The Aliens
by Annie Baker
Lighting Designer
University of Northern Iowa, fall 2017
The design team set out to depict these characters and their story as faithfully as possible. We weren't after a comment about quality or right vs wrong. This meant a very realistic manifestation of their world through the set, lighting, and sound.
For lighting, I created an environment that could shift with the mood and needs of the story while still maintaining the realistic quality. As the tone shifted unpleasant, a wave of clouds 'passed in front of the sun' to bring the amber sunlight into a more diffused, cooler tone of an overcast day. The last scene of act one featured a sunset where text on a page could still be read in the light of dusk only to slowly transition into a darkness suitable for fireworks.
In collaboration with the sound designer, we also worked to create a fireworks show that aligned the lights and sound with each other. The start of the cues/effects were triggered by the lighting console and ran in sync together thanks to a living document that listed all the timings of our cues.
. . .
Director: Richard Glockner
Lighting: Megan Coffel
Costumes: Amy Rhorberg
Scenic: Ron Koinzan
Sound: Sky Bradley
Photos: Roland Ferrie