MediaArtTutorials

W6 — Lighting as Temporal Transformation

Objective

You will build on your W5 scene by designing and animating moving lights, exploring how lighting cues over time reshape space, attention, and emotional trajectory.

This activity focuses on how changes in lighting position, intensity, colour, and dominance, combined with camera movement, transform the experience of a space without changing the objects, audience placement, or stage layout.

Tutorial time may be used to begin or complete this activity depending on your tutorial day. Some work is expected outside of class.

Materials Required

Computer (laptop or desktop)
Blender (free software)
👉 Download: https://www.blender.org/download/
Computer mouse (recommended)
Your Week 5 Blender file (.blend)
Paper + pen (preferred) or digital drawing tool

Activities

Complete the following in order. Ask your professor or TA for help as needed.

[15 min] Lighting Intentions — Start Here

Select one of the two following approaches (A or B) and write a lighting intention.

Lighting Intention 🅰️ — Single Emotion, Evolving Over Time

Write 3–4 sentences describing how a single emotional state evolves through lighting changes.

Your description must:

focus on change over time, not a static look
include 3–5 distinct cues or transitions
describe how lighting intensity, colour, dominance, and spatial effect shift

Lighting Intention 🅱️ — Mixed Emotions Over Time

Write 3–4 sentences describing how multiple emotions coexist or compete through lighting changes.

Your description must:

describe how different emotional forces overlap or shift dominance
include 3–5 distinct cues or transitions
focus on contrast, tension, or collapse rather than smooth progression

[20 min] 2D Lighting Map

Using your Week 5 scene layout, create a lighting map, representing the selected prompt (from the previous step):

Lighting Map A: Single Emotion, Evolving Over Time
OR
Lighting Map B: Mixed Emotions Over Time

⚠️ You must not change object placement, stage position, audience placement, or entrances.
You are only designing lighting changes over time.

Each lighting map must include:

a Top View
a Side View
a Front View

Hand-drawn (preferred) or digital.

Example

You are not copying the example — you are using it as a reference for how to clearly communicate lighting decisions and cue logic.

⚠️ Your drawing skill is not graded.
You are graded on clarity of lighting logic, use of vocabulary, and ability to communicate cues clearly.

Lighting Map Requirements

You are required to use the vocabulary from

Because you will be using multiple lights on each map, you must:

indicate the range or spread of each light (cone, area, or wash)
use a different colour to represent each light’s range (see examples above)

For each light shown in the map, clearly indicate:

Type of light
(front, side, top, mirrored front, gobo, reflected)
Position
(where the light is placed in relation to the stage)
Colour
(red, blue, light green, bright pink, etc, or use Hexadecimal -hex)

[10 min] Cue Instructions (Written for a Technician)

Write a short cue list written as if you were giving instructions to a lighting technician.

Include 3–5 cues maximum
Write cues in order
Describe changes, not emotions
Use vocabulary from class (fade, snap, increase/decrease intensity, introduce/remove, shift dominance, etc.)
Include:
- Type of light (front, side, top, mirrored front, gobo, reflected)
- Colour (red, blue, light green, bright pink, etc, or use Hexadecimal-hex)
- Intensity (low / mid / high, or 0% to 100%)
- What the light affects (objects, stage area, audience, background)

Example — Lighting Intention + Cue Sequence (Excerpt)

You are not copying the example — you are using it as a reference for how to clearly communicate lighting cues.

Lighting Intention:
This lighting sequence builds tension through gradual changes in front light intensity, colour, and range, followed by the introduction of a secondary light that increases contrast and sharpens shadows. The cues below represent the first three cues of a longer lighting sequence.

Cue 1
Fade in a front 0° light slowly at low intensity, starting with a wide range covering around half of the stage. Gradually shift colour from light violet (#E1DEFF) to a light, low-saturated pink (#FFCEE2), lighting the centre stage and main objects.

Cue 2
Gradually increase the range slightly of the front 0°. Increase colour saturation to a mid-saturated pink (#FFA1A8), keeping intensity low.

Cue 3
Increase the range of the front 0° light while shifting colour to bright red (#FF1D00) at mid intensity. Fade in a secondary front light in bright green at mid intensity, with a narrower range focused around the main objects, creating strong contrast and hard shadows.

[40 min] Lighting in Blender

Required Organization

Each Blender file must be organized using three collections:

Geometry / Shapes
Cameras
Lights

Organization Rules

Do not move, modify, or rename geometry from W5
Place all new lights in the Lights collection
Rename lights clearly (e.g., Front_Light, Top_Light)
Correct naming protocol: do not leave spaces between words; use _ instead

⚠️ Important: Each Blender file will be checked for proper organization.

Lighting in Blender — Applying Your Cues

Using your 2D lighting maps and written cue list, apply your planned lighting changes in Blender.

