Osvaldo Sepulveda
It’s no big secret that lighting design is a profession that welcomes people from all walks of life – from architecture and interior design to theatre production, product design and even, as we learnt in a recent interview with Panos Ferentinos, graphic design. It is a testament to the lighting design community that such a diverse array of backgrounds can be brought together and succeed, so long as they share a passion for design, and for creating moments of inspiration.
In a bid to continue celebrating these unique pathways into the world of lighting, arc caught up with Osvaldo Sepulveda, Senior Lighting Designer at Toronto-based Mulvey & Banani Lighting. Before joining Mulvey & Banani in 2016, Sepulveda was pursuing cinematography and working in the world of filmmaking.
It was a world that had fascinated Sepulveda from an early age, when he used to go to $2 Tuesday specials at the cinema with his father (“Toonie Tuesdays”, as they were affectionately known). “I come from an eccentric, busy Chilean family household, so I would always beg my dad to take me to the movies,” he recalls.
“Movies like Cinema Paradiso, Back to the Future, and The Godfather really hit me as a kid – I was watching them and not knowing that they were movies, I thought they were real life. My parents told me that no, people work to put this together as a visual art, and so I needed to know everything that goes behind it. Whatever the magic is, I needed to know it.”
This kickstarted a passion for acting that eventually led Sepulveda to study theatrical performance at Toronto’s Humber College, where he got an advanced diploma. He then spent some time in New York, taking part in some physical workshops to further pursue acting.
After a few years, he wanted to “improve his skillset” and learn more about what goes on behind the camera. “I did a few more years at Sheridan College, Ontario, but this time it was specifically for cinematography and production design. That was the introduction of lighting and camera work. I’ve always loved movies, but this was the first time where I actually got to see how things were put together.”
Following his years studying cinematography at college, Sepulveda joined the union I.A.T.S.E (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) – one of the main unions for film crews in North America, and moved his way up from camera trainee to a second camera assistant. Alongside his work in the camera department, working with directors of photography and camera operators, he also took on work in the lighting department and grip department. “These three departments help the cinematographer, so I thought that I needed to know these things if I wanted to become a cinematographer myself,” he says.
“I didn’t want to just know about the camera, I wanted to know everything so that I could be a master, be prepared. I had a lot of fun doing that, and that also took me to different avenues too. So, after a few years of working in the film industry, I wanted to learn more about lighting, but from a different perspective. I was looking for workshops and I found Ryerson University in Toronto, which had architectural lighting, so I took that, and that opened up a whole new industry for me, a new playground.”
Although this venture into architectural lighting was, as is so often the case in our industry, by accident, it led Sepulveda on a journey of discovery, opening his eyes to a brave new world.
“I wanted to improve my filmmaking and thought that, by learning what architectural lighting is teaching, I can take that back to set and be better prepared, but I discovered a whole new world and I thought ‘this is really cool’.”
It was during this course on architectural lighting that Sepulveda discovered Mulvey & Banani Lighting while looking for a field placement option. “When I researched them, I saw some really great work, and I really saw the benefit of permanent structures being lit. I had seen that myself in the city, and I was always curious how it was done and who did it. But these classes put the connections together for me, and I thought that maybe I could take this leap and give it a try – it was something worth doing that I was really excited about, so it just naturally went from one thing to another.
“I also took it as a complement to what I did before. So, instead of feeling like I had to do one thing over and over, or replace a career, I was looking more at using this as an extension of my toolset – if I want to become a master in lighting, it would be nice to become flexible in different platforms, like photography for example, or cinema, or architectural lighting.”
As well as being impressed with the work that Mulvey & Banani was doing at the time, Sepulveda believes that the diverse nature of the company, and the supportive nature of the staff, helped the company to stand out.
“Mulvey & Banani Lighting is a subsidiary and division of Mulvey & Banani. When I joined the lighting team, I was immediately struck by the diversity of expertise – from architecture and theatre to interior design and filmmaking. It’s this eclectic mix that infuses our designs with creativity and innovation. We’re not just lighting designers; we’re storytellers, and our narrative is shaped by every unique background within our team. Driven by a shared passion, we often collaborate with each other, as well as the other engineering and design divisions at Mulvey & Banani.”
