When you’re retelling a classic, you need to make sure you portray the story and the characters properly, while also making sure that the familiar scenes are lively and stimulating to capture the imagination of an audience. Lighting designer Jordan Green achieved all of that in his design for the United States premiere of of Dzsungel Könyve, a Hungarian musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic The Jungle Book that was produced by Gooseberry Park Players in Moorhead, MN. What we found most compelling was how he accomplished most of the major design elements using only Rosco gels and gobos.
Fire plays an essential role in the story as it signifies the power that Mowgli has, and that Shere Khan fears. Green created a silk fire effect using a mixture of Roscolux filters, including: R21, R321, R27, and R80, which were installed on MR-16’s and aimed at a blowing, fluttering piece of silk. Where there’s fire, there’s smoke, so Green also incorporated a Rosco Fog Machine to really sell the fire effect on stage. In order to project a dynamic fire effect on the actors, he rotated breakup gobos inside Twinspins with split R27/R21 that were installed as footlights. These combined techniques allowed Jordan to create a lifelike flame on set without causing any hazards.
A major component to setting the scene in this production was how Jordan Green lit the cyclorama. For example, Green projected a combination of R77220 Moon and R77570 Sponged Rosco gobos (installed together inside the iris slot) plus Roscolux #3204 Half Blue in the color slot to create a realistic moon upstage of the action. The Sponged gobo added a subtle texture to the moon, while the steely Half Blue helped it pop on the vibrantly colored cyc.
Green also used our Roscolux Cyc Silks to blend together his cyc color washes in the bulk of the scenes. During the pivotal fire scene, however, he employed R21 at the bottom of the cyc to make it appear as if the fire was lighting up the night’s sky.
Rosco fog, gels and gobos are often used on stage to bring productions to life. For this production they helped Jordan Green bring Rudyard Kipling’s classic story to the stage and truly gave life to the story. To see other designs by Jordan Green, visit www.greenlightdesigns.us.
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