiosity and fright, as I found myself drawn to the light. It feels inviting, yet a little creepy all in one moment. I love how the railing breaks up the light on the wall and the bottom of the landing. I thought it created interesting shadows and contrast, especially compared to the darkness of the evening and the rest of the environment. 

                      On Friday afternoon, my class on the third floor of the CAC took a 5 minute break to stretch and take in the sunshine. When I walked out to the open-air hallway, I was immediately struck by the geometric shadows cast on the floor by the slowly setting sun. It was around 3pm, so the sun was still relatively high in the sky, hitting the balcony bars from a high side angle and creating slanted shadows. I enjoyed how the vertical slats on the outside of the building cast wide shadows that formed an interesting pattern with the thinner shadows from the balcony bars. One thing I could not understand was why the shadow for the top bar of the balcony looked wavy on the ground. Lastly, I was intrigued by how the element of perspective changed the size and shapes of the shadows from the background to the foreground. I am excited to practice manipulating shadows using the stage lights in class!

This past Thursday night, I was felt like I was on top of the world. My initial plot plates for Audio Theatre were printed and it was so cool to see everything right before my eyes, especially my title block. After I left school I ended up going on a spontaneous late night drive with one of my friends because why the heck not? We ended up taking a detour and walking around this place called Treasure Island in Laguna Beach. There was a glaring beam of light coming in from the side that illuminated the sharp and gnarled, rocks on the shore as well as gave light to the violent dark sea that loved to crash and envelop said rocks. The traffic light from across the street spilled onto the glistening sand creating a distorted watercolor like effect on the ground. The air was very misty which created a makeshift haze which allowed you to see the lights better which was super intriguing. Every once and a while you could see this ray of light change from an eye-catching red to a dazzling emeral...

Adding one more cat to the blog :) This is Macareno, my kitten who I also got to visit over the weekend. He, and his two siblings were once foster kittens who I ended up adopting. I love all of my cats but Macareno became very attached to me ever since he was a baby, and even more so over this past summer, which made moving out very difficult for both of us. I visit him every time I get the chance. I took this picture on Saturday at around 2:00pm when the sun was coming through the blinds creating a pretty backlight effect on the kitten, who was just enjoying the warm sunlight. There is something about this picture that makes me want to keep looking at it. I think it may be the color palette, the soft light, and the kitten’s expression that make everything have a very peaceful essence. Something that I was thinking of when I took this picture, and that we’ve been talking about in class, is the way in which we perceive sunlight and how it actually is. I like seeing how white and bright ...

 This past weekend was my birthday and my husband (being the fancy man he is) got us a room at the W Hollywood. Beautifully built in Hollywood right across the street from the Pantanges Theatre. When we walked into the hotel to check in the first thing I saw was this colorful painting of my favorite artist Frida Khalo.  As I admired this painting, I started to focus on all the primary colors and how they all blend together to create other colors. I started to think how would a Lighting Designer be able to recreate these colors on a stage. I am drawn to the yellows and pinks as they bring focus to her facial expression and her right hand holding a cigarette. I like the blues, purples and specks of green that blend well on the white background While Frida's expression is one of thought and calm; the image fills me with so much emotion. She makes me feel happy and prideful. I feel happy because she is such an emotional artist, puts it all on display for everyone to feel everythin...

  While I was visiting home this weekend, I got the lovely opportunity to see my Parent’s cat, Claire. On top of being an adorable and enchanting demon of a cat, she has a talent for finding the perfect light and being incredibly photogenic. Unfortunately I didn’t catch her out on the front porch, where she basks in the sun and catches a beautiful golden halo. Today she was posted as the centerpiece of the living room on a long dark couch, where some soft ambient sunlight highlighted the texture and patterns on her fur. I think I just really love this cat.

 I walked out on to my balcony with my dog this afternoon and was struck by the beauty of the blue sky and the shimmering light bouncing off the buildings as it approached golden hour. This lighting inspired me to imagine how I could replicate that experience on stage. Seeing the light reflect off of the different windows and street lamps of the city filled me with a sense of adventure and optimism. I was intrigued by how the light looked different when it reflected off of various objects. The color, the brightness, and the overall quality of the light were all affected by the color and texture of the different surfaces. For example, the light reflected off the street lamps was warmer and less shiny than the light that reflected off the cool blue office windows higher up in the sky. I am inspired to become a lighting designer that is able to work with the costume designer and props designer to create this same effect on stage!

So, this was the view from the 605 early in the morning. I was still half asleep as I was looking at it. The rays of light set up my expectations to see a heavenly being fall from the sky. I felt serene and tranquil, even with 7 A.M. traffic zipping by. Even though the sky is not fully lit, the intensity and color made me feel happy. Maybe because this is such an unusual sky (at least for me because I am not normally up this early), but it inspired me to be in a good mood, if that makes sense.   

