"candlelit" footlights...

[danl]

so, i am building a stage-within-a-stage and i was thinking of integrating footlights onto the second level... the show is victorian, and i was thinking that candlelit footlights would be great, though probably not a good idea... i presented the director with this idea, and he loved it - even wanting to integrate stagehands lighting them for preshow...
i've been trying to think up a convincing alternative... being able to light each lamp one at a time... with a candle-like effect...
i'm hoping to have a series of, maybe, six or seven lights...

[gafftapegreenia]

What effect are you trying to achive? Do you want the audience to see actual opem candles with realistic flames? Or rather, are you going for the "candle glow" look where the candles are in front of a reflector?

In the first case, this could be done with anything from realistic candle look-alikes to the small orange flicker-flame bulbs.

In the the case you are going for the "glow" effect, either low wattage lamps or small lamps on a dimmer will give you the effect of the golden candle glow.

As for turning them on oe at a time, if you have enough dimmer channels each candle could have its own channel. If you don't have enough, it's relatively easy to built a small switchbox.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts/ideas, more info will help us get a better picture.

[Chaos is Born]

Well i'm going to assume that these lights are facing away from the audience.

The effect can be created by having them controlled seperatly as you said. And the lights out today have the candle flickering look, however if you look at the old footlights there wasn't much "flicker" effect with them. Since they were commonly fueled by oil, and it wasn't a small flame it didn't flicker. And then you have the question of how much of the "flicker" you want to see on the actors cause then you have the question of what levels you have to have your other lights in order to get this effect to be visible.

[Van]

Outside of controlling every light independently, you could mount "flicker" lamps in candle shaped holders and , i can't believe I'm going to say this, Let the actors turn them on as practicals by use of a turn switch on each lamp base. Another would be to use a single dimmer, set to a "flicker" profile, to control the whole footlight cicuit and, again, let the actors turn them on as part of the action.
Flicker bulbs tend to not give off a lot of light and really only work well as an effect onstage when set behind frosted glass, as in a gas street lamp on a Christams Carrol set, so I would tend to lean towards the standard bulb on a flickering dimmer.

Maybe you tie the footlights into the circuits controlling your houslights?

[Footer]

i got your turn on effect.... screw the lamp in the rest of the way.... very simple... these are going to be low wattage lamps anyway... just unscrew them a bit and have them go back through and screw them in....

[BillESC]

The flicker bulbs do not put off much light and would need to be supplemented. You could try using 25w amber A shape bulbs and mounting a propeller above each. (Some Christmas effects use this. It is a small wire bent to be directly above the lamp and a tin propeller balances on the wire. It turns somewhat slowly due to the heat given off from the lamp.)

It will give you the random slight flicker you're looking for.

[Chaos is Born]

Originally Posted by Van

Maybe you tie the footlights into the circuits controlling your houslights?

if only he was doing this at my theatre...

[danl]

yeah - maybe flicker is a bad idea...??? as far as channels go, i'm afraid that i wouldn't have enough to spare in order to control them individually, so i will probably have to look into having a switch box created... i'm excited about trying this, though, and will let you know how it turns out...

[gafftaper]

There are some really good fake candles out there now. I know City Theatrical makes a good one. But they aren't cheap... like $50 each plus the power supply.

BillESC Do you guys carry a flicker Candle?

[Grog12]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

There are some really good fake candles out there now. I know City Theatrical makes a good one. But they aren't cheap... like $50 each plus the power supply.
BillESC Do you guys carry a flicker Candle?

City Theatricals kick ten kinds of ass. They are one of the most realistic fake candles on the market.