Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Silhouetting an Actor

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jmc1371
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 10/13/09
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Topic: Silhouetting an Actor
Posted: 10/13/09 at 10:55am

I am trying to achieve a silhouette effect, but there are a few issues causing trouble.

The actor will be standing about a foot away from a white drop (approximately 10' tall, 4' wide), on a 4' platform.

My first goal is to be able to change the color of the drop.

My second goal is to throw the actor into silhouette.

At first I thought "Use a scrim and light it from the back", but is there an easier, cheaper option? Would muslin work? Would scrim even achieve the right effect?

Thank you!

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David McCall
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Joined: 1/28/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 299

Posted: 10/13/09 at 12:06pm

Most translucent fabrics will work, but the more transparent it is the more likely it is that you will see the light source. If you want to do it as a Shadow, that may not be your biggest issue. Ideally you want the light to be as far away from the subject as possible, and the subject wants to be as close to the fabric as possible. If the light is too close or the subject is too far from the fabric, the shadow will be huge.

Another approach would be to backlight the fabric and put the subject in front of it, but keep the light off of the subject. A black scrim between the audience and the subject will make it work better. Using this technique you don't need as much depth behind the fabric. This is easier to do than the shadow approach, but you likely will see some detail of the actor.

David

David M

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Mr. Lowell
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Joined: 1/30/07
Location: United States
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Posts: 269

Posted: 10/13/09 at 9:51pm

In the prologue of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" (at the middle school level), I moved my 60' wide white cyclorama from the last batten to the first. Then I had the crew place a boom on stage with a 1000 watt scoop...(and I think I had a frost diffusion gel on it). It worked pretty well for this scene. Here is a photo.

Then for "Children of Eden", (at the high school level), I did the shadow puppet sequence using a muslin backdrop about 10' square. It flew in on a scenery batten. A 1000 watt scoop was on a "trapeze" pipe under another batten upstage of that. Various animal cut-outs on sticks were held up by the actors in between. It worked OK for what was called for in the scene. Here is a photo of that.

And for "Picnic", (at the high school level), everyone asked me, "where did you get the cool moon gobo?" Well it wasn't a gobo. It was merely a 750 Source4 leko at point blank range! Here's a pic.

Keep in mind that most muslin drops have sewn seams in them, which will show up when back lighted. (And make sure your fabric has flame retardant).

Good luck with it! -Dana

Mr. Lowell,
Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director,
for the Linda Sloan Theatre,
in the Davison Center for the Arts,
at Greensboro Day School

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Lights and Sound
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Lights and Sound

Author	Message
jmc1371 Walk-On Joined: 10/13/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Topic: Silhouetting an Actor Posted: 10/13/09 at 10:55am
	I am trying to achieve a silhouette effect, but there are a few issues causing trouble. The actor will be standing about a foot away from a white drop (approximately 10' tall, 4' wide), on a 4' platform. My first goal is to be able to change the color of the drop. My second goal is to throw the actor into silhouette. At first I thought "Use a scrim and light it from the back", but is there an easier, cheaper option? Would muslin work? Would scrim even achieve the right effect? Thank you!

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David McCall Celebrity Joined: 1/28/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 299	Posted: 10/13/09 at 12:06pm
	Most translucent fabrics will work, but the more transparent it is the more likely it is that you will see the light source. If you want to do it as a Shadow, that may not be your biggest issue. Ideally you want the light to be as far away from the subject as possible, and the subject wants to be as close to the fabric as possible. If the light is too close or the subject is too far from the fabric, the shadow will be huge. Another approach would be to backlight the fabric and put the subject in front of it, but keep the light off of the subject. A black scrim between the audience and the subject will make it work better. Using this technique you don't need as much depth behind the fabric. This is easier to do than the shadow approach, but you likely will see some detail of the actor. David
	David M
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Mr. Lowell Celebrity Joined: 1/30/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 269	Posted: 10/13/09 at 9:51pm
	In the prologue of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" (at the middle school level), I moved my 60' wide white cyclorama from the last batten to the first. Then I had the crew place a boom on stage with a 1000 watt scoop...(and I think I had a frost diffusion gel on it). It worked pretty well for this scene. Here is a photo. Then for "Children of Eden", (at the high school level), I did the shadow puppet sequence using a muslin backdrop about 10' square. It flew in on a scenery batten. A 1000 watt scoop was on a "trapeze" pipe under another batten upstage of that. Various animal cut-outs on sticks were held up by the actors in between. It worked OK for what was called for in the scene. Here is a photo of that. And for "Picnic", (at the high school level), everyone asked me, "where did you get the cool moon gobo?" Well it wasn't a gobo. It was merely a 750 Source4 leko at point blank range! Here's a pic. Keep in mind that most muslin drops have sewn seams in them, which will show up when back lighted. (And make sure your fabric has flame retardant). Good luck with it! -Dana
	Mr. Lowell, Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director, for the Linda Sloan Theatre, in the Davison Center for the Arts, at Greensboro Day School
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Topic: Silhouetting an Actor( Topic Closed)