During his transition into the world of architectural lighting, Sepulveda adds that his life was “quite the costume change”, as he found himself switching between various roles – and industries – day by day. “When I was studying part-time for a few months, my weeks were a combination of Mondays on film set, in the camera department; Tuesdays at Mulvey & Banani interning; Wednesdays back on the film set doing grip work and rigging work; Thursdays back at the studio; and then on Fridays I could have been doing extra work on a movie. That happened for months, and people were shocked by this, but it was a fun time jumping from one industry to another.”
While he recalls it as a fun period in his life, Sepulveda adds that the initial transition from the fluidity and immediacy of cinematography to the slower pace of architectural lighting took some adjusting. “It was a difficult transition because on film sets, we actually see the results of our lighting in the moment; and then in architectural lighting, it’s not until months or maybe even years later that the spaces comes to life and you understand what the concept actually looks like in real life. So, I had to develop a bit of patience.
“Also, understanding and navigating through architectural drawings, RCPs, and details, that was a challenge for me because I knew lighting effects, but I didn’t particularly know how they were permanently mounted or the attention that went into these details. That was a challenge for me, and I knew that I had to fill in these knowledge gaps, and that inspired me to go back to school on a part-time basis and pursue a postgraduate certificate in architecture and landscape design. There were a few gaps, but the challenge was worth it, and I’m glad that I did it.”
There was also a period of adjustment creatively for Sepulveda, particularly given the permanence of architectural lighting. “I had to think about how things can survive on a long-term basis. The types of fixture bodies are different to studio bodies – studio lights are rugged, and they’re meant to get banged up, and then in architectural lighting they’re more sophisticated and polished,” he says.
“Other challenges came with the computer programmes – CAD and programmes like Revit and Photoshop were big learning curves, but something that I learned on the job over time. I’m still not an expert, but I can get through and design in quite an artistic way. Learning all of the different control protocols was difficult too – I was used to just using DMX, but then I was introduced to DALI and 0-10, it was something that I had to just get over and learn and fill those knowledge gaps.
“But the theory of lighting and the design of lighting, direction and quality of light is all the same, it’s just the application that changes. We think about point of view of a camera on set – we light the space according to the position of the camera, so if the camera were to pan somewhere it isn’t supposed to, we would see a light that we’re not supposed to see.
“I try to take that idea to architecture now, and I say, ‘if a person is standing here, this is their viewpoint’. What do we want? How do we want them to observe the space? How do we want them to observe the farthest wall? Is there a highlight? How do we create depth? I use that idea of point of view between cinema and architecture, the only difference is that where one is a camera, the other is a person.”
He adds that some of the other parallels between cinema and architectural lighting come in the lighting techniques – things like the aforementioned direction of light and quality of light, as well as the psychology of colours and the feelings that these can bring in the viewer.
“I like to think that the director on set is the architect, they share the same role; lighting technicians are like the electrical contractors, and the production designers are similar to interior designers. There are relationships that are very common between the two.
“Another parallel comes in storytelling – we like to tell stories, and telling a story in architecture is a magical thing. It’s very hard to do because you’re not dealing with dialogue, you’re not directing the person where to walk or what to see at a given point in time, but we’re telling the story of the material, of the history, and trying to convey or invoke a certain emotion or a certain mood for the individual.”
This personal, emotional approach, of putting oneself into the point of view of the audience, is something that Sepulveda feels is one of the most important, both in his former work as a cinematographer, as well as in architectural lighting now. “I like to put myself in the point of view, and not fall into the trap of just looking at the RCP from a bird’s eye view, but being in the space, imagining walking through the space and how I want to feel.
