Kendyl Johnson - Lighting Design
Boise State University
Thesis Project: A Charlie Brown Christmas
For my Senior Project, I decided I would create this website portfolio and include a section dedicated to my Charlie Brown Christmas experience and my improvements!
The Stages
Click the images for more info!
Stage One
Stage Two
Stage Three
Research & Analysis
of the Production
Initial Brainstorming
Plot Trials & Final Plot
Stage Four
Focus & Tech
Stage Five
Opening Night - Closing Night!
Stage Six
Improvements
Stage One
Research & Analysis
of the Production
After receiving the opportunity to design for this show I read through the script once, no design brain going. Then I went back and read it again, noting all the areas that I thought were shining through the pages. Then I went through again and noted scene shifts and blocking. Off to the side I started doodling ideas of potential designs.
Things to note:​
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Commercialism and overconsumption
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The symbolism of Charlie's Tree
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Sincerity & Community
Stage Two
Initial Brainstorming
When I was initially brainstorming, I needed to keep in mind the large themes/ideas I had observed in my analysis phase. I knew this was a show that already had great ticket sales and most families have prior knowledge of what this story is about. I knew this was a family focused show so I started to brainstorm off of that and I created a mood board.
The things I wanted to include:
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Isolation and more individualised moments
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Nostalgic Holiday Specials
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2-Dimensional Depth
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Color!
Stage Three
Plot Trials & Final Plot
Now that I have discussed with the design team it's onto plotting! I'm more confident in my hand drafting skills than program drafting so I decided to take a go at hand drafting and it was so much fun. I love the little template and having to figure out you pools of light. This is the most satisfying step for me in the early stages of design work.
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To help with some trial and error of placements, I used my iPad as a way to draw on top of the plot to see where everything was going to be focused so I could see where the gaps were. Once placements where set, I started on adding my gels and templates. I knew I wanted heavy depth in color so I was excited to see how my gel choices would pan out at focus!​
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Stage Four
Focus & Tech
Focus went amazing! I got a lot of compliments on my ability to create a positive environment and kept spirits high, I was excited! Seeing how my plot came to life came with its ups and downs though. The main focus issue I was having was the difference of lighting the floor vs when there are actors on stage. I had the floors lit and pooled nicely but once an actor stepped onstage, they were not as equally lit. I worked along side my mentor, Jacob WP Ramey who helped to note these things I should be paying attention to, and we were able to find solutions.
My gels were almost all perfect expect one that was just not the color I had thought at all. It was almost funny seeing how I thought the color was a nice blue but it was green in practice. I had to make some minor edits here and there but my plot seemed to be working!
Tech had its fair share of bright moments too! I had a student programmer working with me so I was having a very hard time telling and not doing but it taught me a really great lesson. I think learning when to step back was something very important that I gained in this process, especially as a designer because it allowed me to solely focus on what was out on stage, not was typed into the board.
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The one main issue that kept on popping up was blocking. Since I did focus based off sections/pools of light and wanting to keep things isolated, I had didn't have a lot of wiggle room for the chance that major blocks would change. There were times that I needed to compromise my moving lights in order to fix a scene, or I would refocus my static fixtures which would then sometimes compromise a cue.
All in all I only had a couple issues to deal with and I was able to figure it out! The directors stated that my design was vibrant, inviting, magical, all the aspects that I had wanted to hit in my initial analysis are showing through. Now with all my work done, I can enjoy the completed show!
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My tech drink of choice that kept me going - I miss you Poppi Cranberry Fizz come back!
Stage Five
Opening Night - Closing Night!
The show was sold out for the entire run, even before opening! I was so excited to see how everyone would react but seeing as BSU puts this production on every year, I was also nervous since people are coming in with preconceived ideas. But I shouldn't have worried about that at all, everyone loved the show!
Everything went according to plan until one of my very important movers decided to blow its' bulb. A travesty to read in the performance report seeing as it happened more than once on a performance night. Thankfully our department ME, Paul Miller, was able to figure out a fix and hung/focused static lights to take place of the mover and everything was back up and running!
So much laughterful, wonder, and holiday cheer was in this black box theater and I was just so grateful to be apart of it.
Now that the production is over, I want to look back on the things I can improve. There were many learning moments in this production but the key things I want to improve are:
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magic sheet
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channel hookup sheet
Stage Six
Improvements!
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It was super fun updating and improving my channel hookups! I had to do some troubleshooting as my computer was having a lot of difficulties with Lightwright. But my finished product is something that I can confidently say is much more detailed and easier to decipher.​
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I cross referenced my old channel hookup sheet to my updated vectorworks plot and made my edits from there. It is super helpful for me to see the actual colors/ templates so I made sure to add those images onto my hookup sheet as well.
New
Old
My magic sheet went hand in hand with my channel hook up, I'd say even a better improvement from my prior magic sheet.
Magic sheets are tricky for me to create as I prioritize making sure I understand my fixture spacing rather than trying to get it onto one side of a page. But when I was working in Canva, the program I used to created my improved sheet, I was able to make it super organized and I had room for gel colors which is something that is very crucial for me visualizing my plot. ​
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Old
New
I think I did a really great job in my improvements! I was able to create better sections and this magic sheet is incredibly more legible than my prior one. I will definitely be using this style of organization in the future!
And that's a wrap! I had such an amazing time working on this production and working on these improvements. I feel as thought I have come out of this project leaps more knowledgable and more confident in my abilities as a designer and in my paperwork. I am so excited to go out there and design!
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I want to thank the entire Theatre Department at BSU TFCW, every single one of you has helped me become more confident in my abilities and have led me with with encouragement to get to where I am today. Raquel Davis, Paul Miller, and Jacob WP Ramey I would like to thank you guys especially, the lighting crew of champions, you guys have time and time again provided me with so much knowledge, advice, and inspiration to go out there into the world and go for it. Well....here I go!