  I suppose choosing a dark image would not give someone inspiration but for me it speaks volumes of why this image is inspiring. Some background on this captured moment: The last visit we had to our star gazing spot in Sedona, AZ was 2 days before moving back to CA to start this new journey of Grad School. My husband (being the smart man he is) changed his career focus from being a Financial Advisor to going back to school to be an Astrophysicist. (I know he is a bit crazy but loves to learn new things.) This career change happened because my niece who is socially austistic would have very direct discussions with my husband about the color of the planets. He would explain to her why the colors appear different to the nake eye versus what we see in pictures. Being the challenger my niece is she told my Husband that he is wrong and needs prove. So he bought her a mini telescope and showed her what the plaents actually look like. He enjoyed teaching her something new and seeing the e...

 Week 2: Halloween Inspiration - "The Frightening Attic"  Earlier this week my sister, her boyfriend, and my date all went out to an escape room. While we were there I felt inspired to take photos of us in the space. The lobby, which is where this photo was taken, definitely added to the overall spooky ambience of the experience. From the beginning the lights in this room were all dimmed and had hues of amber, orange, and red. This began to create the overall scary and halloween feel. I felt inspired being in this space because it was interesting to see how easily light changes and colors and flickers affected all of our moods. Suddenly we were all scared for what was to come and feeling on edge, we kept thinking that the lights were going to go out at any moment. It was so dim it was hard to take clear photos in the space, which I think was what they were going for. It reminded me of being in a haunted house. I also know we have a halloween project coming up and this helped ...

This week has been a bit of a challenge, but I feel like I am starting to get settled in here at UCI. This picture was taken one evening as I was walking through Aldrich Park. The way the light penetrates through trees really gave me a pick me up when I needed it. The fact that you can physically see a beam of light landing near the tree I found to be incredibly moving. I find it very soothing but also uplifting. I love the brightness that emanates behind the trees in the background, to me it creates a sense of wonder in the background. Overall seeing this made me feel like I am at home here on campus. 

  I often like to browse eBay for used lights to add to a little collection I have going. I was incredibly lucky to find a Litemat 4 for a quarter of the retail price, Although this was not what I expected. Normal Litemats are bi-color with a dial to range between 3200K and 5600K, tungsten and daylight colors. This unit has a strange RGBW ballast that doesn't use the Kelvin scale at all. I was a little disappointed, but after playing around with it I got more and more excited. I'm certainly inspired to see all the different things I can do with this light for photography and filming alongside the Litepanel Gemini I already have, also from eBay.

This week was especially challenging for me because no matter what I did, I just could not get up in the morning and feel like I was doing something right. Almost every day I felt like I was making a mistake of some sorts, and that would affect not only the way I carried myself every day, but the way I felt about the art I was trying to create. As the end of the week approached, I decided I wanted to go back home, even if it was only for a day or two. This picture was taken only a few hours ago in downtown Burbank. I went out with my family (or part of it) and we just walked down the street as the sun was setting and the street, and car lights got more and more vibrant. As I looked up and around the place, I started to remember moments that I’ve lived in this specific spot of the city and my day started to light up a little. Then I remembered why I even liked this spot in the first place; because it somehow reminds me of the city I grew up in and where I made some of the most important...

Inspiration is vital, as an artist, it keeps you going; it keeps you creating.  Stopping to study the area around me is something, or taking pictures of things I find cool/inspiring is something I try to do every day. Inspiration can be found all around us, it is our duty to stop and admire it for at least a second.  As simple as it sounds, pops of color in everyday sights and situations are what make my eyes sparkle and make me feel incredibly inspired. Life can be very theatrical, with that being said, we should be the main character in each one of our “shows” and to see eye-catching lighting or pops of color in an everyday space is what makes me feel special, inspired like I am the “main character”(hopefully, that makes sense), and like an LD is lighting my life as I go living it. For example, seeing the glow of a neon sign spill onto a dark, glistening sidewalk during a rainy night or in this case, seeing a beaming bright blue emergency light stretch across a small warml...

  Lighting Blog #1: Warm Creme Brulee This photo was shot on a wine train I took around Napa Valley. This was the final course of our 3 course meal, around midday, close to 1:00p. The sunlight is pouring in from the train window, creating minimal shadows due the direction of the light. You can see that the light source gets cut off and it creates a prominent shadow on the right side of the plate. As the sunlight hits the creme brulee the melted and hardened sugar glistens. The fruit on top also reflects the sunlight and also shines similar to the sugar, but in a less sparkly way. It's also interesting to me that the black napkin, which is the item in this photo that absorbs sunlight, appears warm in color thanks to the sunlight hitting it. It no longer stands out in the photo due to the warmth of the sun's rays. I think this photo shows a little bit of what we discussed in class when there is no one light source and instead sunlight forces us to try and create sources in what w...