“I also like to have a really close relationship with interior designers – they are such a key role in my work. Cinematographers lean heavily on production designers, they want to know what the material will be, the colour, the finish; and I think that kind of attention is what I like to carry in this work, to collaborate with interior designers and not wait until the very end, and to be fearless of asking silly questions – what do you think this material might do? Something funny? Once we hit a light on it, is it going reflect and do something interesting? Just giving more attention to different materials, fabrics, glazing, it’s that kind of attention to detail that I like to transition.
“On set, it was very physical, I had to carry lights with me, and that’s what I like to do in the office now – play around with different lights. I have a little notebook that I carry around with me that I call the Journal of Observations. When I see anything interesting, I take a photo, I question where the lighting effect is coming from – prismatic reflections, rotating fan blades that catch the light sequentially – I note it down in my journal and have this collection of observations.”
What this means is that Sepulveda has a very cinematic approach to architectural lighting design, bringing his experience from both realms together. A recent example that he cites is the lighting of Assiniboine Park Conservancy in Winnipeg, Canada. A plant conservatory, housed in a large glass biodome, the project called for a landscape path that would lead visitors around exotic plants and a waterfall. One of the parameters for the client was that they didn’t want direct light sources, so instead Sepulveda and the Mulvey & Banani team looked to light the space indirectly with reflectors. “That was something that I’d seen from my experience working in movies – using xenon lights, hitting them off a mirror so that they create a shaft of light in the atmosphere. So, we played with this idea, we did some tests and depending on the texture of the reflector it would either narrow the light or disperse the light. We picked two that we liked to provide coverage and added colour to these; they were then programmed to do certain scenes like a sunrise, a glowing, warm orange hue across the area, and then transition to a blue hue or even lightning.
“We got to play with the control aspect of it, creating lightning cues and playing with the saturation and exposure levels, manipulating the lights to create these effects. We also added classical music to it – a piece by Vivaldi, recomposed by Max Richter [film composer]. This is a great example of taking an idea that I got from being on set and bringing it to the architectural realm.”
Other landmark projects that Sepulveda has worked on in his time in lighting design include the lighting of Niagara Falls (completed while he was still interning) – here, his filmmaking background came to the fore once more as he created a complementary documentary, recording the behind-the-scenes work behind the project. Another example he cites is the TD Conference Centre; although a two-level, sub-ground site, the challenge was to introduce lighting to make visitors forget that they were underground. “We had these special linear lights on the side of the wall that were custom made to give the impression that natural light was punching in through these slots,” he explains. “The CN Tower Observation Deck was another high-profile project where I used my theatre background to design custom deep louvres to control light distribution.”
Through his time at Mulvey & Banani though, while he was relatively inexperienced in some of the technical intricacies of lighting design on joining the team, Sepulveda feels he has had a lot of support and patience from the team, led by mentors Paul Boken and Stephen Kaye. “They gave me a shot, and I remember saying to them at the time ‘I don’t know CAD’, and they said to me ‘but you know lighting, and that’s one of the hardest things to learn. We can teach you the programmes, just focus on your design and keep having fun with light, and the rest will take care of itself’. They were very supportive. They showed me the ecosystem of architectural lighting, the procurement channels and so on. It was a process for me to understand where things come from and how to talk to contractors or sales reps, or even clients. There were a lot of big learning curves.”
With a career that has spanned various industries, Sepulveda has a lot of role models that he takes inspiration from in his work – from filmmakers and cinematographers to lighting designers, artists, painters, and photographers – and he says that he is always researching new names to be inspired by. “In terms of filmmakers, Charlie Chaplin shaped early cinema; Alfred Hitchcock, for his storytelling and how he used certain colours to pop in scenes was really interesting. Photographers Sal Leiter and Vivian Maier; cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema – he raises the bar with technical innovations. Another one is Dan Laustsen, who I worked with and shadowed on Crimson Peak; Roger Deakins, George Willis (CSC), my current mentor for cinematography.
