​A walk through of my design process using Frankenstein, which received the SETC/David Weiss Regional 1st Place in Lighting Design Award.
My design was based on the premise that what distinguishes Nick Dear's Frankenstein from most adaptations is the presentation of the story through the eyes of the creature, focusing on his experience. If the show is presented through the creature's eyes, the lighting must present everything how the creature experiences it. Which raises the following questions.
How does the creature see the world?
How does the creature view himself?
How does that perception change throughout the story?
What specific moments influence those changes?
How can that perception and those changes be made visually clear?
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Much inspiration was taken from German Expressionist art because, "expressionist artists discovered [that] there is another, second reality of the photographic plate, different from that of the human eye,” and concluded that “expressionism... places the soul above nature.” -- Robert Wiene (1983-1938), German Expressionist director of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).
Two Nude Women in a Wood, Ernst Ludwig, 1909
Sketch of how sidelight will sculpt hand
While exploring nature, without any human judgement or interruption, the creature experiences scenes that highlight an edenic peace. "He’s Adam in the Garden of Eden---an innocent. He listens to the birdsong. He tries to flap his wings. He imitates birdsong. Rain falls. The gentle touch of moisture pleases him. He washes himself in the rain. He dries himself with his cloak." (Scene 10). To illustrate this, I incorporated multicolored sidelight because of its surrounding, blanketing feeling. This established a gentle and accepted extremity, which could serve as an opposite to the manifest of when the creature is most ostisized by a cruel world.
The Wife of Professor Goldstein, Ernst Ludwig, 1916
Rosco Gobo: Saigon Roofs 1
Sidelight floods on booms
End Result, photo: Lynn Guthrie
Testing Texture
End Result, photo: Leah Davis
Uplight within the stage was used to emphasize the unnatural view held of the creature, inspired by art that features shadows cast in an unexpected, unnerving way.
(Poster of Nosferatu 1922)
With these tools established, the Creature's view of self, informed by others, is consistently represented to the audience. Here is a gallery showing that progression of character view
