Research and Images

I was brought onto this production later in the process, so I had to play a lot of catch up when it came to background information on the show and the time period. With the dramaturg's help, I figured out the atmosphere, tone, setting and time for each scene, one by one. It was then up to myself to come up with a lighting look that accurately reflected our desired appearance on the stage.

Lighting Plot

Due to the lack of accessibility in our blackbox space, adjusting the lighting instruments is next to impossible. Meaning I had to make due with what I had available to me. Luckily the space was set up rather diversely (despite appearances above) with lighting focused on the main points of the stage, as well as, having some specials of color and gobos. My most used instrument throughout my design was the slim PAR LEDs as I could manipulate the different instruments individually, being able to compose of a complex and unique color scheme for each scene as needed.

Challenges

The biggest challenge I faced while working on this production was actually with the lightboard itself. The lighting board was one that I had minimal experience using (whole Hog II). Resulting in me having to reach out to others and review the users manual to teach myself the ins and outs of the boards mechanics. Once I acquired a basic understanding of what I needed to do and what was irrelevant to me at the time, it became easier to work my way around and quickly program, edit or delete cues as needed.

I enjoyed the experience of working on this show. I felt a sense of accomplishment and responsibility as I was for the first time working in a position where I wish to learn more. I have a great interest in lighting and it was enlightening to be able to learn something new at my own pace and actively apply it to what I was working on. It was also interesting to try out different lighting looks with a small but challenging cast. It was hard to find lighting that would work when the cast of two had vastly different skin tones.

I attended a webinar hosted by Atlanta Theatre Artists for Justice (ATAJ) that was recommended to me and it happened to be a great help as the panel went over how lighting works on darker and lighter skin tones side by side on stage. It was a learning experience to try not to lose one to shadow or overexpose the other. From the webinar I learned how colored light reflects light differently on different surfaces, colors and skin tones. It was interesting to see what worked with one over the other, what worked on both of them, and what didn't work at all.