Week 10 - Designer's Success and Failure

For the final post I have chosen to do Downtown Disney like almost everyone else in this class. I think the overall feel for Downtown Disney is magical and is why I chose to post this picture. I found this part of Disney either on the way in or the way out (don't remember). I loved this because the soft crayola colors played well with the deep blue and made the "Disneyland" section pop. I think this encompasses the exciting, magical feel as if it is always a celebration happening there. It looks grand and welcoming which is exactly what Downtown Disney is.

I am torn in choosing whether the designers succeeded or failed only because I think they've done both. I think Disney was created to be a magical land where people of all ages could escape to and forget about the "real world". I think they have done so several times with several different restaurants and shops.

I think the biggest success is The Rain Forest Cafe. As soon as you walk up to the building you feel you are in a completely different world sight seeing when really it's just a place eat in. I think the designers have definitely succeeded inside as well as out because as soon as you are inside it literally feels like you are in a rain forest.

The lighting is bright, mysterious and most importantly exotic. There are torches of blazing fire on each side of the entrance as well as different kinds of rain forest animals welcoming you in to the restaurant. There's no place like this except Disney and I think the designers captured that feeling with the lighting of this restaurant.

At the same time I feel they failed at designing other restaurants such as Naples Restaurant and Pizzaria due to the lighting. As we were walking down the strip we almost missed this pizzaria because of the lack of color involved in the lighting. I think the designers intended to create a fun pizza place that could fit in this pretend land but I walked by and only noticed it because I was looking for something bad to blog about. I think the only reason this restaurant is still in Downtown Disney because of the cute little fat pizza baker flying out of the window. It looks to me however like it is just a little shop rather than a delicious place to eat. I think if this restaurant was anywhere else they would get more people because it is lit with fun christmas lights but because it is in Downtown Disney, they fail over and over again due to the competition of the other colorfully lit restaurants around. I honestly think it would make a huge difference in their customer count if they put red colors in their lighting. It would catch eyes of hungry people.

Week 10: Downtown Disney Decor

 So, I went to Downtown Disney as my on site blog assignment. I felt that overall, the lighting design of the outside store fronts and location was very appropriate for the fun mood of the happiest place on earth. The lights were soft and warm, and the designer also utilized different ways of lighting besides just streetlamps. The string lights made the area seem like a fun place to be, more than just a simple shopping center. The lighting was soft and warm, with no crazy angles or colors that might make anyone uncomfortable. Also, the lights in the multicolored tree lights made it seem even more festive and fun for children and adults to walk around and shop in.

The store that did a good job of lighting that I chose was the Lego Store. Although the lighting was a little overly bright for my personal taste, it did a good job of selling the product. The lighting was clean, bright, and almost sharp, much like a Lego is. In addition, they used a lot of primary colored light to appeal to young children that they would want to buy the product. In the above picture, you can see the blue lighting on the dinosaur and the towers, the red lighting on the towers, and the yellow lighting on the sphinx. You can also see the smaller bright lights that were placed all over the store. The smaller, brighter lights helped bring more light to the store, while the bigger, more focused lights projected the colors to make it more attractive to children. I personally am not into Legos, but the store was successful to me in its use of color and atmosphere.

The store that didn't work for me was the merchandise store of the Rainforest Cafe. While the outside looked very promising with its architecture and lighting, the interior was very disappointing as far as atmosphere was concerned.

                                                    

Inside, I felt blasted by the lights, where the exterior was very dim and mysterious. I wanted  a lot more of the dim and mysterious look. While I can understand that they would want to display the merchandise, I think they could have done it in a lot more subtle way. Perhaps making the interior more dim, with more focused lighting rather than a bright wash of the entire area. Also, maybe adding colors, ambers or blues, to make it seem more like a rainforest with a dense canopy... the dissonance between the interior and exterior just didn't work with me.

