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Lighting In West Side Story

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West Side Story is a musical modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This story was originally converted for use on stage by Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins and was first shown on stage in 1957. It is set in New York City's Upper West Side in the 1950s. The musical focuses on the rivalry between two gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. These two gangs are the Jets, consisting of only white American men and women, and the Sharks from Puerto Rico. These themes relate to Romeo and Juliet with the Jets being the Montagues, who possessed territory of the Upper West Side streets, and the Sharks being the Capulets, who were trying to gain control and power as they recently moved to New York. Tony (Jonathan Roxmouth) is the …show more content…

The lighting design in this version of West Side Story was produced by Joshua Cutts. High-key lighting is used during fight scenes by having a strong bright light on the characters creating an idea of tension between the two gangs on stage and also in the dancing scenes by panning over the audience to create anxiety and uncertain hesitance between Tony and Maria on stage. Low-key lighting is used in the beginning scene while the Jets are intimidating a member of the Sharks creating a threatening mood; it is also used when Maria and Tony discuss running away together and their future plans creating a romantic mood. Lighting is used to alter the plain grey panels containing the stage into a lively and active dance hall. Spotlights were used to single out individuals on stage as to show they were more important than the characters around and behind them. In one of the more romantic scenes in the performance, multiple strings of fairy lights descended from the ceiling one after the other. This created a very romantic mood, as the scene conveyed, and, due to their brightness, added to the audience's interest and attention. The fairy lights were the only evidence of coloured lighting, the lights being yellow, which gives the scene a mellow and natural feel. There was a drug store sign and some of the lights did not work because they

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The lighting crew, for the production of A Charlie Brown Christmas, set everything together so people to know what to look at on stage. Using different lighting tools to create stars, snow, and mood. Another use of lighting was making the spear that was hanging up in the sky change. When it was orange it was daytime, when it was blue it was night, and black means they were inside. The color change really helps the audiences know

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Aside from that, the setting of each film will be provided, as well as the characters, its synopsis, and the ending or outcome of the same. The West Side Story Chapman believes that this film is a classic tale of Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet in the 1950s. Setting The location of the story 's action is set on the west side of New York City (Huggo). Characters

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William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Arthur Laurent’s West Side Story were both tragic, romantic, works. West Side Story was a close variation of the play Romeo and Juliet, but the author of West Side Story changed characteristics of Tony to differ from his Romeo and Juliet equivalent, Romeo. Tony became more of an introverted, optimistic, and innocent character. On the other hand, Romeo was outgoing, seemingly bipolar, and violent. These changes in character between Tony and Romeo altered the themes from societal expectations, fate over free will, and complicated families to societal expectations in the 1950’s, inevitability of fate, and gang rivalry due to racism.

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Lighting is used rather traditionally for the majority of the movie and helps to distinguish the “good” from the “bad”. For instance, the original Maria is shown in soft-key, angelic lighting that casts a halo around her to emphasize her purity and beauty. The fake Maria, on the other hand, is shot in harsh lighting that creates a dark, unsettling vignette around her. This lighting style creates a contrast between protagonists and antagonists and is used frequently in Hollywood cinema.

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When he walks in, there’s an overwhelming brightness in the church, symbolising his escape from the darkness and finding his light. Hundreds of lit candles surround Juliet, showing her innocence and bright spirit. When the scene closes, the candles come together as an overhead shot is used and makes them seem like stars around Romeo and Juliet. In the Great Gatsby the lights in the mansion are not all on, only a few are left on to signify the death of Gatsby and the light of his life diminishing. The ocean is brighter and has lighter cast on it than the mansion.

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