blindwithlight Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Hi, To give some background I am running lights (generic rig provided to suit 3 simultaneous plays - limited specials available) for the play Constellations for the Fringe Festival in Perth,WA., in February. What I need to do is to hopefully fill a small studio (7m x10m room) with 'Stars'. I have debated a couple of options : 1) Making a gobo for say a 2k Fresnell (pin holes would give the desired effect possibly). I am not convinced how well this would work. Has anyone tried this before? 2) I have the option to use a projector to create it but I do not think I could flood the room (also I have never used a projector during a live show and with min. bump in and out times I am reluctant to add to the workload - nevertheless it is still an option. 3) A friend (and Perth Lighting guru) suggested that this light from event lighting might be able to create the effect http://www.event-lig...cts/dasdi-w1000. Could this light have a program written for stars? During Ellie Gouldings performance at the Royal Variety Performance 2014 I saw exactly the effect I would love to re-create ( ). Can anyone tell what was used to create the effect on her dress? Has anyone ever done anything simular to this before? With limited time at the venue I am hoping to nail down a reliable way to re-create the effect. Any advice on the subject is greatly appreciated Many Thanks, Liam K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Would not an old fashioned mirror ball be ideal for this? Maybe half a dozen and lit with really bright beam lights? With no haze you'd have invisible beams and loads of spots. A pin prickly gobo does work but is very dim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindwithlight Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Thanks Paul. Yes definitely a mirror ball is an option too, although I was hoping to achieve a better effect. I want it to be as realistic as possible. I am afraid that a mirror ball effect would look more like disco lights than stars. Will have to keep it as an option though as it would be cheap and easy to set up. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Any effect that you can create relies on their being a LOT of darkness into which you put it. It's pointless putting a mirror ball or the Ellie Goulding dress effect into a brightly lit drama space, you are going to need lots of black and probably lots of well masked lanterns. Also consider having starcloth with just random stars twinkling or even some (Southern hemisphere) typical star constellations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Keep a mirror ball stationary, backlight it and experiment with blanking bits of it. You may be pleasantly surprised but starcloth is the easy solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Starcloth with random points of light will do lots of what you want, If you want logos or constellations then use a rigid starcloth made from 19mm board with lamps pushed into pre drilled holes. Get inspiration from here http://www.starcloth.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geetrt Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 The Elly Goulding performance has to be a video mapped on the dress. I think with several beamers, high up. I too think starcloth is the easy, quick solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 The important part of the Ellie Goulding clip is the fact that the face is LIT but the dress is used as a projection screen so must be light coloured but in the dark other than the projection. To make projection work the OP will have to make sure that they have LOTS of deep darkness into which they can project, and deep darkness isn't a usual feature of a drama production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindwithlight Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Thanks Jivemaster/Geetrt/Kerry Davies,The star cloth effects are awesome. I have used one before for a few awards ceremonies. I debated using one but the problem I have is that there are 3 productions in te same space on the same dates. We are the Middle production each night and have 15mins to bump in and to bump out. With this in mind I wanted to have all lighting in the rig and not obtrusive to the other shows.The space is actually completely blacked out Jivemaster and I with be able to have darkness for the effect. I was hoping with the Studio being relatively small I would be able to create a similar effect as with the Ellie Goulding dress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 If the space is to be blacked out with cloths, could you negotiate (probably with money...) for these to be starcloth, only turning the starcloth on for your piece? Fibre optic cloth might be better for this than LED cloth as the 'stars' are smaller and darker so are not as obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geetrt Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Or hang the starcloth behind the backdrop, and lower or tie up the backdrop prior to the performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 An alternative to a starcloth is a fibre optic loom - basically the fibres that you would weave into a starcloth but loose. You can spread these over the rig and run from a normal fibre optic light source and get some very nice effects - I expect a starcloth supplier may be able to get hold of a loom or twp Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave m Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I have a feeling that this is getting a bit over budget for the project?But there are probably plenty of white LED Xmas lights on offer at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Personally, I would go with a "randomised" a mirror ball (remove about 2/3rds of the tiles in random locations) and not have it rotate. To give it some twinkle and increase the number of stars, I would surround it with a lot of par 16's and program a chase - the different angles will give lots of stars and by changing the intensity of each light you can make a twinkle effect. Fibre would be the ultimate option if you did not have to remove it. I do not know of a WA supplier, but there is Optic Fibre Lighting Australia in NSW who will ship fibre and an emitter - but only as a purchase. I gather this is for a show as part of Perth Fringe? Your first option (2k fresnel) would not work as you need a focused beam for a gobo to work (so a profile fixture) - the spots will probably be quite big too... Option 2 (projection) is probably the best option if you only want to cover one wall - provided you can get a projector with the right throw. Out of interest, which "Perth Lighting Guru" is suggesting that laser? Because that laser requires a permit to be used in an entertainment venue and a licensed operator to use it. Please point your friend to the following document here - specifically page 78. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 2k fres would work fine if they take the lens out, linnebach projector :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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