Yes, This Will Be On the Test

Writing, Reading, Laughing

Monday, April 14, 2014

L is for LIGHTING DESIGN


Welcome to Yes, This Will Be On the Test.
Waving to visitors, new followers, and fellow A to Z participants. I’m sending virtual hugs to you all for taking a moment to stop by.

I’ll be sharing my “take-aways.” All those snigglets, golden nuggets, and lessons learned from other creative sources.

Scroll down this link to find other wonderful A to Z participants.

In my previous life, I was a theatrical lighting designer. Lighting design is expected to fulfill multiple goals onstage, such as:

MOOD - How do you want the audience to feel?


Sense of fun - Singin' in the Rain from the  Bon Voyage Shipboard Review - Queen Mary





Dramatic foreshadowing - In the Sweet Bye and Bye - Back Alley Theater









Nightmare sequence - An Original Jimmy Shine - UCLA





VISIBILITY and FOCUS - What and how much do you want to reveal to the audience? Where do you want them to look?



Found a Peanut - Back Alley Theater 






DIMENSIONALITY - Define the shape of the actors and the scenery. At times light becomes part of the scenery.





St. Joan - UCLA








Hawk - UCLA










Hawk - UCLA








TAKE AWAY:
Even though lighting was my visual form of storytelling in the pictures above, the same elements and purposes must resonate to create depth in the stories I tell with words.

Have you brought elements from other art forms into your writing?

22 comments:

  1. I can imagine how your training in lighting helps you with your writing and setting a really good scene.

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  2. Lighting was always one of those art forms that seemed incredibly complex to me. When I was an actor, I so admired the designers and techies who understood it. You're right; it's such a vital tool!

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  3. I took an intro to theatre class when I was in college. We were told to attend three plays. The lighting in each one definitely set the mood. I've used a little of that class in my writing, but it's been 20 years so my memory's a little fuzzy now.

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  4. Lighting doesn't get the love it deserves sometimes. It's usually one of the things I point out when I see a stage production. :)

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  5. Using other talents and experience is so brilliant. I guess my days as actress have helped me visualize the staging of a scene and the characters' use of props and stage business.

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  6. I LOVE this. I was into theater (and still am occasionally) for all of my young life...meaning until I hit 27, and I think understanding the importance of theatrical elements definitely lent to shaping my writing. Lighting is just like focusing a scene in a story--by the mood of the coloring or the focus of the moment... I blogged about this once too, but took more the cinematography focus. (I dabbled in film for a while.)

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  7. That is SO cool! I really like these peeks into your life (past and present) that you're giving us this month in your blog challenge :) Also, great work on lighting those! I especially like Found a Peanut's ;)

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  8. I didn't know that about you! Awesome. I did theater in high school and you never really thought about all the work that went into lighting. There really is an art to it.

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  9. I did lighting for a scene I directed in college. I can appreciate the art of it.

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  10. Writing is my primary art form. Dare me to draw a boy and I'll give you a grand stick figure lol!

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  11. Painting and music definitely enter into my writing here and there. Nice post, Leslie!

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  12. Great point! I often think about all the details that go in to films to make them finished. I'd say poetry, art, music, acting... all have a part to play in my writing.

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  13. Sure. I have a tendency to be more visual then anything else. Sometimes I sketch out images and I've even used poetry.

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  14. It's so cool that you were a lighting designer! (I wanted to be a theater director in HS, but got a film degree instead.) I love all the pics. Atmosphere and mood are really important in writing, too.
    (new follower)
    Lexa Cain’s Blog

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  15. You are the queen of lighting design. I swear.

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    1. Does that mean I get a crown? I'll settle for a tiara. :)

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  16. Intriguing - the number of us who have come to writing from theater and film in some way shape or form. Appreciate all the visitin'! Blog on, Garth.

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  17. I have always found lighting design fascinating. It adds so much texture to stories! I like to draw to help get my creative juices flowing and trying to add that element into my writing. :) Great post!
    ~Jess

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  18. Lighting design is so intriguing. Seems like a tough job but also enjoyable.

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  19. hey u know what? my dad did theater as a hobby and his speciality? lighting designs....i have seen how he worked..and from close quarters, so i can relate to what you have written.....

    I am a dancer, I have learnt bharatnatyam which is a dance form of south India, and expressions are dramatic and flowy.....i guess that reflects in my writing too!

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  20. Interesting stuff. Lighting is very important. I do notice it myself.

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