Lighting

When referring back to the script analysis, lines 18 to 19 describe the seasons which the scene is set within - "Half of it was in bright summer time and the other half in gloomy winter". Since changing the traditional genre I could discard this factor, but as there are two contrasting seasons within this scene I have decided to contemplate its effect through the art of lighting.

Now the two smaller scenic elements of the campfire and flag stand act as a focus and contrast for the two 'seasons' to be depicted upon. As their usual positions are on opposite sides of the stage (flag stand SR and campfire SL) I thought these could be the perfect marking points for the translation of the different seasons. My initial thoughts are telling me the campfire (blazing and hot) instantly represents the bright summer side of the garden (in this case camp). And the flag stand (powerful and reflecting the lion's presence) could come across as gloomy like the gloomy winter within this scene as the lion could be dark and menacing creating a gloomy atmosphere upon the scene. The stand could be lit with dull, blue, cold lighting to reflect this feeling.

By setting up a makeshift photography studio I was able to experiment with this lighting idea and add these images to my research.



Lighting shot translating the two seasons



To achieve this I had two lamps directing light from either side of the model box (see previous photograph for layout). One with a blue filter, the other masked in an orange gel - these enabled me to split the set between the two seasons. Dull gels were used to damp the colours, as at first the orange gel seemed more powerful than the blue gel and therefore distracting the eye from the blue. Therefore to make the blue seem more powerful, the orange lighting was made softer. As the tribal flag was a symbolic piece in this scene I decided I wanted to spot light this from the front, covering it in a blue gel to still enhance the overall look of the scene. Each light and gel took a bit of time carefully positioning them and achieving the tone that I desired.

To translate the forest setting blue and green lighting was directed from either side of the model box.

Cacti Forest



In reality these photographs would be shown to the lightning managers and directors in a production meeting and discussed for consideration for the actual show.