"Laser Wall" effect?

[rabywebb]

I'm looking for some inspiration / help / solutions!

 

The director of a play I'm involved in lighting has asked for a "laser wall" of light to split the stage and allow actors to cross from one side to another - it's a very small stage, only around 8' high, and the wall of light should be about 6' wide, or possibly more if practical.

 

Now come the problems: we can't use smoke or haze because of the fire alarm system we have installed, and the powers that be aren't willing to do anything with the system to make our lives easier - I'm currently considering using dry ice, but I'm not sure if that will be all that useful or worth the expense. Then there's also the problem of what to use to create the light, the budget's tight (when aren't budgets?) and the only ideas so far have been a bar with a set of 10 degree birdies (but even then it's not far until all the light just blends into one, half a metre at 10cm separation!), or possibly using a real laser and bouncing it of a pair of mirror strips, but that's likely to create health and safety issues and I'm still not sure how effective/expensive it would be.

 

I'd be most grateful for any help you can give!

[dave singleton]

Is the idea to actually create a wall of light or just a visable line for them to cross over.

 

I dont see how Dry Ice can help you in this situation and without the use of smoke or haze I dont think this type of effect will be possible (depending on the answer to the above).

 

Laser wise, unless you have an incredibly powerful laser (mega £££) you will need to rely again on haze/smoke.

[gareth]

To create a wall of light (laser or otherwise) you need to make the light visible. In order for light to be visible, it has to be hitting something. If you want actors to cross 'through' the wall from one side to another, that rules out something solid for the light to hit. Liquid is a no-go for obvious reasons! So that leaves something gaseous. You need haze or smoke for an effect like this - it's a bit of a no-brainer, really.

[rabywebb]

Is the idea to actually create a wall of light or just a visible line for them to cross over.

 

I don't see how Dry Ice can help you in this situation and without the use of smoke or haze I don't think this type of effect will be possible (depending on the answer to the above).

 

Laser wise, unless you have an incredibly powerful laser (mega £££) you will need to rely again on haze/smoke.

 

The idea's to create a wall of light, or rather a whole series of beams if possible.

 

I suggested dry ice as it's the nearest thing I can get to smoke/haze without setting off the fire alarms, and I thought it might be possible to send it out at roof level and have a wall of dry ice, which could then be lit. Also there's the possibility that we'll be using dry ice for another scene (magic carpet flight), making its use less expensive.

 

I realise it's a long shot, but I thought it was worth putting it to the forum!

[Ynot]

The idea's to create a wall of light, or rather a whole series of beams if possible.

 

I suggested dry ice as it's the nearest thing I can get to smoke/haze without setting off the fire alarms, and I thought it might be possible to send it out at roof level and have a wall of dry ice, which could then be lit. Also there's the possibility that we'll be using dry ice for another scene (magic carpet flight), making its use less expensive.

 

I realise it's a long shot, but I thought it was worth putting it to the forum!

Yep - a very long shot on a tight budget.

As has already been said, to get it visible as a 'wall' of light you need smoke/haze. To get dry ice up that high (and it would have to be higher than your 8' to even stand a chance) is a) creating the need for a stable platform and b) creating a whole new hazard of a large tub or two of very hot water with c) the need for someone to shovel CO2 into the top, whilst NOT dropping either water or ice onto the talent/crew etc. And that's even assuming you could get the dry ice to fall in a waterfall effect - that's possible but not easy.

 

The only other possible option IF you have the time behind drawn tabs, eg, is dust. Imagine the old school chalk dusters - bang a couple together and the chalk dust should remain airborne for a while, but MAY not be enough to set of the smoke alarms.

 

Other than that, you could try using the brightest set of profiles you have, irissed/shuttered down tight, so that whilst the beams aren't actually visible, I) you have a bright line of light on the stage deck, and ii) when the talent walks thru, they get an instant of brightness on them.

 

Other than that, you're back at haze.

[rabywebb]

The only other possible option IF you have the time behind drawn tabs, eg, is dust. Imagine the old school chalk dusters - bang a couple together and the chalk dust should remain airborne for a while, but MAY not be enough to set of the smoke alarms.

