Okay, yes, I know it's expensive to rent the U/V units.  We already have some in stock.

 

Yes, I know that it would require special paint and possibly costumes and make up.  We have the budget for it and it would be restricted to a few characters and a certain part of the stage.

 

My questions:  has anyone worked with U/V  in a b&w situation and how successful was it?  How did it look?  I'm more curious about the success than the cost at this point in the game. 

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Charlie

U/V light will only make colors "pop" that are u/v acceptable.  I don't believe this will work for the scene because they will only turn blue if you use whites or make color stand out unnaturally from the wanted effect. 

 

Only with Colour there are 2 Gam sepias;- http://www.gamonline.com/index.php - http://www.gamonline.com/index.php

 

I'm just curious to see if anyone else has tried it and what their results were.  One guy did a u/v scene for Picasso with mixed results, so this is a follow up to that.

 

Thanks for your suggestions.  I will check out the Gam site

 

Charlie

 

Remember, the answer is always no if you don't ask.

 

Leaving the UV blacklight on & bring in general wash to cover it, will work & give a seamless switch over, rather than risking the fluro starter flicker on strike up. 

The cheapest UV effect is fluro tubes of course, {which are in the safe UVA Blacklight spectral range [320nm - 400nm] wavelength of the Electromagnetic radiation Band.} However avoid any prolonged exposure if you use Incandescent Discharge unit, as used in the sterilisation process & cover UVB & UVC medium & short wavelength bands These are hazardous to health. especially skin & eyes, I'm sure your Techie will know this! 

This can also be achieved by Mercury or Sodium Vapour discharge lamps, which give a green/blueish tint to black. However with prolonged use this will give the cast & punters the effect of sand in their eyes, as the shorter wavelength is in the UVB &/or UVC range.

 

 

I don't think the exposure will be an issue, but it will be discussed long before anything comes to pass on stage. 

 

I do appreciate all your suggestions though and I have made a permanent copy of your response for my file on the show.

 

Thanks for all your help and suggestions!!

 

Charlie

I remember as a kid being told by the SM not to look at the UV lamps, during the show. Which in some shows was like being bombarded by arc welder flash's.

Unfortunately it was not an issue at the time, but the next day you could feel the effect, inside the eye lids felt like sand paper.

I only mention this because I previously had cause to advise a production. That the UV discharge lamp they borrowed from an industrial sterilisation plant, to save money. Was a potential danger to the cast & punters. They had done it unknowingly & with the best of intentions, thank gawd they never got to use it.

Actually funnily enough I was not thanked at all - just abused, although I offered to loan them free & for gratis blacklight fittings.

Weird people?

 

No, actually it doesn't surprise me at all - we've had some pretty 'unthankful' groups come through our theater and it always amazes me at how little respect they have for techs.  It's like they think we go out of our way to make things difficult when we are just trying to make things safe for cast and crew.

 

I, for one, applaud your suggestions and I will be sure that if we do use our U/V fixtures, we have updated lamps in them.  Before this thread, I never would have thought about it, so, kudos, fellow tech!

 

Charlie

 

I don't think black lights will get you where you want to go. I would suggest playing with colors in the light. You can find some scene paints that are pretty monochromatic (not mixtures of various colors) that will read as relatively colorless under certain gels. There are a few pale to medium blues that would do the trick pretty well. I think recessive colors for the light will work better than warm colors, even, as someone suggested earlier, sepia.

 

Don't hesitate to match what bright colors you have on the set with less vibrant ones - even grays.

 

I am sure they spent more than a hundred thousand dollars or two getting the effect to work on Broadway. The rest of us need to improvise and get lucky!

 

 

 

We would have to do it on a much smaller scale, granted, but I have spoken with a coupleo f B'way contacts I have and they assure me that it was a combination of u/v lights and subtractive color using various gels (which I have done before, but didn't want to try on an entire set).

 

 

Thanks for your suggestions - they have been added to my file

 

Charlie

 

This is what the essence of the 'Samioloff' effect is in fact!

CHOOKAS

Charlie

 

Thanks!

Charlie

It is not used these days that much which is a pity. Also I believe it was quite concerting when he changed the colour of Paul Robeson's costume & completion, at the end of his performance?

The yellow street lights are generaly Low Pressure Sodium discharge lamps [LPS], which consists mainly of orange/yellow [589.0 & 589.6 nM sodium lines].

The light will cause  black & white becoming that of an of an orange/yellow rendition, also causing redish ink, paint & dyes to flouresce, as with the poster.

Theatre has used sodium discharge lamps in this way, one comes to mind. The Ascot Scene from My Fair Lady, where discharge sodium lamp was used to turn the costumes from black & white to orange/yellow.

The Samoiloff effect of the Asscot Scene is certain saturated colour enhanced by the discharge lanterns.