My mom got married this Saturday and I was too busy with tech for "Of Sound Mind" (which you should all come see!) to be there, so I called her to wish her a happy day and good luck with the day. I was pretty upset that I couldn't be there but at the same time overjoyed to hear how happy she was. She literally cried over the phone, telling me repetitively how in love she was, and how she simply couldn't imagine spending her life with anyone else.
Walking back inside, we were in the middle of a really depressing scene about conformity and sacrifice. The picture above shows the moment at the end that's the climax of the song, with all the other stresses looming over the main character. The lights are from a pretty sharp angle, which makes it really creepy and gloomy. Though that's not the way I saw it! Due to the fact that I had just left the sweet heartwarming conversation with my mom, I came in lighthearted and this moment looked like love to me! The pink lighting felt like a valentine rather than a bloody deep tone.
It's really interesting that what happens right before really changes the view of something as an audience member. I had just come from a happy scene so this lighting cue that would otherwise be very ominous and dark didn't seem that way at all. I think it's a good thing to keep in mind going from emotion to emotion as a lighting designer because the audience has to go on the journey with you, otherwise they get stuck in the last feeling. Every single color could be terrifying could also be lovey dovey if you convince the audience of it!
Very nice contrast and talk of context
ReplyDeleteWe need to be so careful as artists that we lead the audience on the journey we need to go on but sometimes outside influences can change those views :)