That being said, it was very difficult for me to find a store where the lighting dissonance was evident. I walked through the whole venue and found a lot of it was very well designed to make people comfortable within the store with the product they wanted to sell. Overall, I give downtown Disney a good grade on lighting to fit the atmosphere and theme of fun to be comfortable for people of all ages.

Downtown Disney

I’m doing my specific blog on Downtown Disney. I visited Downtown Disney for the first time this pasted Friday with a friend on our way home. On first arrive the place was so lively, exciting and colorful. Once inside there was live entertainment with Latin music and dance. It seemed the designers were trying to make Downtown Disney very vibrant, which they succeed in to a certain extent. You can see how color and well lit that this part of Downtown Disney is. But as you continue to walk through Downtown Disney it becomes ever dim and not as lively as the entry way is. In this photo you can see a lot of lamp posts as you continue to walk the lamp posts disappeared and everything seem to be darker and not as lively. The music that was playing help contributed to that part of the Downtown Disney not being as vibrate as the entry of it. The music that was playing had slow tempos that provoke sadness it seemed. This was the opposite type of music that was being play in the entry of downtown Disney the much had very fast tempo to it.

I really did not like the design of the Build-A-Bear. The outside of the build is very dark with big windows that you can see through. Most of the light comes from inside the building. I also do not think is necessity to have a two story building. The inside had to much space and not enough stuff in it. The stairs covered half of the building. As you look at the photo the left side of the building was just a big stairway.




The overall theme of this store is the rain forest. Once you walk into the store trees and leaves hang from the ceiling. The racks that the clothes set on were made of wood and looked like tree branches. The further in you go it becomes to look more like a rain forest. I saw elephant, a waterfall that was located upstairs and gorillas. The store has a whole wall that was an aquarium with real tropical fish in it. They even have sections in the store where there is rain falling. Every idea I saw in this store was a success.

Week 10 - Disney, Imagination, and You

Today, for our last blog entry, I went to Dowtown Disney for a few hours. It was nice for a change, aiming to spend all my time at the shopping area, with no intention of going to the parks. At first, I noticed the area near the shuttle loading, next to the World of Disney store. For the holidays, the trees were all lit up with colored lights. Not Christmas lights exactly, which I liked. They seemed more like little fireworks.

Later, I compared them with actual fireworks. How wonderful is it that fireworks just happen at Disneyland, for no big reason.

At that place, outside the World of Disney, I noticed how dark the actual walking area was. I feel that there are certain areas of Downtown Disney where the visitors are not encouraged to spend much time in. In this initial area, the brightest lights are the gates to Disneyland, the World of Disney, and the vendors. Because of this, as a visitor, I feel somewhat unsafe being in the dark, outside of these intended areas. Then, there are larger areas, which I feel the designers meant to have visitors meander into. The lighted ceilings and wide open well-lit ground seem more visitor friendly, and generally attract larger crowds.

As for shops: first, I noticed the AMC theater. It has always looked pretty cool to me, somewhere between a UFO and an art-deco metallic conversation piece.

With the neons, plus the geometric designs on the outside lights, it seems like most other theaters in that art deco style. However, when I walked inside, the style completely changed.

Inside, the theme did not seem UFO/deco at all, but celestially white, airy, and starry, with ornate columns near the doors. It felt almost Olympian. That's even before seeing the actual constellations on the ceiling. When did this change happen? This was not what I was expecting from the outside, it seems like an entirely different space. To me, this seemed like a failure in communcation between the outside and inside designers.

On the other hand, there is the Lego store. The outside lights are simple, only two downlights every now and then, but are powerful enough to light the whole wall. This simplicity and symmetry just shouts LEGO to me.

Inside, the symmetry wasn't as apparent, but the simplicity manifested itself in a new way. The walls inside are white, like a blank canvas (not like clouds in the AMC theater), which seems fitting for a toy all about creativity. The track lights are not hidden and feature very bold color choices. I think my favorite thing about the lighting in the store is that it does not match. It is ugly. But it works for me. Legos are about trying new things, without any punishment or criticism. So what if there is a red light on the giraffe, next to a yellow structure and a blue skyscraper? This is pure unhindered imagination, the mind of a child, and I think the Lego store succeeded in capturing that theme.

