Light on a pole!

[Dani]

Hi!

 

I wondered if anyone has any ideas that may help me!

 

I'm lighting designing a show at college and the designer has designed the set which is simplistic but effective but around it there are 20-25 poles (or sticks) of different heights, with some form of light at the top. In the model box he's put a standard light bulb at the top but after a chat with the director we talked about something a bit different to a normal bulb and also may put the light more directional rather than spreading it everywhere!

 

I have thought about a 12V Birdie lamp but also thinking of something that has a nicer look onstage and wondered if anyone has any interesting ideas or pointing me in a direction to look at??! Also want them to be dimmable!!

 

Hope this makes sense!!

 

Thanks!!

 

Dani

[pritch]

What sort of look are you going for? What does the set look like? What effect do you want the lights to give, and from what distance?

 

You don't want us recommending all sorts of modern looking equipment, when your set comes from the Elizabethan period!

[Gerry]

Ask the set designer what he had in mind.

What visual effect is he trying to achieve?

What period is it set in?

Etc Etc

Cheers

Gerry

[Dani]

The show is 'Bedroom Farce' but we've decided to make it all contemporary! The set is 3 bedrooms raised up with a corridor through them and the poles are at different heights around the front of the bedrooms and down the side almost showing that it is 'the wall'! Its something which needs to be dimmable, but can be quite abstract. The majority of them are infront of the audience so cannot be too distracting from the action taking place behind! I'm not sure about what effect I want them to give, they are there more as part of the asthetics I imagine, not to light the action. The audience will be 2 - 3 m's away on a raised seating bank!

 

Maybe something like one of those twisted energy saving bulbs? Or a larger version of a standard bulb? or not sure, something coloured? I guess its a case of trying out ideas! If anyone has any slightly unusual ideas then anything is good to take on and try out!

 

Thanks for replying hope the above information helps

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

Ask the set designer what he had in mind.

What visual effect is he trying to achieve?

What period is it set in?

 

 

The designer designed it with normal light bulbs in mind where as the director wouldn't mind seeing something a bit different to an average bulb! Its a contemporary show and its for asthetics and to split the rooms up. Hope that helps?

 

Thanks

[Ynot]

Hmmm...

Interesting, though perhaps a little bizarre. But that said, some of the best theatre CAN be a little bizarre - just be careful that it's not too off the wall for the genre of performance.

 

Bedroom farce isn't really something that yells out to me as something that can easily be set with the sort of unusual framework you describe, BUT only you and your director/designer know how the play is being done, so more power to you for trying.

 

To answer the actual question, there are a number of different options out there - several types of basic incandescant lightbulbs (and I call them bulbs in the domestic parlance here) - pearl, opal regular shape, candles, golf balls, reflector spots etc etc. All should still be available despite the global warming brigade trying to ban them all! And yes, you then have the low voltage types like dichroics (birdie lamps), LED, neon, fairy lights and so forth.

the low energy spiral things are basically fluorescent lamps with inbuilt ballasts and probably won't take kindly to being dimmed as a rule (the same going for other types mentioned above as well).

 

Do you need all the same type of lamp on each stick, or a variety of different light sources? It strikes me that if these poles are to represent a supposed wall, then they really should be the same type at least for each wall - maybe change the style for walls depicted in a different space...

[gareth]

The show is 'Bedroom Farce' but we've decided to make it all contemporary!

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kl2GKlgG_Xc/SOse7AGa5qI/AAAAAAAAAgo/HrGCN8Sy5U8/s400/facepalm.jpg

[dbuckley]

500W GES.

 

Not directional, but dimmed right down, very cutesy...

[gareth]

500W GES.

 

Not directional, but dimmed right down, very cutesy...

But by the sound of it, whatever is used is going to be directly between the actors and the audience - along with whatever is supporting it. I may well be wrong, but the way I picture it it's going to be like watching the play through jail bars (albeit fairly widely-spaced ones).

[themadhippy]

how about paper balls,use a couple of different coloured pygmy lamps so you can change the colour to suit the room in use.

http://www.pinkfrosting.com.au/persistent/catalogue_images/products/2613.jpg

[dbuckley]

But by the sound of it, whatever is used is going to be directly between the actors and the audience - along with whatever is supporting it. I may well be wrong, but the way I picture it it's going to be like watching the play through jail bars (albeit fairly widely-spaced ones).

Which is fine, as those big lamps can just glow a bit and still look cutesy

[Don Allen]

Having a bare bulb on top of the poles may cause spillage problems as the light will be radiated 360 degrees. Use a dimmable bulb so you can set levels, you may find that a dull filament glow looks effective. If the poles are on room circuits, it may give you another option when plotting. You can get carbon filament bulbs that glow dimly when at full intensity.

 

Alternatively, use a par16 or for more compactness, a flush mount led, as uplighters for the poles.

 

I saw a set that had acl's set into the floor of the set to be used as bars of light in conjunction with a hazer. The director never used them but they looked effective when set up.