Any "dull" ideas

[Gerry]

Next week I'm lighting a Xmas carol concert.

The concert is set in a Victorian drawing room. The stage is almost full of people, some will be almost leaning on the walls of the set.

The set has been delivered. The painters have painted it in very vivid reds, greens, blues etc.

Last night the director said the colours were far too bright and could I light the set to make the colours look duller, whilst still having the cast brightly lit. :)

 

Cheers

Gerry

[Modge]

Assuming it is all colours, rather than just mostly red (light it blue) or mostly blue (light it red..) Chocolate(L156) has always worked for me as "adds instant dullness". I've used it for recreating stately homes before and rather pleased with the result actually.

[themadhippy]

And if 156 is to bright/red theres always lee 746 brown (or off as we call it)

[Gerry]

I'd thought of the "chocolate" idea but since some of the cast are standing close to the walls they will also look dull as well. Also the majority of the light, not a lot of choice, will be coming from FOH.

 

Cheers

Gerry

[andy_s]

forget looking for the right gel. There isn't one, unless you can get the cast away from the edges so you can light them seperately. get a bucket of dirty water and wash the walls with it.

 

This is what Maestro Francis Reid asked the designer to do when faced with a bright set and dull opera singers. (I don't mean the opera singers were dull in themselves, they just couldn't compete with the yellow scenery.) They were very lovely singers, and the Handel opera was delightful, if somewhat repetetive. Once you could see the singers, all was perfect.

 

(well strictly speaking, he asked the designer to break the walls down a bit).

 

 

But I think you knew this.....

[richard]

I often ask designers to dirty or dull Walls down. They seem either to use a product. Called dirty down, spray paint or watered down emulsion

[The Gaffa]

Another way, use some ND3 (forgotten the number) mixed in with the 156, plus the slightly dirty wash on the set and run the set LX at 60%.

 

Its worked for me in the past.

[heinz57]

What about perhaps Straw (LEE 103) or Dark Straw (LEE 15)

 

I have used Straw a few times before to take away a bit of the brightness.

 

Just a thought.

 

Heinz

[daemon]

Forgot doing it with colour. In fact, forget lighting the set. Try the old fashioned approach and don't light the walls ! Some careful choice of angles and careful focussing and you should be able to keep off the set and just light the actors.

[bosun963]

We tend to remove the newness of a set by washing the walls with tea, usually using the left-overs from the teapot after a break! Applied with a sponge it's quick and the strength can be varied to suit the required amount of toning down needed.

 

HTH

 

Peter