Lights and Sound: shooting star

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shooting star

Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Lights and Sound
Forum Discription: Technical discussion
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3012
Printed Date: 5/08/25 at 12:10am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: shooting star

Posted By: Linda S
Subject: shooting star
Date Posted: 3/03/08 at 2:11pm

I need help with a shooting star effect. Something simple. We tried using the follow spot with a just a pin spot gobo. It worked great, but the follow spot is too loud. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Linda

Replies:

Posted By: pdavis69
Date Posted: 3/03/08 at 2:18pm

Try a laser pointer. I saw one used as Tinkerbell in Peter Pan once with great effect. Many of the pointers have interchangable tips for different effects. Very cheap (Check the pet supply stores) and zero noise.

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Patrick L. Davis
Fort Findlay Playhouse

Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 3/04/08 at 2:45am

I like the laser pionter effect.

But way back before this things became available. When I did Man of La Mancha, during the Inn coutyard scene. We used a black scrim upstage & a techie woth a maglite in hand [ with lens removed], Did the effect by holding the maglitr above his head & moving from PS to OP, in ark down to the off stage deck - upstage of the scrim.

Looked great!

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[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

Posted By: Linda S
Date Posted: 3/04/08 at 7:33am

I will be at the pet store today checking out laser pointers. I already have black scrim hung upstage in front a full star curtain. We made the star curtain and it is awesome. The scrim in front mutes everything and adds to a subtle twinkle effect. We shoot a wonderful nothern lights effect on to the scrim. It looks like it is hanging in mid-air like smoke. Given that those effects are so wonderful, the shooting star has to be fabulous. It looks like I'll be at theater this afternoon in front of the scrim with my new laser pointer. We did find out that there is actually an 'smart' instrument that we can use. The light designer is checking on the rental of that. Since we made the star curtain instead of renting it, we have a little extra money in the budget. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks for the help.

Linda

Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 3/04/08 at 6:19pm

Also I feel we would be interested how you produced your 'Star Cloth'.

As I have mentioned before, we don't have that many scene hire shops here. Being a pimple on the backside of the world.

Virtualy everything we do with settings is produced by the groups or borrowed from other comeatres.

I have produced a number of 'Star cloths, using fairy lights & torch bubles, to gobo's & fibre optics.

Using those strings of 'bud xmas lights' with a black scrim, we found by acident, someone tripping over the scrims tail batten, this gives a great cloud shimmer of the stasr effect, by just touching the scrim now & then.

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[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

Posted By: Linda S
Date Posted: 3/04/08 at 7:08pm

We made our star cloth with christmas lights, plastic deer fence (It is Maine and deer fence is readily available) and about 1000 zip ties. The cost was minimal for what we got, which is an amazing starry night. This month's Stage Directions magazine has step by step directons on how to make a star curtain. Of course it came out after we made ours the trial and error way. It was all very similiar, but if we were to do it again we would use some of the ideas from the magazine. Hanging black scrim in front of the curtain is what really makes the whole thing very realistic. When you move your head the stars twinkle. Also, light levels have to be very low. We are running at about 30%. The scrim also gives us the ability to project northern lights and shooting stars with a 3D effect. Since Stage Directions had some better ideas then we did, here is the link to the online article http://stage-directions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=0&Itemid=39 - http://stage-directions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=0&Itemid=39

Linda

Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 3/05/08 at 11:33pm

Thanks Linda I must have missed this one with "SD - PLSN & FOH emags.

We nomally use 'shade cloth', which comes in a miriad of colours including Black & White, also in different shade % - 70% works well.

It is available in 3.5metre widths off the roll, so we use the cloth width as the stage height & the cloth length as the required width of the stage. I don't know it is the same as 'deer fence' but it is cheap.

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[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}