Week 4: Spotlight

So I guess it's time to admit it... I love the Jonas Brothers. This past week, I went to see the youngest Jonas, Nick, and his side project live in concert. The band is called Nick Jonas and the Administration. Anyway, none of that is important. On to lights...

I never pay much attention to lights at concerts because most of the time I'm paying attention to the performer. At this particular concert, since it was much smaller and intimate (although it doesn't look that way in the picture, it was), and since I am in this class, I let my eye wander and assess the lighting. The main thing I noticed is how angle affects light. I was off to the side, and I noticed quite often that it was hard to take clear pictures because of the angle that the light was hitting off my camera lens. Not only that, but it was easier to take clear pictures when the stage was being lit with warmer colors than when it was bathed in cool colors. Like this picture for example. The stage is a cool blue, mixed with the white light of the spotlight, and all I got was this glare. However, at time when the stage was pink or orange or reddish, it was much easier for my camera to zoom in on what I was trying to capture, and to get a clear picture of it. My theory is that the cool colors were used in such a way that every time they were used, they were being manipulated a lot more. They were being used in spotlights or moving lights aimed at the audience. The warm colors, however, were usually bathing the entire stage or being used with gobos on the cyclorama.

Using all the information I have learned in this class, I was able to watch the concert in a way I had never been able to before. I noticed things that would have never caught my eye, and I was able to appreciate them in a new light... literally.

Emily Schwartz