Panto Start screen

[Jupton24]

Just wondering if someone could shed some light on how the start of the panto works. I'm talking about when the audience walks in and the name of the panto is on a drape/curtain and it appears solid then when it is lit behind you can see the cast members but not the name of the play. It always puzzled me how this works/ what the concept is.

 

Is it something that could be done on a budget? I've been told to recreate something like this for our upcoming am-dram play so was after ideas.

 

Thanks in advance

[themadhippy]

gauze is the term your looking for https://thecultural.me/theatrical-gauze-390323 gives bit of info

 

Is it something that could be done on a budget

How bigs your budget?

[alistermorton]

You can do it by projecting on to gauze such as sharks tooth. When the stage behind the gauze is dark, you'll see what's being projected onto it from the front, light it from behind and you can see the cast behind it, and fade out the front projection simultaneously.

[Shez]

You'll also usually have a "blinder" - a full black cloth - immediately upstage of the gauze to completely block the view through it and prevent any projection passing through it and hitting the set behind it. That would be flown out just before any reveal through the gauze needs to occur.

 

Many gauzes are printed with their show logos rather than projected but unless you can find an appropriate one to hire, that would be an expensive undertaking.

[timsabre]

For a painted gauze you'd normally side light it from side boom positions otherwise a lot of light goes through the gauze and lights up the scene behind which spoils the effect - a flat-on front projection is going to spill a lot of light through but it'd still be a nice effect.

[kgallen]

If you're ever tempted to paint a gauze (or similar netting) then you need to use thinned flexible acrylic paint (ideally proper saturated scenic paint, like Rosco Supersat). If you use emulsion then you'll (a) block the holes (b) get a stiff gauze that can't be rolled and the paint will just crack and flake.