Within my performance, I knew that it was important to feature a mixture of different lighting states in order to encapsulate the tone of my performance. Therefore, whilst making decisions on the technical features of my piece, I chose various lighting states in order to enhance specific sections of my show.

For example, I used a variety of different coloured lights within my piece. One of the most significant colours that I used was purple in order to emulate sections which were based on my memories. Therefore, it also came to represent my journey back in time to my teenage years, especially within the movement sequence at the start of the piece. I made the decision to use purple lighting to this effect as when I was younger, purple was one of my favourite colours and it was also the colour of my bedroom whilst I was a teenager. In my bedroom, the purple walls were covered in posters of heavy metal artists that I collected from music magazines such as Kerrang! and Metal Hammer. Moreover, this lighting state also came to represent safety and comfort within Rock Chick  as when I was younger, my poster-covered bedroom provided me with a sanctuary where I could hide and enjoy the music I loved.

In addition, within the presentation section of my piece, I decided to associate certain pictures of artists with particular lighting colours in order to highlight the differences in each band’s artistic style. For example, whilst the picture of Children of Bodom was being projected, I decided to use a putrid, neon green wash to compliment it. This is because when the frontman of the band, Alexi Laiho, launched his own range of guitars, one of them was black and green. In addition, Children of Bodom’s album cover for the 2005 album Are You Dead Yet? featured photographs with a dirty green hue, making the pictures look grimy and disturbing. Therefore, I felt as if this was an appropriate colour for the band as my performance also used a song from this particular album.

Likewise, within the concert section of my piece, I decided to use a combination of strobe lighting and multi-coloured flashing lights in order to encapsulate a sense of theatricality and the excitement which I felt at the concert. For a while, I was reluctant to use strobes within my piece, but during my technical rehearsal, I realised that they would be the most effective option in terms of capturing the care-free, aggressive tone of the music which I was using within this section. Eventually, I felt as if this was an appropriate lighting choice as the strobes helped to emulate my excitement and nervousness during the concert that I attended as a teenager. In contrast, I was initially a lot more certain of my decision to use multi-coloured flashing lights within this section as well as the strobes. This is because I also wanted the concert section to feature a celebratory tone. The concert that I re-enacted within my piece felt very much like a party at times as other fans were dancing and singing all around me at the time and The Defiled had a reputation as an amazing live band that excited their fans. Consequently, by using this arguably less aggressive lighting style, my intention was to create an environment that seemed more approachable to audience members who may not be fans of heavy metal music.

Additionally, whilst exploring a variety of lighting options, I realised that I wanted most of the lighting transitions within my performances to be snaps rather than fades, even though some fades were used for variety and dramatic effect. My use of snap lighting came from the intention of wanting my piece to be fast-paced and exciting, with the lights always being able to quickly shift according to the variety of different topics that I discussed within my piece. However, I knew that I also wanted to include fades. One of my favourite examples of a lighting fade came from the concert section when I was talking about The Defiled first coming onto the stage. In this section, a warm orange wash slowly faded down to a spotlight on me right at the front of the performance space. Again, this lighting state was used to embody my growing nerves and the sense of anticipation in the lead-up to the concert. In addition, I also used this fade in order to make the story more personal to me, seeing as though this particular section was based on my memories. Due to the subjective nature of memory, I wanted the spotlight to evoke a sense of individuality and my metaphorical awakening to the world of heavy metal.