Downtown Disney!

For this blog I went to Downtown Disney and the thing that I love about Disneyland, is that no matter what time of year it is I always get the feeling that it is Christmas time!! Tonight was a very cold, crisp night which helped to add to the Christmas spirit, and as Ashley and I walked through downtown, I was captivated by how bright the streets where simply because of all the Christmas lights that were hung on every tree. The Christmas lights helped to make the streets glow, rather than having a bunch of harsh pools of light coming from street lamps lining the pathways. Walt Disney's original idea for Disneyland was based off of Griffith Park in Los Angeles, because he wanted to create a place where both adults and children could go and enjoy the park together. This idea spilled over into the making of Downtown Disney and I believe that with that idea in mind, they accomplished what they set out to do. There are various gift shops, toy stores and restaurants who all have lighted neon signs over the door, however the presence of the Christmas lights reflecting on the glass windows gives the stores a warmer, magical, more inviting feeling, and it also makes the temperature outside feel warmer because of the memories Christmas lights make me think of.

The first place that I came upon was the Rainforest Cafe, which has always been one of my favorite places to eat in Downtown Disney. I am captivated by the architecture and the way that the restaurant was built. Going off of the name, Rainforest Cafe, the stones with the ancient drawings on the outside, and the trees surrounding the cafe added to the ambiance of the restaurant. The open flame torches on the top as well as the fire inside the building completed the Rainforest feeling. Generally, the lighting is dim which helps to create an intimate feeling. I'm glad that they didn't add any spotlight lighting to the outside of the building to brighten up the name of the cafe. I believe that if they would have added additional sources of light other than the flames from the top of the building, it would have given the outside a superficial feeling. I believed what they were trying to accomplish because even before stepping into the Cafe, this building looks like nothing else in Downtown Disney. Inside the lighting is dark and warm, making it seem as if you are deep in the jungle somewhere. There are no harsh fluorescent lights, and no obscene colors. The low light almost creates a sense of mystery or intrigue, while at the same time, there is enough light so that people can see/enjoy their food! 

The House of Blues was one restaurant/bar that I had trouble believing. From a distance the place looks deserted and plain. The outside looks more like a log cabin, rather than a bar. The real House of Blues clubs are all modeled after a sports bar like feeling, and there are even some country western themed House of Blues, however, I feel like this picture doesn't represent either of those ideas. The neon blue signs are a step in a better direction, however, they are so small they don't really contribute to the lighting of the building, and from a distance they become hard to read. The lighting inside the House of Blues is even darker and uninviting. All of the lights are tinted blue, which gives the space an almost creepy feeling. For a place that is usually known for undiscovered bands to come and play their music, I would have liked to see more "playful" lighting inside, rather than dark and shadowy. I think that they could have used other colors to their advantage besides just blue, and in doing so it would make the place seem more alive and funky. With just a couple source lights from the ceiling the room felt flat and claustrophobic. There is nothing inside that captures my attention and makes me want to come back again.

Week Ten: A Final Post, A Final Palm

On Tuesday afternoon, I drove out to the Spectrum Center to grab a play I needed from Barnes and Noble. It was a nice day out, and I had a ton of reading to do, so I grabbed a coffee and sat outside. Apparently, I became really enthralled with what I was reading, because when I looked up, the sun was setting. I immediately grabbed my camera (which was luckily in my backpack), and shot a few photos. This one was my favorite. The light from the sun is reflecting off the clouds in such a way that they look pink with purple shadows. You can see the white light of the sun trying to peak it's way through at the bottom of the picture, and it shows a nice contrast between the brighter area closer to the sun and the darker area where the light does not quite reach the clouds. The sunlight also gives the clouds a beautiful golden glow. I really like the way the palm trees are backlit, but because of the christmas lights on them, the trunks are still illuminated. To me, this picture is very romantic and peaceful. The mix of cool and warm colors compliments the stark black of the palm trees allowing the clouds to really pop. I almost want to print this picture out and frame it. 

