UV

[Luke]

A quick question - in the panto this year, there is a 'uv scene' whereby the actors wear black and have fish and stuff and it looks like the fish are swimming onstage. This is really effective, as you can't see the people. On the Thursday before we close panto, we have the crew-version, whereby the crew piss-take the cast in the original panto and we perform our own. As part of this, we have been thinking of ideas for our adaptation. Would the 'smoke' emitted from a deodorant can be picked up by UV light? We want to put a huge cigar in one of the fishes mouths, and then hide a deodorant can in the mouth and make it look like its smoking.

[Tom]

Many things fluoresce* under UV. Some you think will, don't and some you'd have thought will not, do.

 

The only way to find out for sure is to try it.

 

*I don't know if it is technically fluorescing but I couldn't think of another word and thought most people would understand it as such. I wait to be corrected.

[Guest lightnix]

Tonic water fluoresces under UV, although the effect may be a little weak in spray form. You might be able to make it stronger if you reduced it down with a bit of boiling, but spray will behave differently from smoke anyway.

 

What about some kind of fine fluorescent powder puffed out of the end of the cigar? I think you can still get joke cigarettes which work on this principal, where the "smoker" blows through the tube of the ciggie. Fine powder will behave more like smoke than spray and may well produce a stronger fluorescent effect. If you need to make it really fine, grind it down with a pestle and mortar.

[Brian]

If you go the blown powder route why not try clothes powder, especially the stuff which is 'whiter than white'.

[Lincoln]

... not quite what you are looking for but we have used UV Bubble Fluid that works very well.

 

... available from all good special effects companies! without advertising of course!!

 

and a very happy Christmas to all our readers... even adobe !

 

Lincoln

[slim_mcslim]

not sure how it will help - but have used washing powder before - that suff glows violently...

[Freddie]

Science Moment: Washing Powder works so well under UV because of the whiter-than-white effect. Apparently, the powder is designed to be especially responsive to UV (more so than white clothes). When the clothes are washed, the shirts or whatever become more UV-reactive than usual for a short time. The theory being that when clothes are put on the line OUTSIDE to dry, the UV light from the sun causes the clothes to flouresce more than usual.