Week 2: A Little Lighting Magic

I work in the Entertainment Department for a certain very popular local theme park. While many people in my position claim to have the magic of this place ruined by their experiences backstage, I have found that my experiences have only added to my appreciation for the moments we provide for guests. So much of the magic is preserved through spectacular lighting design, and one experience in particular comes to mind. I recently worked in the new location which involves a certain snow man from a very popular movie. The main attraction of this new location is a large snow play area filled with fluffy, sparkling, white snow. While the guests are in the room playing in the snow, hundreds of lighting instruments are perfectly colored and focused to make the snow look inviting. However, once the park was closed and the last guest had left for the night, the LED's turn off and the horrible fluorescent work lights come on and the snow is revealed to be one of the biggest letdowns I've seen in my backstage explorations. It is brown, dull, and slimy looking, much like you would expect snow that has been trampled on by hundreds of princess dress clad toddlers to look like. I couldn't believe how big a difference the lighting design made in the look of the attraction, it truly is magical.