Week Nine - 1950s

I was walking my puppies yesterday afternoon with my sister and brother-in-law in downtown Sonoma and we came across this beautiful Porsche. I think I liked how it looked so much because it was parked perfectly on the sidewalk and the car itself made that whole section of the street look like it was cut out from a movie that was set in the late 50's.

The lighting had a lot to do with the effect because as we walked down the street the reflection off of the car caught my eye. As shown in the picture, the car looked like it was just washed and the sunlight bounced off the car and made it shine causing everything around it to be affected. You can't tell in the picture but the right side of the car (where I'm taking the picture) was the side that was affected. It was parked right beside a little planted tree and a lamp post the was getting shined on from the reflection of the car. I liked how the light was the factor.

Week 9: Front Lighting in Real Life

 

So, I have noticed this before, but it really struck me when I was taking this picture the other night: front light can really be your enemy and wash things out. As I said, I've seen this before when taking other pictures just for fun, but the difference between these two really struck me. We've also gone over this in class, where front light can really wash out your entire composition. But just looking at these two pictures, the second one is so much more interesting and complex. You can see the different parts of light playing in the sculpture, underlighting and highlighting the form. However, in the first picture, the sculpture is flat and washed out. I just thought it was interesting that I've seen this happen before, but never applied it to stage lighting.

Week 9: Water Colors

I went to Vegas a couple weekends ago and saw this amazing light show, and i'm a little sad that this picture doesn't do the show any justice... ha ha but it captures the idea of why i loved this show so much. I loved this picture/show because it made me aware of color and how the eye blends them, as well as how timing in a show can make such a difference. There seemed to be a million cues to create this show, and if one single cue was off, the entire show would be ruined. Yes, i'm sure they probably have some sort of fancy machine that helps them with the "calling" of the show, however, the programming of the colors and angles were supurb. There was a cue for every sound change, lighting  change, or emotional change and the colors never seemed forced. Each color blended into the next seamlessly creating a beautiful spectacle for the eye to feast on.

Week Nine - Home, Sweet (and sticky) Home

So, I went home for the short break, home to San Luis Obispo, California. One of our local landmarks is what is shown here in these images: Bubblegum Alley. A delightful place. As I was walking through, I noticed after I took these pictures that I did not need my flash. This urban alley, the mysterious darkness between buildings, is presented safely for tourists. Notice the streetlights and window angled to illuminate any shadowy areas.

I'm sure that if this were not such a tourist area, this alley would not have been given enough attention to make it safe and well-lit. I do not know if this illumination is on purpose, or if it just happened to happen, but I suppose these are the things that architectural lighting designers must think about. How do you most effectively showcase people's already-chewed gum, while still maintaing that urban feel? I'm not sure, but this seems to work.

Some parts of the wall actually look spotlighted, such as the top corners of the right image. If the entire alley was lit that way, I wouldn't be surprised if this became a popular hangout for beatniks or stand-up comedians, the "spotlight" gives me that kind of feeling.

On another note, I am fascinated with how the streetlights appear, with the cross shaped beams, like in the Transformers movies. It is only a lens thing, but I wonder why our eyes and cameras see things so differently.

Week Nine: Home Sweet Philly

I took these pictures one summer evening while hanging out in a friend's apartment in Philadelphia. I have to say, they make me miss the city. I love the way the white lights glow up on the old architecture of 30th Street Station (creating great shadows!) while the newer LED lights are sprinkled over the PECO building behind it. The street lights paint the concrete an amber color, and capture the romance of the city while giving a warm, calm feeling that juxtaposes the busy cars racing down the highway. I also love how in the second picture, the street lights reflect off of the water of the Delaware River, making everything look like it is floating. These pictures make me think about how much I used to love walking down the sidewalk and getting lost in the bustle of it all.

