Week 1 | Erika Clark

Hi everyone! My name is Erika, and I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of this quarter in class with you all!

I took this picture outside on my balcony, because the way that light filtered through the sides of the railing caught my eye. The open webbing creates a repetitive pattern of rectangles that is most in focus next to the railing and gets progressively fuzzier the further from the railing it gets. It also goes at an angle, giving us an idea about what time of day it is. I took this picture in the late afternoon.

I find light patterns like this really interesting, particularly when they are used in plays to help establish a window or some other source of light filtering through a structure. I was in a play once where our lighting designer used a gobo and shutters to establish a window through light which ended up being really important in the final design and staging of the production. Thinking about light patterns like this fascinates me, because there are a lot of different structures that could cause the way light comes in to be altered. The edges of light are interesting to look at, and could be used in realistic ways to establish location or a light source, or it could be used in a stylized way to create a desired effect or feeling for a particular moment.

Stay safe, and I'll see you all in class next week!