The Moments in Between
{E.L. Shiring}
When I first started contemplating on the lighting design of this work in the initial process of developing "The Moments In Between." I originally wanted to play with candle light, but due to safety concerns and the liability, I decided to save this for another project. I felt like this was rather important in my design because it was how I decided what to question for my thesis work. Though the original plans in the theatre for the design all changed after the possibility of not being able to perform in the theatre and questioning how to work with natural light. Which is subjective to any given moment and day. It was challenging as it was uncontrollable and always shifting.
As I was pursuing my score for my treasure hunting, I was inspired by light that streamed through trees and danced on the forest floor. How at the right angles it looked other-worldy. The movement shimmering as the trees shifted from the wind. This was a treasure and dance in itself. After viewing an exhibit that was hosted at 180 the Strand called Other Spaces, by United Artists, my idea for using darkness and shifting lights became reinforced. In a darkened black room eight lights hung from the ceiling. At certain times they would move at random patterns as their white light was emitted into the space. It created an ominous feeling. The lights moving created focus. Where the light hit directed your gaze. They repeatedly created fresh shadows and shapes that moved about the room.
To see the a small clip from exhibit, Other Spaces by United Artists please follow link below.
I wanted to attempt to capture the feeling it gave me while still using the inspiration from the shimmering lights on the forest floor. How could I mix both of these ideas and still achieve my goal. I attempted to play with several profile lights and two down lights all fixed with gobos of varying inserts. I would then alter the intensity of the set lights so that the brightness of the lights would dim and get brighter at random intervals hoping to get closer to the light on the forest floor. With the black curtain in the back of theatre still out it ended up looking more cave like. That worked well in creating the unknown, eerie, other-wordly aspect I was eager to get achieve. For this affect I would chose to use about two fresnel lights to cover larger areas. This allowed for not such a hard edge creating a look that challenged the distance the light travelled before it hit the floor. A profile light light would be placed near the larger light so that I can get more detail out of the gobo and have a different varying intensity as it would be next to a spot the down light would hit. I played with the idea between using a special light that rotated to a profile both having chosen gobos but was unable to experiment with them to see what affect they would have.
I would ask the movers to be scattered around the theatre space with the lights shifting and changing. The movers would play with a score focused on metamorphosis and binding. This would allow the movers to follow the score that I used to open the rehearsal space and keep in line with previous work. The audience would be invited to walk amongst the lights and bodies in the theatre. This would aim to build more intimacy between the movers and audience. The viewer could see the small and subtle movements and how the shifting light challenged the human appearances of the constricted forms. This also brought up moments of shadows and the light would work with or against them on the bodies. I was interested in taking a theatre space and shifting it upon entry to create a different experience for the movers as well as those viewing.
As the work moves into the conclusion of part one. I would slowly turn house lights up to motivate the audience to move toward the seats while simultaneously turning the lights on stage completely dark as the dancers set up for the Part II.
Part II involves the movers transitioning into the beast exercise (see process page) with dawn and dusk being the inspiration for the lighting design. Colors that meld between blue, black, purple and then begin shifting into deep pink and bluer hues represented daily transition. The feeling I would be aiming for is change, growth, and shifting. I aimed to focus lights to come from one side of the theatre using the side lights and slowly moving to the down lights and then back to the adjacent lights which would conclude Part III. I didn't like the affect of the down lights and rather preferred the lights shooting from the sides. I decided I would then have them slowly get darker to almost blackness onstage before the adjacent side would slowly fade up with slightly different hues. This game me an opportunity to see long shadows come from the bodies. They also would have parts of their forms in shadows creating distortion on their forms. As the movers begin to form a more collective experience and creating a more ensemble movement the colors would move to resemble amber and slowly fade into pink, purple, and deep blue hues before the end of the performance.
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The colors are filling the space and hitting the movers. As their bodies would move throughout the space the light would hit and change their features depending on their beast. Hopefully creating an ever shifting form or mood.
I felt I was able to achieve the colors but could not compare to the natural lighting that was actually captured in the Thesis work itself.
Trying to get to the colors of the picture above on capture took a significant amount of trial and error. I got to a place in capture that was more so inspired by the light I originally wanted however kept the darkness feeling I was initially exploring. The focus being more so on the movers and creating different lights to change their appearance and skin tone. Would this change how they would move? It certainly would change how they were viewed as they moved between colors.
-MOVING TO NATURAL LIGHT-
When starting to get closer to the performance I was at the mercy of whatever the day was and the light I was given. I feel I got very lucky on both performances, as the light was more than I could've asked for. In Part 1, the purple that eventually faded created a peaceful-picturesque sense while holding an idyll moment in time. I cannot say I have ever seen the sky have a hue of lavender that created such a serene feeling. It was perfect for it being a specific moment in time; as that reflected the work of my thesis. The little streams of blue hues as the sun got higher in the sky created a feeling of something in the distance. The pastel hues slowly fleeting. More so the light was it's own dancer as the water undulated in the waves and reflected skyward. In Part II, I had another luck of the draw and was fascinated by the light reflecting off the wet sand as the water moved in and out. This created lighting I didn't even think about until after watching the performance. With the clouds taking up much of the frame it was beautiful how the light actually framed me in many moments. I never considered grey and the how the light would be altered because the clouds. All my previous research were on clear days and gave me the original gues I was interested in. After viewing the work I was struck how the small touch of amber lighted created a feeling of warmth, trial, surrender, and reminded me of nostalgia though I believe the clouds did a lot of the work. I didn't consider how quickly the light could change as I was focused on the brief moment of the colors I wanted.
Looking back on this though I adored how it was out of my hands. The serenity a sunrise or sunset has before the colors shift then the beauty that can happen in these brief moments. It was like being a part of a watercolor painting and the lighting having its own performance. Moments shifting and eventually lost. Deciding to start with a sunrise and end with a sunset ultimately created a story with the lights themselves. It carried a beginning though to a peaceful end.