“I also have favourite lighting designers too – people like Steven Knapp, Olafur Eliasson, and Helen Pashgian. Painters too – Rembrandt, Edward Hopper, or the American James Gurney. It’s interesting because I have a list that I call a Chronology of Artists, and I break it down by different platforms of lighting – sculptors, painters, photographers – I have them all in front of me, and I have my favourites, and every now and then I will go into this database that I have and research them. I look for inspiration, find out where they come from and what kind of work they did.”
This ongoing search for inspiration is something that Sepulveda strongly recommends for others out there who may be looking to make the move into architectural lighting design, whether that be from cinematography, or other fields. As he looks forward to the future – a future that will shortly see him speak at IALD Enlighten Americas in Banff – he offered some advice to other budding lighting designers.
“I would start reading books on architectural lighting design – Light for Visual Artists by Richard Yot; Architecture Lighting Design by Gary Steffy; Daylighting by Peter Tregenza; the Art of Landscape Design by Janet Moyer – read these textbooks specifically on architectural lighting design and find out where there are universities or courses, or even events where they can attend and see for themselves whether they want to pursue this or not,” he says.
“But I think what is most important is to know that a background in cinematography is an incredible, valuable tool for being a lighting designer. So, already they should feel empowered and feel like they have the basics to take this leap and not be afraid to experiment with light on their own.
“Observe the lighting around you, make your own Journal of Observations, start to look around at the spaces that you are in and take in the light, and be fearless.”
“I try to take that idea to architecture now, and I say, ‘if a person is standing here, this is their viewpoint’. What do we want? How do we want them to observe the space? How do we want them to observe the farthest wall? Is there a highlight? How do we create depth? I use that idea of point of view between cinema and architecture, the only difference is that where one is a camera, the other is a person.”
He adds that some of the other parallels between cinema and architectural lighting come in the lighting techniques – things like the aforementioned direction of light and quality of light, as well as the psychology of colours and the feelings that these can bring in the viewer.
“I like to think that the director on set is the architect, they share the same role; lighting technicians are like the electrical contractors, and the production designers are similar to interior designers. There are relationships that are very common between the two.
“Another parallel comes in storytelling – we like to tell stories, and telling a story in architecture is a magical thing. It’s very hard to do because you’re not dealing with dialogue, you’re not directing the person where to walk or what to see at a given point in time, but we’re telling the story of the material, of the history, and trying to convey or invoke a certain emotion or a certain mood for the individual.”
This personal, emotional approach, of putting oneself into the point of view of the audience, is something that Sepulveda feels is one of the most important, both in his former work as a cinematographer, as well as in architectural lighting now. “I like to put myself in the point of view, and not fall into the trap of just looking at the RCP from a bird’s eye view, but being in the space, imagining walking through the space and how I want to feel.
“I also like to have a really close relationship with interior designers – they are such a key role in my work. Cinematographers lean heavily on production designers, they want to know what the material will be, the colour, the finish; and I think that kind of attention is what I like to carry in this work, to collaborate with interior designers and not wait until the very end, and to be fearless of asking silly questions – what do you think this material might do? Something funny? Once we hit a light on it, is it going reflect and do something interesting? Just giving more attention to different materials, fabrics, glazing, it’s that kind of attention to detail that I like to transition.
“On set, it was very physical, I had to carry lights with me, and that’s what I like to do in the office now – play around with different lights. I have a little notebook that I carry around with me that I call the Journal of Observations. When I see anything interesting, I take a photo, I question where the lighting effect is coming from – prismatic reflections, rotating fan blades that catch the light sequentially – I note it down in my journal and have this collection of observations.”
What this means is that Sepulveda has a very cinematic approach to architectural lighting design, bringing his experience from both realms together. A recent example that he cites is the lighting of Assiniboine Park Conservancy in Winnipeg, Canada. A plant conservatory, housed in a large glass biodome, the project called for a landscape path that would lead visitors around exotic plants and a waterfall. One of the parameters for the client was that they didn’t want direct light sources, so instead Sepulveda and the Mulvey & Banani team looked to light the space indirectly with reflectors. “That was something that I’d seen from my experience working in movies – using xenon lights, hitting them off a mirror so that they create a shaft of light in the atmosphere. So, we played with this idea, we did some tests and depending on the texture of the reflector it would either narrow the light or disperse the light. We picked two that we liked to provide coverage and added colour to these; they were then programmed to do certain scenes like a sunrise, a glowing, warm orange hue across the area, and then transition to a blue hue or even lightning.