Week 8: Concert Finale

I went to a concert a couple weekends ago and during the finale they turned all the lights on as they shot confetti into the crowd. In the moment I thought this was the most spectacular sight I had ever seen!! This really made me think about the power of LED lights and how the angle of the lights were affecting the confetti. When I looked at the confetti once it hit the ground all the little pieces were the same color, however when they first were floating around in the air they all looked like they were different colors and they looked like rhinestones rather than paper. The intensity of the lights mixed with some fog and the confetti created this amazing spectacle and I'm really surprised/ excited that I was able to capture the moment on camera!

Week Eight - The Irvine Spectrum

The Irvine Spectrum

The Alhambra

I went to the Irvine Spectrum the evening of Friday, November 18, 2011.  Overrun with high school students, families, and holiday shoppers, the environment was fun, friendly, and warm. The ice rink in the middle of the outdoor mall lit it up with colorful fluorescent lighting, and the sound of top forties pop music played in the distance. The huge Ferris wheel added to the jovial lighting, as the structure changed from one colorful design to the next.  If the Ferris wheel is not enough, there is also a carousel across the way to entertain children of all ages. The Spectrum is lit as a carnival of sorts, with white string lights leading shoppers down rows of stores and restaurants.

According to the company’s website, “Irvine Spectrum Center was inspired by the world famous Alhambra, the 13th century citadel that overlooks the city of Granada, Spain. The historic palace is comprised of buildings connected by magnificent courtyards, which feature an exotic blend of classic architecture with a colorful overlay of Spanish details such as tile mosaics and elaborate carvings.” After looking up a few pictures of the Alhambra, I can understand where this influence came into play when considering the white string lights hung over the corridors and around the palm trees. It also has a warm, colorful feel to it, similar to what can be seen in a European square. However, in combination with the light from the ice rink and the amusement park rides, I thought the designers were aiming for more of a carnival feel.

Anthropologie

The first shop I chose to go into is one of my all-time favorite stores, Anthropologie. The overall theme of the store is shabby-chic and bohemian with a sophisticated twist. It always reminds me of an old, warm and comfy farmhouse. All of Anthropologie’s clothes are always very soft and comfortable. They are often very whimsical looking, and harken back to a more rural, country feel. The lighting in the store had a warm tint to it, and was made up of an array of instruments, from hanging lamps to focused bulbs. For the most part, the displays were brighter than the walkways to accent the things they were trying to sell. I noticed that sections of the store were slightly more shadowy, giving the displays a little bit of dimension.

The second shop I went into was Old Navy.  While I generally like their clothing, the store always makes me feel like I’m walking into a warehouse. The lighting is very stark, and is from long, white florescent tube lights that hang above the clothes. While the store is very well lit (no shadows here!) it makes the clothing look flat and one-dimensional. I suppose this lighting goes along with their obviously fake white mannequins, but I don’t think it makes the clothing look very pleasing. Oddly enough, I found that a thin sweater at Anthropologie somehow looks warmer than a thick fleece at Old Navy. If the store is going for a cold, plastic warehouse feel, they are successful. However, I’m not sure that makes me want to buy clothes. 

Week 8 - Natural Backlight

Didn't have a lot of time this week to explore lights, but I found this image from Halloween a few years ago. I've always liked the brightness of the sunrise in the background. Despite the flash of the camera (which, like flat fronts, washes out the body and face), the background still is a vibrant yellow/pink. This reminds me of our super-cyc in class, which we are still suprised at it's own brightness. I think that, even if the flat front/camera flash color were different, saturate or tinted, the cyc/sunset would remain the same. Likewise, the color of the cyc has no significant effect on the main acting area, unless you are creating a silhouette effect. The tree next to my hand is washed out by the light a lot more than the tree in the background, so that's something to apply to stage lighting. For those who are wondering, it is a costume of Flynn Rider from Disney's Tangled.