Sound & Lighting Crew

Final Report for Talent Show

By Jacob Wehr Murphy

One of the main challenges in lighting was finding the right type of light to use for each
performer. One of our performers was a dancer and asked for a very specific type of lighting
scheme. She wanted the stage to be lit using spot light focusing on the area in which she
would be dancing but blacking out all the back ground as if she was dancing in a dark realm
or a sort or limbo.

Type of Lantern & Light Directed at Stage

My main idea for this performer was to use Fresnel spot lights as it is said that they have a
softer edged light that allows more control over the angle and size of the beam
(Theatrecrafts.com, 2016). I aimed to use these lights to focus on the down stage area keeping
the light mainly off the curtain. By doing this I hoped to light up the down stage area so that
she would be seen in theses beams of light yet the curtain would be kept in the dark as to give
the effect of a dark and scary place beyond the light.

Chosen Colour of Stage Light & Why

For the Fresnel light, I have chosen the colour of a dark blue to give the stage a creepy limbo
type of effect. The main reason I chose this colour was to give the realm a simplicity to it, to
really focus the audiences attention on the dancer. I also did this also to make her entrance
more noticeable so that when she dances on stage she is seen and as soon as she moves into
the darkness she is not. Everything around the dancer appeared to be darkness almost as if the
clouds in the sky had parted in that area revealing the dim moon light.

Foot Lights, Shadow & Strobing Effect

She also asked that she have the lighting and sound effects of thunder whilst performing on
stage. For this I added the effect of strobe lighting to simulate the flashes of lightning
combined with the sound effects. This also backed her reasoning for having the stage set up
with dark blue lights as when I used the strobe lights, the flashes would be exceeded by the
darkness of the stage making them bright and noticeable to the audience delivering a true
lighting effect. My aim however was to have the lights for the thunder strobing from the foot
lights positioned in front of the performer down stage I had these lights facing the performer
on stage.

I used these lights to face the dancer as each time they flashed they projected the shadows of
the dancer on to the curtain behind her. My reasoning for this is because she was on a dark set
and I thought the flashes of lighting on to the material of the curtain behind her would
emphasize her shadows during her performance thus emphasizing the lightening. Not only
this but I wanted her shadows to be so noticeable that they appeared in different colours so
that multiple shadows would be shone off from her each time the lightning flashes using the
lighting technique explained in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=iyMHWOwBiVc (Exploratorium Teacher Institute, 2014). This meaning that every time
the strobe lights (foot lights) flashed to simulate the lighting her shadows would be cast on to
the curtain behind her in three different colours. Whilst the light flashing onto her would be a
plain white light like that, that is caused by lighting.

This performance tested my skills in the lighting area of my group as I had never undergone
such a challenge of setting up such specific lighting requests for a performer. Yet although,
the task was quite difficult it enabled me to develop my skills in the lighting area of
performance and has widened my view on the dramatic effects and uses of lights in
performance. This pictures below this document show what some of these effects would have
looked like on the night along with a photo of myself on set. The references to these images
are found at the bottom of this document.
References:
Primrose, Jon. 2016. Theatrecrafts.com: Types of Lantern. Entertainment Technology
Resources. http://www.theatrecrafts.com/pages/home/topics/lighting/types-of-lantern/.
Exploratorium Teacher Institute. 2014. Explore additive light mixtures with this
simple activity - Science Snacks. YouTube video, 2:02, November 17.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyMHWOwBiVc

References for Images:

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/three-spot.html 9/4/2017
http://www.theatrecrafts.com/pages/home/topics/lighting/types-of-lantern/ 9/4/2017
https://au.pinterest.com/coryphella/the-wiz/?lp=true 9/4/2017
https://au.pinterest.com/pin/478155685420114463/ 9/4/2017
https://au.pinterest.com/pin/724094446309159157/ 9/4/2017
https://au.pinterest.com/pin/211458144979762597/ 9/4/2017