“We got to play with the control aspect of it, creating lightning cues and playing with the saturation and exposure levels, manipulating the lights to create these effects. We also added classical music to it – a piece by Vivaldi, recomposed by Max Richter [film composer]. This is a great example of taking an idea that I got from being on set and bringing it to the architectural realm.”
Other landmark projects that Sepulveda has worked on in his time in lighting design include the lighting of Niagara Falls (completed while he was still interning) – here, his filmmaking background came to the fore once more as he created a complementary documentary, recording the behind-the-scenes work behind the project. Another example he cites is the TD Conference Centre; although a two-level, sub-ground site, the challenge was to introduce lighting to make visitors forget that they were underground. “We had these special linear lights on the side of the wall that were custom made to give the impression that natural light was punching in through these slots,” he explains. “The CN Tower Observation Deck was another high-profile project where I used my theatre background to design custom deep louvres to control light distribution.”
Through his time at Mulvey & Banani though, while he was relatively inexperienced in some of the technical intricacies of lighting design on joining the team, Sepulveda feels he has had a lot of support and patience from the team, led by mentors Paul Boken and Stephen Kaye. “They gave me a shot, and I remember saying to them at the time ‘I don’t know CAD’, and they said to me ‘but you know lighting, and that’s one of the hardest things to learn. We can teach you the programmes, just focus on your design and keep having fun with light, and the rest will take care of itself’. They were very supportive. They showed me the ecosystem of architectural lighting, the procurement channels and so on. It was a process for me to understand where things come from and how to talk to contractors or sales reps, or even clients. There were a lot of big learning curves.”
With a career that has spanned various industries, Sepulveda has a lot of role models that he takes inspiration from in his work – from filmmakers and cinematographers to lighting designers, artists, painters, and photographers – and he says that he is always researching new names to be inspired by. “In terms of filmmakers, Charlie Chaplin shaped early cinema; Alfred Hitchcock, for his storytelling and how he used certain colours to pop in scenes was really interesting. Photographers Sal Leiter and Vivian Maier; cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema – he raises the bar with technical innovations. Another one is Dan Laustsen, who I worked with and shadowed on Crimson Peak; Roger Deakins, George Willis (CSC), my current mentor for cinematography.
“I also have favourite lighting designers too – people like Steven Knapp, Olafur Eliasson, and Helen Pashgian. Painters too – Rembrandt, Edward Hopper, or the American James Gurney. It’s interesting because I have a list that I call a Chronology of Artists, and I break it down by different platforms of lighting – sculptors, painters, photographers – I have them all in front of me, and I have my favourites, and every now and then I will go into this database that I have and research them. I look for inspiration, find out where they come from and what kind of work they did.”
This ongoing search for inspiration is something that Sepulveda strongly recommends for others out there who may be looking to make the move into architectural lighting design, whether that be from cinematography, or other fields. As he looks forward to the future – a future that will shortly see him speak at IALD Enlighten Americas in Banff – he offered some advice to other budding lighting designers.
“I would start reading books on architectural lighting design – Light for Visual Artists by Richard Yot; Architecture Lighting Design by Gary Steffy; Daylighting by Peter Tregenza; the Art of Landscape Design by Janet Moyer – read these textbooks specifically on architectural lighting design and find out where there are universities or courses, or even events where they can attend and see for themselves whether they want to pursue this or not,” he says.
“But I think what is most important is to know that a background in cinematography is an incredible, valuable tool for being a lighting designer. So, already they should feel empowered and feel like they have the basics to take this leap and not be afraid to experiment with light on their own.
“Observe the lighting around you, make your own Journal of Observations, start to look around at the spaces that you are in and take in the light, and be fearless.”