 As I start my 1st yr of grad school, I found myself missing things that make my heart happen. The obivous one is my husband Christian. If we want to talk about light... he lights up my life so much. I find it hard to not be living with him because he too is pursuing his dreams and will start applying to universities for his BS in Astrophysics.  The image above reminds me of the walks with would do when we first started living together. We would walk about the boardwalk or the park. I would find myself staring at the ground looking at everything. With this image I noticed how the sunlight created these interesting images on the ground. It was peeking through whatever the leaves and branches were not covering. I looked at this contrast of shadow/light and it made me think of how could this be used in a play or musical. How would this image make the story progress? Possibly a moment where a lead character is looking for his beloved in the woods and tries to find clues to lead th...

    This weekend my boyfriend, his family, and I got together to celebrate my puppy's 1st birthday. The day was very hectic, given that we were originally planning to have the party at Huntington Beach, but woke up to the news that the beach was closed due to a massive oil spill off the coast. We scrambled around trying to figure out what to do, and eventually decided to have a backyard celebration at the house. Because it took us so long to cook dinner and organize everything, it got dark outside before it was time to eat. Thankfully, we had strings of Edison bulbs lining the outdoor gazebo to light our dinner.  The lights wrapped around all four sides of the gazebo, giving us front, side, and back light, as well as some nice top light to stand underneath when taking photos.  I loved having the string lights illuminate our dinner because the lighting felt intimate and comforting. The lights were a warm white color, which felt cozy and paired well with the romantic o...

  I had a few late-night work sessions this past week in Design-land as I have some paperwork deadlines due for Audio Theatre. Upon leaving the room I walked straight into an ominous looking scene which left me feeling a little uneasy. The red exit signs glowed a spooky red color that affected my mood immediately. It looked as if someone was going to appear at the end of the Designland hallway and run towards me at full speed. I contemplated why this was making me feel scared, it came down to how the beams or the glow of the exit sign lights were interacting with the space. The darkness stretches to the viewer and engulfs them right away. Also, the look of the beam is uncontrolled and unfocused, which gives it this look of an eerie, slow growth. Additionally, the emergency red color gives an incredible amount of punch in this dark hallway. Although red can be a bit campy in a moment of fright, this works really well especially since the red looks like its coming towards you. Lastly...

  This is a photo I took last week at Mason park, down the street from campus. The lamp post struck a cord in me. The light around was so cool and dark blue (this picture makes the sky look lighter, it was after sunset). Then the space around the light is so warm and it spreads so far from the source. The first thing that caught my eye was the reflection of the light in the water. The yellow light keeps its intensity, yet elongates over the water. The amber fill light was what struck me the most. It's such a warm color against darkness. 

This is a (low resolution, sorry) screenshot from one of Bo Burnham's special's, What . The song in particular is called 'Left Brain/Right Brain', where two personifications of his brain fight over what is best for him. It is a very funny, also emotionally moving and somewhat brutal song about his mental health. I hadn't seen this show in a very long time, and after learning a thing or two about lighting design, I was struck by how incredibly clever and brilliant the design was for this song. The cool, calculated Left Brain is lit in this image; very drab, unemotional and cold, like the character. The contrasting character, the Right Brain, is lit with very intense and emotional colors relating to the whimsical nature of the character. Bo does an incredible job as a performer switching between the two characters, but the lighting does no small job in accentuating the themes and emotions, also making rapid changes between performance. I was honestly stunned after see...

  This photo was taken while my partner and I were spending an evening at Hendry's beach in Santa Barbara. We were hanging out with our dog and some friends, and as the sun was setting I snapped this quick picture.  One of the major reasons I love this picture is because of how saturated the colors are.   To me this picture is moody and romantic. The big brush strokes of orange, the textures of the waves, and the way the light reflected off of the water and the wet sand. I also am drawn to the ring of color that is centered on the sun. One of my favorite things about living up in Santa Barbara is that the sunsets were always spectacular. Sometimes the skies were purple or lavender. Other times they deep blues and oranges. It was an ever changing sky , especially depending if you were looking over the ocean or up at the mountains. I'm also a sucker for a good silhouette. 

This is a picture of a picture, and it must be one of the oldest I own in any of my devices. I’ve had it and passed it around for about 10 years. These are my grandparents in their front yard in -probably- somewhere around the year 2001. That was only a few years before I met them. Looking at this picture, there are things that I have very present in my memory; the white gate, the tall grass, the small trees with lavender flowers behind them, it’s all just the way I remember first seeing. The only difference I see is the color of their hair, that I got to experience seeing turn gray as the years passed by.  There is something about the colors in this picture that I enjoy a lot. Their home is -or was- located in a particularly rainy place in Mexico. Every important memory I have from said place is gray, cloudy, and rainy. I like it a lot, however, I always remember their home in the color yellow, and being sunny and warm. The walls just had so much light and life to them. In this pi...