You must follow your cues in order, translating each one into animated lighting changes.

Animate the properties defined in your cues, including:
- colour
- intensity (power / exposure)
- radius / size
- influence and beam shape (angle & blend)
Each lighting cue should occur approximately every 60–120 frames
Total animation length must be no longer than 25 seconds
- This corresponds to a maximum of 300 frames
- ⚠️ Do not exceed 25 seconds / 300 frames
Keep animations concise to avoid long render times on slower computers
❌ Do not animate light position or rotation
Materials: You may follow the image-tutorial below to adjust the colour of the venue

❌ Do not use additional materials or textures

Tutorials

❗ Review this week’s slides for practical tips on animating lights, camera, and render video files in Blender.

BLENDER TUTORIAL : How to Animate LIGHTS (QUICK)

[20 min] Animate the Camera + Render Video and Image in Blender

Animate the camera to introduce intentional movement that supports your lighting cues.

You must apply:

One continuous camera movement across the sequence
OR
One camera movement per lighting cue, aligned with your cue changes (as shown in the example above)

Camera movement should be subtle and purposeful, reinforcing shifts in attention, hierarchy, or spatial pressure rather than distracting from the lighting.

Follow this tutorial on
Camera Animation Basics

❗ Review this week’s slides for practical tips on animating lights, camera, and render video files in Blender.

Focus only on basic camera movement (position and/or rotation).
Do not add complex paths or effects.

Video Rendering Requirements

Render one short video per lighting version
Each video must:
- show the full lighting cue sequence
- include the camera movement
- remain within the 25-second / 300-frame limit
Videos must be renders, not viewport screen recordings

➡️ Export as MP4, codec H.264
📄 Filename: Lastname-Firstname-W6-Lighting.mp4

How to Export Video in Blender: MP4 Video Format

❗ Review this week’s slides for practical tips on animating lights, camera, and render video files in Blender.

Image Rendering Requirements

For each cue, you must render one image that visualizes that moment and include it in your cue list.

Follow the image tutorial below to learn how to render specific frames:

Example — Cue Sequence with Visual Examples (Excerpt)

You are not copying the example — you are using it as a reference for how to combine your cue instructions with the rendered frames.

Cue 1
Fade in a front 0° light slowly at low intensity, starting with a wide range covering around half of the stage. Gradually shift colour from light violet (#E1DEFF) to a light, low-saturated pink (#FFCEE2), lighting the centre stage and main objects.

Cue 2
Gradually increase the range slightly of the front 0°. Increase colour saturation to a mid-saturated pink (#FFA1A8), keeping intensity low.

Cue 3
Increase the range of the front 0° light while shifting colour to bright red (#FF1D00) at mid intensity. Fade in a secondary front light in bright green at mid intensity, with a narrower range focused around the main objects, creating strong contrast and hard shadows.

Submission Documents

Create a single PDF:

3–4 sentence lighting intention description
2D Lighting Map
- Top view, side view, and front view
- Colour-coded lights with range indicated
Cue list
- 3–5 cues, written in order as clear, technician-style instructions, using class vocabulary
- One rendered image per cue, showing the exact frame where the cue occurs

➡️ Export as PDF
📄 Filename: Lastname-Firstname-W6-Tutorial.pdf

Component	File Name
Project document (PDF)	`Lastname-Firstname-W6-Tutorial.pdf`
Blender file	`Lastname-Firstname-W6-Lighting.blend`
Video file	`Lastname-Firstname-W6-Lighting.mp4`

⚠️ Follow submission protocols carefully. Incorrect submissions may result in lost points.

Assessment

This Week 6 activity is graded with higher expectations than previous weeks, as you are now expected to design and execute lighting cues over time with clear planning, accurate vocabulary, and controlled animation.

Your work will be assessed based on:

Lighting intention + cue clarity
Your 3–4 sentence intention clearly describes a temporal lighting trajectory (3–5 cues) using appropriate vocabulary (timing, change, dominance, spatial effect).
2D lighting map communication
Your map clearly communicates lighting logic across top, side, and front views, including colour-coded light ranges/spreads and accurate labels for type of light, position, and colour.
Technician-style cue instructions
Your cue list is written in order and describes actions and changes (not emotions), including: type of light, colour (name or hex), intensity (low/mid/high), timing language (fade/snap, slow/fast, gradual/sudden), and what the light affects (objects/stage/audience/background).
Blender workflow and organization
Your Blender file is properly organized into Geometry / Cameras / Lights collections, uses correct naming conventions (with _), and follows constraints (no object/layout changes, no extra textures/materials, no animating light position/rotation).
Animation timing + technical execution
Lighting changes are keyframed clearly and follow cue pacing (approximately every 60–120 frames) within the 25-second / 300-frame limit, demonstrating control of intensity, colour, range/beam, and dominance.