MediaArtTutorials

W6: Technical Walkthrough Activity — Designing Lighting Cues

Goal: Practice spatial and lighting vocabulary by designing and communicating lighting cues over time, using light as a narrative and expressive tool.

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Group Setup

• Form groups of 4–5 students.
• Each group will choose one prompt from the options provided

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Timing (50 minutes)

• 15 minutes: Group work (choose prompt + design cues + prepare language)
• 35 minutes: Live cue walkthroughs + brief class reflection

Note: Even if your group is not selected to work directly with the technician, you are still expected to complete the full cue design during class time.

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1. Emotional Design Prompts (Choose ONE)

As a group, choose one of the following emotional prompts and design a sequence of lighting cues that expresses the scenario over time.

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Prompt A — Single Emotion, Evolving Over Time

Create a scene that expresses an evolving state of sadness.

The emotional trajectory should move:

• from quiet loneliness within the space
• to heightened loneliness and isolation

The emotion remains the same throughout, but:

• its intensity increases
• the sense of distance, pressure, or exposure changes

Example: Growing Tension

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Prompt B — Mixed Emotions Over Time

Create a scene that begins as a calm and stable environment and moves into a moment of busy excitement, before collapsing into silence.

The emotional trajectory should:

• start with a sense of calm or safety
• become busy, active, or excited
• then fall into silence or emotional emptiness

These emotions may overlap or compete rather than fully replace one another.

Example: Calm that turns up into Threat

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2. Design Your Lighting Cues (Prepare to Communicate)

As a group, translate your chosen emotional prompt into a sequence of lighting cues.

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Cue Design Requirements

• Design 3–5 lighting cues maximum
• Use only the lights introduced in W5
• Do not change:
  • the space
  • the objects
  • the audience configuration (focus on lighting change, not spatial redesign)
• Each cue must introduce a clear change from the previous one

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What to Decide for Each Cue

Use Week 5 Vocabulary and Week 6 Vocabulary

For each cue, make notes (using the vocabulary from class) that clearly define:

• Which light(s) are active
  • front / top / side (low or high) / mirrored / gobo / reflected
• What changes
  • intensity (increase / decrease) – this goes from 100% to 0% and viceversa
  • colour (warm / cool / colour shift)
  • presence (introduce / remove)
  • dominance (which light takes priority)
• How the change happens
  • fade in / fade out – determine the time in seconds
  • snap
  • slow / fast – determine the time in seconds
  • gradual / sudden – determine the time in seconds
• What spatial effect is produced
  • isolate
  • expose
  • compress
  • soften
  • flatten
  • sculpt

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Prepare to Speak to the Technician

You will communicate your cues one group at a time, in order.

When speaking:

• Describe actions, not emotions
• Be clear and concise
• Assume you have limited time

Example:
“Fade in the top light slowly while reducing front light intensity, shifting dominance upward.”

⚠️ You must complete this cue planning even if your group is not selected to work directly with the technician.

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3. Presentation Format

Select 2 students to speak on behalf of the group.

Prepare:

• 1 sentence: What is the emotional trajectory you designed?
• 2–3 lines: Describe the cue sequence (what changes, and how).
• 1–2 lines: What spatial effect emerged, and was it what you expected (why or why not)?

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Credits: Jessica A. Rodríguez

AI Disclosure:
AI Disclosure: ChatGPT was used for editing and clarity only. No original course content was generated using AI.