Week 10: Passion-Faaizah Saiduddin

Ever since I started running, I discovered a new passion for exploring new places and relying simply on my sense of direction instead of my GPS to navigate through new places. Because it was Week 10 finals this week, I needed a way to destress before starting my studying for the day. I waited about an hour before sundown to go running so I could capture the beautifully vivid sunset. It had been raining throughout the week so the sky for the most part was still filled with rain clouds. However, just below the weight of the clouds, I could see the bright orange, passionate sunset. It peaked through the heavy clouds and seemed to brighten up the entire sky despite it being so dreary beforehand from the rain. The imagery was the perfect thing I needed to motivate myself before returning home and continuing to study.

Week 10 [Passion] - Bella Keegan

Earlier this quarter I confessed my adoration of all things concerning the circus. If I'm being honest, I spend most of my free time training aerial silks because it is one of the few things that makes me truly happy. In a way, the circus is one of my absolute passions. Being up in the air I feel freer than I have ever felt on the ground, on the stage, or within a classroom learning. Throughout the quarter, I've been thinking of different ways to light circus performances. How do you light something so similar to dance but deal with the fact it happens in the consuming void of the air? Below is a video of me training in a studio that had blacklight lighting, which despite being poorly captured on video, made me realize that for things such as the circus arts and dance, the form of the body is the most important. Physical arts such as dancing rely so heavily on the body to tell the story and it was through the video below and its duotone from the lights that made me also realize that simple things can be just as beautiful, if not more so, than things that are overcomplicated. Although the face can be used to tell a story in dance, the body does most of the heavy lifting. I also recently saw a newly produced musical called Cages in LA this week, and while I would argue that this piece was not technically theatre, they did a lot of story telling through silhouettes and body language. Although a face can be important, what can truly make the difference in a scene of any kind is the body and the negative space it creates. I have always immensely enjoyed silhouettes within lighting and photography, and I think my adoration for that is that while it may be considered simplistic, it truly enhances what you are trying to look at and minimizes what you do not need to see. Lighting's ability to help guide the audience to what we want to see while also creating beautiful imagery are two of the main reasons why I have come to really enjoy it and am so enraptured by the story telling elements in can enhance and also create on its own.

Week 10: Passion (Summer)

My ultimate passion is beautiful days, having as many of them as possible. A cloudy sky breaking through beautiful fall leaves is my description of a beautiful day. The colors of fall are the strongest and most complementary color palettes in my opinion. The warm colors blend beautifully with a cold, chill climate and sky. There is no visible sun on this day but the source of warmth behind the clouds still illuminates, just with a beautiful texture. I find myself drawn to lighting of this color palette and that emotes this feeling. Maybe I just find beauty  in cold and unwelcoming space or lights. Or perhaps I just struggle with creating and finding the uncomfortable. I would love to try and recreate these colors and the feeling of this day through lighting.

Week 10 Passion (Lyndsey Robertson)

This week I dropped my sister off at one of her friend's quinceaneras and was able to snag this photo of the venue. While the venue as a whole was lit for more of a 'party' feel, this particular portion of the lighting gave the feeling of passion. The color tone was very rich and while it was in the cool tone range it was still very lively. Just as well, with the lights primarily being angled up towards the walls rather than being hung from above it made the general space very dark and somewhat mysterious as you could not see who was who from a distance. With this combination of lighting choices and the enclosed nature of the space, there appeared to be a deep, emotional vibe as people were forced to mingle close together to distinguish their friends amongst the guests.

Week 10: Passion (Kayo)

I had hard time to take picture that relates "Passion" this week, and I took just one photo. It seems not to express "passion," but I was impressive when I catch sight of a puddle that reflects the sky and trees even though most of the people may not noticed this puddle at all. It was beautiful and I was grad to find this. It makes me happy during the rainy day. I think this photo shows my sense and creativity because I think to take a photo reflects my sense. I was thinking about my passion, and I really love to take a  photo when I find a beautiful and amazing view or thing. And I feel that it connects with my passion. Not only I like to take a photo but also I always get inspirations or ideas from something I think that is beautiful or impressive when I create or do lighting design for art movement program. The ideas came from arts, views that I find in daily life, or when I play with lights. I always want to do something different and beautiful, and I think it is important that I have my own vision that is different from others.

Week 10: Passion [Sierra C.]

For this week's theme of passion, I took inspiration from my grandma's overt love and passion for all things Christmas. Out of all the holidays that warrant decor, Christmas is the only one that she bothers with and goes all out for. Every year, her house explodes with ornaments, Christmas villages and endless lights and there's always something new to look at in the yard each year I go home.

This year, she was decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving even rolled around and part of what I believe makes her so passionate about decorating inside and out, is that these lights create such great memories for the family. For as long as I can remember, she's always gone above and beyond in bringing the joy of Christmas time to the family and in creating that special atmosphere for all of us. As much as we joke about how much she adds to it each year and the obnoxious nature of her house being visible from down the street, it's something my siblings and I look forward to every year.

I think part of it also stems from her passion of being so involved in her faith and Christmas meaning so much more to her than any other holiday. It brings joy not only to her kids and grand-kids, but I can see how happy it makes her to have such festive decorations that remind everyone of just how important the holiday is for her.

What I love the most about these lights and decorations is that not only are they festive and cute, but the vibrancy and colors reflect the joy and warmth that they bring to everyone each year. Even the non-colored white lights are warm and inviting and there's very few light fixtures with cooler colors or temperature. Her yard is bright, happy and walking through the Candy Cane lane she created turns walking inside for family dinner into a festive experience for the entire month of December.

Week 10- Passion- Chloe King

When I think of passion I think of something that can create love and happiness, and something that can hurt. The flames are hottest when they produce blue light, it is easy to forget how much something we use every day can still scorch us. I associate cooking with family, love, conversation and good times. I associate flames from the stove with bad coffee and conversation while camping in the morning. These flames from my stove produce so many good things in life, are an intrinsic part of my day, and yet, I've seen houses destroyed from stove fires.

Week 9: Piano (Jialai)

There is always no lighting or scenic design in a piano concert that the audience simply sees the pianist and the piano on stage. I thought it is the visibility issue that lighting may interfere with the pianist reading the score and playing, but I noticed that there are a lot you can do with lighting with piano. In this picture, the lighting created a small rainbow on the side, which separates the piano into one dark and one bright side. I think this kind of design can be used to create more shadow or texture on the piano that corresponding to the music piece with enough visibility.