Thanks! That something that I'll certainly have a think about - it may even be possible to rig up something that can drop chalk dust (like a cloth bag full of chalk dust attached to a shaker of some sort)

 

using the brightest set of profiles you have, irissed/shuttered down tight, so that whilst the beams aren't actually visible, I) you have a bright line of light on the stage deck, and ii) when the talent walks thru, they get an instant of brightness on them

This sounds like a good plan, and it's certainly looking like the best option as things currently stand - I think that if I make a set of gobos with a line of holes in I should be able to project a few fans of beams at the very least, as well as keeping the number of lanterns down (the lighting's nearly all going to be hired as stock stretches to 3 fresnels, 3 PCs, 3 LED pars and 8 standard pars). This won't quite create the effect I was hoping for, but it should at least act as a good visual barrier and hopefully keep the director happy!

[GridGirl]

Thanks! That something that I'll certainly have a think about - it may even be possible to rig up something that can drop chalk dust (like a cloth bag full of chalk dust attached to a shaker of some sort)

 

Just be aware that chalk is a complete PITA to clean up - I worked on an opera set in WWI a couple of years ago, and the director wanted something to simulate the dust plume created when ammunition hit the ground, so a local firework company reloaded some of those handheld single use confetti cannons with chalk dust for us. Came to the tech and we duly fired them off on cue, only for the whole rehearsal to come to a screaming halt when the singers complained about the dust and also we hadn't quite realised the extent of the mess that would be created by these things - it was everywhere. We were still sweeping it up at the end of the run, two weeks later.

[Don Allen]

From Stage Specs On Line - LIGHT CURTAIN - A lighting effect which, when an area is diffused with smoke, produces a wall of light. Produced (usually) by a batten of low voltage PAR lamps wired in series. Automated versions are available which have colour changers built-in and are able to tilt up and down.

 

The PAR36 pin spot may have a greater impact than the narrow PAR 16, if your stage focusing has the stage dark upstage of the light curtain, it may still have a strong enough visible impact, assisted by using gels in the stage lighting so the open white light curtain is providing a strong contrast.

[dave singleton]

From Stage Specs On Line - LIGHT CURTAIN - A lighting effect which, when an area is diffused with smoke, produces a wall of light. Produced (usually) by a batten of low voltage PAR lamps wired in series. Automated versions are available which have colour changers built-in and are able to tilt up and down.

[rabywebb]

Just be aware that chalk is a complete PITA to clean up ...

... We were still sweeping it up at the end of the run, two weeks later.

Hopefully there'll be a keen clean-up team and we won't need quite as much as you used! ... but I agree that it could be a right pain.

 

...the singers complained about the dust ...

 

This could prove to be a much bigger problem, especally if they have to walk through the dust cloud

[Pete McCrea]

Fog Screen anyone? Not too sure if it would give the depth. If it was hung at 45degrees to the front edge of stage it might give more depth to it. Worth giving PSCo a call.

[paulears]

Fog Screen anyone?

The OP cannot use smoke, haze, fog or anything that lingers. He can use CO2.

[Ynot]

Thanks! That something that I'll certainly have a think about - it may even be possible to rig up something that can drop chalk dust (like a cloth bag full of chalk dust attached to a shaker of some sort)

Note - when suggesting chalk dust I wasn't advocating using a LOT of it - just enough to pick out beams, and YES if the show is a musical, then there may be vocal problems there....

My original suggestion, daft as it may sound, of clapping a couple of soft board rubbers together would perhaps give the better option than dropping chalk dust ffrom above - the mere action of banging the rubbers would be enough to excite the airborne qualities...

 

But BEWARE - this is only a theoretical suggestion, and NOT something I've tried!!

[the kid]

I know you cant use smoke/haze BUT, can you use haze in a can. The stuff I used a while back, with movement on stage lasted all of 5 mins, was very fine and because its from a can you decide where it goes and how much. If you can have the curtains closed before hand will work a treat.

 

You will need to do a test run but I see no issue with it from my experiance with it.

 

I used it on some down lighters in a panto (lights being so close to the stage if you jumped you could just about touch them).

[Tomo]

Fog Screen anyone?

The OP cannot use smoke, haze, fog or anything that lingers. He can use CO2.

The fog screen doesn't linger - it uses a big bucket of water to make a contained 'screen' of water droplets.

When you walk through them they feel somewhat cold but nothing significant.

 

I much prefer these to CO2 effects, because the health and safety issues are much easier to deal with.

 

However:

The machine is roughly 120kg and 2 feet high and must be flown, which may be difficult to do in smaller venues.

They are extremely sensitive to air disturbance - the 'screen' is contained by jets of air from fans either side, and slight air currents bend the screen significantly.

They drip a small amount of water which will need to be dealt with somehow - normal carpet was enough when I used one.

They have a lot of fans, so they aren't exactly quiet.

 

Possibly the coolest projection surface I've ever used.