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Kade Mendelowitz Lighting Designer PO Box 81522 Fairbanks, AK .....99708 kade@alaskasbest.com |
CD by Kade Mendelowitz Analysis of Other Design Elements |
Analysis of Other Design Elements
All of the other design elements, save sound, are directly influenced by light. Therefore, these other areas (scenery, costumes, makeup, hair, movement) should be taken into account while designing the lighting for a production. |
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Overall setting. Does the scenery reflect a specific time (day, season, year) or source of light? Are there practicals (lighting fixtures, television sets, fireplaces)? Perhaps you, as lighting designer, feel the need to ask the set designer to add practicals. |
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What is the complete groundplan for the set, including what lies beyond the audience's vision? |
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Doors may lead to the outside, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Doors offer different possibilities for light sources that may spill into the room when the door is opened (or seep through the crack near the floor when it's closed). |
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Color palettes used by other designers must certainly be taken into account. Is there a great deal of contrast in colors used to make patterns (wallpapers, curtains, linens) or are the patterns subtle? This will effect lighting color choices as well as intensity settings (which are also affected by color choices). |
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Some sets have cool and warm colors mixed throughout the paint washes - this gives the lighting designer more control over the "feeling" of the setting. In this case, color washes on the setting that contrast with the performers can make the characters seem warmer than their surroundings, or colder. |
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In costumes, some fabrics like satins and piles are greatly affected by lighting colors coming from different angles. |
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Often times, character relationships are shown through costumes. So, if the lighting changes the color of the costumes from scene to scene, this relationship may be difficult to be read. |
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If costume and scenery colors are too similar, the characters may end up blending into their surroundings. Backlighting with a different color, or a light set wash, can help alleviate this problem. A different lighting gel is much less expensive and quicker than re-dying costumes! |
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Intensity. A set with a great amount of fine detail will go virtually unnoticed if the lighting is too dim. On the flip side, if there is not much detail, perhaps the scenic designer expects a certain location to appear dark and shadowy. |
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Plasticity affects the set and the performers. |
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Although a painted drop is usually lit either evenly bright or dim, three-dimensional sets (columns, fences, stucco) will hardly be noticed without supportive lighting. |
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Draping and translucency in costumes can be a visual success or failure with the wrong angle or intensity of light. |
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In arena or thrust theatres, costumes are often heavily relied upon to help display a sense of time period and style. For these settings, scenic pieces can easily destroy audience sightlines. The closer the audience gets to the actors, the more detail that is needed in the costume pieces. |
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Color variation in costumes can also be hidden in dark scenes. |
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Changes in time and locale are often achieved through lighting. |
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In a unit set, it may be up to the lighting designer to determine whether a scene is taking place the next day, a few hours later, etc. |
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There may be one set piece for a Shakespearean production that indicates "the forest". However, it is up to the lighting designer to show whether this piece is the same forest or a different part from the previous scene in "Midsummer Night's Dream". |
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Sound may also affect changes in lighting. |
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Primarily in dance and concerts, light changes may be motivated by tempo or beat changes in addition to choreography. |
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Lighting often supports the mood of a production. In musicals, dance pieces and concerts, the mood is often dictated by the music. |
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During musicals, songs often help "throw out" reality so that a character may commit a "direct address" (where the character talks directly to the audience) to tell them what's on his/her mind. |
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Blocking |
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Blocking affects lighting by helping to dictate how acting areas need to be arranged. |
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The lighting designer can often analyze a groundplan accurately to figure out how action will flow around a set. Yet, by watching the actual blocking during rehearsals, the lighting designer may see interpretations for the use of space that the designer did not initially consider. |
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Entrances, large furniture pieces, etc. may call for the need of specials or isolation where the designer did not formally deem necessary. |
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When looking at a groundplan with a kitchen table and three chairs, the designer may ordinarily feel all the chairs and the table needs even coverage. Through rehearsals, however, the designer may find that only one character tends to sit at the table during private moments to reflect on his/her life. |
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During cueing, lighting should anticipate movement. Lighting may "focus down" during long scenes to help sustain audience attention to a long dialogue. If the lighting is to follow a character outside the focused area, the character should not step first into darkness. |
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Light is like the glue that washes over everything and can make the costumes, scenery and performers look like they belong together. It can be the great equalizer! |
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