The Final Lighting of my Set ended up being a way to show the journey through the spaces in the Temple, as well as a way to represent the journey of Cal Kestis as a character.
Analysis
1. As Cal Kestis is making his journey to the Temple Entrance, everything outside is dusty and it’s not very clear. The sun is very bright and lighting up the main doors – Cal doesn’t know where he is, he’s trying to find his way, he feels lost, the light might be showing him the way
2. Cal opens the doors and the light pours into the temple, it highlights how broken and old the temple is, but it’s beautiful. The light is bright and hopeful, but as the doors close, the temple is cold and in complete darkness – He feels hope at seeing how something so old and broken can look complete, but his hope is lost again as everything goes to darkness, like everything always has
3. Cal uses his lightsaber to light his path. The lightsaber is blue, this colour is associated with feelings of calmness, trust and promotes healing – Only he can guide his way and find the force
4. As he reaches the end of the walkway, there is a faint red hue this is ironic as Red is associated with the Dark Side in Star Wars – Cal feels slight fear that he’s approaching danger or questions whether he’s going to the dark side. The calming blue contrasts slightly with the red
5. Cal reaches the Meditation Platform at the end of the path, he places his hand on the stone and tries to reconnect with the force, everything is dark again – Cal is back in darkness
6. The platform begins to light up with ancient Jedi runes glowing on the floor, as the light gradually circulates towards Cal – Blue calming light going towards Cal signifies the relief and calm he will feel
7. He seems to absorb the light and the room is flooded with warm, clear sunlight revealing the whole temple and the crystal caves surrounding the Meditation Platform – Cal feels at enlightened and at peace
Design Development – Crait and Courtyard Lighting
The lighting for the set is what makes it come alive and is a major plot point in the story.
As I was exploring the idea of a journey through three different spaces, as well as the journey of the character, the lighting was a good way to show this.
From my early storyboards I had an idea of the kind of lighting I wanted to use. I wanted very sombre and eerie lighting, something heavenly to create an other worldly appearance.
One of my first and main sources of inspiration was the lighting featured in the Tate during Olafur Eliassons weather project. The project took place at the Tate Modern, in the Turbine Hall. The hall was filled with 200 low-sodium mono-frequency lamps (used in street lamps) and mist, as Eliassons way of trying to replicate the sun.
After seeing this exhibition, I knew I wanted to recreate these kind of visuals in my set. It also reminded me of the scene in Blade Runner 2049. That too had amazing visuals and produced a surreal and eerie feeling. When watching the scene I feel so immersed and quite tense, because you can barely see from all of the orange dust.
Combining the dusty orange scene, with a blacked out silhouette and creepy broken statues creates a sense of calm suspense. This was definitely something I wanted to recreate in my set.
Design Development – Temple Doors Close
For this scene I wanted it to feel quite slow. I wanted Cal and the audience to feel as if they were safe and submerged in warmth, but it was slowly being taken away from them and they’re left in darkness. A scene that I referenced often was the scene of the third task in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As Harry goes into the maze, he takes one last look back at Dumbledore and Mad-eye, before the maze closes and he’s left in darkness and silence. In terms of my story, Cal is walking into an unknown place, he’s leaving behind the outside world, and his lost old self.
This scene from Game of Thrones was also helpful. Even though this scene shows Daenerys leaving the room and shutting the doors herself, the way the doors close and the lights disappear is similar to what I’d like to do. This scene was good in referencing how light fills a room from a small gap, and how it dissipates as the gap is closed.
Design Development – Lightsaber light
Using Lightsabers as a major Light source in Star Wars is often used for iconic and memorable scenes. The Lightsaber as an object has a lot of significance in the world of Star Wars, especially the different colours. A Lightsaber is an item that identifies a Jedi, whereas a Red Lightsaber identifies a Sith Lord. Due to this, it seemed obvious that I should have a Lightsaber somewhere within my set, and to use it in the same iconic ways shown in the examples below.
Design Development – Meditation Platform Runes
As I was using the Meditation platforms from Jedi Fallen Order, I didn’t want to sway from the design too much. The main idea behind this part of the lighting was to create a gradual fill of Florescent light. I wanted it to create an ambient other worldly feeling and look as if it had a life on its own.
Design Development – Temple lights up
It was important to me that the final Lighting of the set was something breath-taking and enlightening. This was probably the hardest part to work out, as it took me a while to envision exactly what I wanted, and I wasn’t sure how to describe it either. The way I figured it out was looking at references that seemed to reflect some kind of sigh of relief, or exhale that would give life to the Temple.