Flickering TV

[D.l]

Hi there. I am a student at a college and as part of a project I am doing I would like to be able to make a tv flicker. We have a etc lighting desk and the dongle. What do you think will be the best way to achieve making a flickering tv come to life using this equipment or is there a easier way like some sort of fairy lights or something like that.

Hope this makes sense. 

D.L

[boatman]

Google for "TV Simulator". There's a few on Amazon at £14.99.

[alistermorton]

Hi. Welocome to the Blue Room.

Is the effect you're after to make the space on stage look as if it's lit by the flickering TV, or to have the screen in view and the audience actually see a flickering effect directly on the screen?

If the former, the TV simulators suggested by boatman do work, but they're a bit lacking in impact. I've done this effect using a couple of really cheap LED parcans and a batten aimed around the stage from the location of the TV, with a random effect making the three fixtures jump between a bluey white (cheap cans do this particularly well) and a few greens, blues to give the impression that the room is being lit by the screen. The batten being in sections added to the effect of a moving image on screen.

If the latter, we've done this sort of thing in the past by making a video clip with the required effect and sending it to the TV  directly from Qlab or similar.

 

[Robertdazzler]

Many years ago I had just this issue." How to get a flickering effect on actors watching a tv". Try putting a fluorescent starter in series with a small  incandescent  lamp, 60-100W inside a TV case. This will probably cause serious clicks on your sound system so a suppressor will be needed across the starter. This principle can also be used to create the effect of a fire flame. Apologies for the crudity of this but I have been in the amateur theatre game for nearly 60 years and I learned this trick from some other old sparky. A more sophisticated method is to use the random level effect available on my Strand MX24. 

[gareth]

Do you need to see the actual screen surface? Or just the light of the image on the screen reflecting on an actor's face? Is it an actual practical TV set, or just a cabinet/carcass? What does your tutor suggest as a solution?

[Brian]

I don't think TVs flicker. The time between edit points is much longer.

[paulears]

Why not make the TV real and play some video - modern screens can be very bright, even if they face away from the audience? If you use modern leds, flickers can be much mor realistic than tungsten ever was. Most desks probably have built in effects that could do a fast LED random flicker effect?

[alistermorton]

Brian makes a god point - the effect I ran wasn't actually a flicker, it was more a random sequence of rapid change washes giving the effect of the screen changing on the screen. I guess a flicker might look like a screen that is showing static, that is tuned out.

[sunray]

The scene we had was 2 people facing the audience in darkness shouting at a violent action film of a gun fight , we tried flickering lED PARS set in the TV stand but it looked more like a disco, our final solution was a video projector extremely diffused through frosted glass.

Edited January 5, 2023 by sunray

[Dave m]

Just a flatscreen in a box with a video feed or PowerPoint of different coloured slides.

The slides could be cued by remote / key so that it changes on cue or just turned to a video clip on export from PP.

if necessary the “tv” and media device could be battery operated if it has to be struck in a hurry

[J Pearce]

Are you trying to create realism, hyper-realism, or a stylised effect that will be read as TV even if it's not remotely realistic? I'd suggest you can't choose a solution til you know the answer to that question.

[gareth]

OP hasn't returned to the forum since posting his question earlier in the week, so I think we might all be wasting our time here...

[paulears]

Homework's probably had to be handed in, so that'll be a pass then.

 

[alistermorton]

I dropped the OP a PM saying there were a lot of suggestions.  Back came the reply "Which are?". I suggested checking back and getting involved with the discussions. We'll see. 

Edited January 7, 2023 by alistermorton

[boatman]

17 hours ago, alistermorton said:

I dropped the OP a PM saying there were a lot of suggestions.  Back came the reply "Which are?". I suggested checking back and getting involved with the discussions. We'll see. 

Ah, the innate laziness of modern youth rears its head (not to mention insolence).