Lighting is essential to any theater or film production, assisting directors and designers in setting a mood, directing the eyes of the audience and making possible a slew of impressive visual effects.
Undergraduate students learn about lighting techniques through coursework and hands-on production experiences within The University of Toledo’s Department of Theatre and Film. Now two of them have secured new lighting equipment for the department, working with the UToledo Student Green Fund to purchase an energy-efficient alternative to what has long been industry standard.
Senior Brooklynn Russell, left, and junior Mike Budich.
Brooklynn Russell, a senior set to receive her degree in film and video this fall, and Mike Budich, a junior on track to graduate from the same program the following spring, successfully applied for $8,000 to purchase Aputure LS 1200d Pro LED Light Kit and an Elation Professional KL Panel XL IP. Russell and Budich hope the equipment that they introduced this semester will not only benefit film students who will follow in their footsteps in the department, but also will support students across campus looking to promote their organizations with video content.
“This project will help film students long after we have graduated and will assist our professors in teaching more effectively,” Budich said. “This project also has major implications for content production for the University and all its student-run organizations.”
“And since our new equipment is eco-friendly it’s an even greater achievement since it won’t be a detriment to the environment and it’ll require less use of energy,” Russell added.
The UToledo Student Green Fund awards grants for student-proposed and -executed projects that promote sustainability, renewable energy, efficiency and waste reduction as well as educational initiatives such as conferences, workshops, public classes and internships. Established at UToledo in 2013, the fund is supported by a voluntary $5 fee collected from each student each semester.
Russell and Budich’s proposal is one of five funded by the Student Green Fund in the 2023-24 school year, according to Michael Green, director of sustainability and energy efficiency at UToledo.
Another was also initiated by students within the Department of Theatre and Film, in this case to replace incandescent theatrical lights with LEDs in the Studio Theatre of the Center for Performing Arts. This proposal was submitted by students enrolled in Stage Lighting Design with Stephen Sakowski, an associate professor of lighting and sound design, in spring 2022. After manufacturing-related delays, the conversion was realized last semester.
Owen Schassberger, an environmental studies senior, is the president of the Student Green Fund.
“The UToledo Student Green Fund is a great way for students to learn how to implement sustainable projects within their campus community,” he said. “All projects supported by the Student Green Fund are ultimately proposed, evaluated and executed by students. Student Green Fund is among the best mechanisms for students to advance change and improve UToledo.”
Russell and Budich worked with Holly Hey, a professor of film, on their proposal. The new lights update and supplement existing equipment available to film students who are frequently tasked with shooting scenes throughout the course of their studies. While the existing tungsten lights have long been the industry standard, LEDs are now supplanting them based on their energy efficiency, ease of use and relative safety because LEDs don’t run nearly as hot.
Hey and the students hope the new equipment will be the first in a collection of LED lighting instruments needed to outfit a state-of-the-art lighting grid.
“It will be beneficial to the students because when they move into the workforce, these instruments will be more in line with what they’ll encounter,” Hey said. “They’ll get hands-on experience with the latest technology, which is what they’ll need to be successful.”
