The SpongeBob Musical

SpongeBob was such a fun show to light because it allowed me to really stretch my imagination, as well as skills as a designer. I drew my inspiration from both the classic colors of the original cartoons and the more realistic ray traced lighting of the new movies, creating color palettes for each character based on scenes from the series. While my lighting choices shifted along with moods and events throughout the show, water texture remained a constant design element to create the illusion that the story’s setting - the town of Bikini Bottom - was underwater. I was careful to hide white key light as much as possible throughout the show as well, keeping it off the set to produce an overall cartoonish look, as if characters were lit by magic. In order to add emotional complexity to the show’s look, however, I used isolation, as well as extreme angles, to convey the end of the world fear the citizens of Bikini Bottom were feeling around the impending eruption of Mount Humongous. More human moments such as these felt important to me to capture as a designer because they added an element of depth, as well as sincerity to this fantastical alternate reality I co-created along with the show’s directors and cast members.