Lamp Post

[robertpaines]

I know this is my first post, but I'm having a bit of a problem and cannot think who else to ask.

I have been asked to create a working lamp post for a set which is being used for a drama competition. My aim at present is to fit something like a narrow beam Par 36 lamp into it, but I am not sure what colour gel to use. Do any of you have any idea which Lee gel will give that sodium colour that street lamps give off?

Also, is it actually possibly to get a 240v Par 36 lamp? I haven't been able to find any yet but I think a Par 56 would be too big.

[Ynot]

I know this is my first post, but I'm having a bit of a problem and cannot think who else to ask.

I have been asked to create a working lamp post for a set

How about something like this?

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/Ynot_01/LampPost1.jpg

[Frag_Me]

What scale is this post on? Are we talking full size or a smaller model as this will affect the brightness of the lamp that will be required and the possible angle of it.

 

I've always used "Yellow" for lampost light and adjucted it with brightness as it's a tungsten bulb. Prehaps "Light Amber" if you've got a particularly white light but I'm not sure about that.

[robertpaines]

To Ynot, I'm looking to make a modern style lamp so I need the beam of light coming straight down.

To Frag Me, my aim will probably be to make it around 9 foot tall, so large enough to not look too small next to a person, but obviously not full size.

[Ken Coker]

This will sound silly, but does it need to be a lamp post? Could it be a fitting attached to another scenic element?

Similarly, could you use an instrument in the rig to suggest the idea of a streetlight rather than having a streetlight itself?

It might be worth talking to you school maintenance department to see if they have any suitable sources - there may well be sodium sources on your site that they need to maintain/replace.

 

As Mr.Frag says, scale is important - not only to the height of a person but to the space you are performing in; a quick drawing should help you with this. If it is for a drama competition, then you might also want to consider ease of setting/rigging/plugging.

 

Colour wise, variations on Lee 204 - doubled? - work for me although it is important to remember that one of the key "attributes" of a sodium light is its poor colour rendition, it being a broken spectrum and all that. (You probably don't need to worry about that!!)

 

Hope this helps in some way

 

KC

[Pete]

Ive never come accross a 240v P36, how about using a PAR 38 lamp?

[Tomo]

Lee 101 - Yellow and Lee 102 - Light Amber come fairly close to sodium yellow.

 

You aren't going to get a 'real' sodium yellow - a transmission of just two specfic wavelengths would give an extremely low transmission, and very, very dim lights!

 

As regards the lamp, I believe that last time I built a practical streetlamp I used a 100W d0mestic bulb, L101 and heavy frost as the 'glass' panels. Frost on the outside so it looked correct when unlit.

 

Previous time was a pair of 50W 12v dichroic lampposts for The Magician's Nephew - had to be battery powered and SELV as the first of them was carried by an actress for the 'lamppost growing' scene, and the second onstage with a large number of young kids.

 

Both of them looked fairly good, although 50W turned out to be insufficient for the 'large' lamppost - 100W worked much better.

[themadhippy]

I likes L179 for that lamp post lighting look