Another Scrim? Question

AVGuyAndy

Active Member
I'm preparing for an upcoming show. The Director wants to have the background change colors. Is a scrim the right thing to project onto? I really have no idea when it comes to stage fabrics. There will be nothing behind the scrim, or whatever it is that should be used, so there is no need to backlight it. From reading, white is the best color to project basic colors onto?
 
your not looking for a scrim... your looking for a cyc (or cyclorama if you want to get technical)... a cyc is basicly a large piece of bleached muslin.... get a white one.. not blue.... a scrim comes in either white or black and is basicly thread hooked around each other to make a cheesecloth (but bigger holes) type of fabric.... the idea of a scrim is that if something is lit behind it it will be "transparent" and when there is no backlight behind it it becomes solid.... go with the cyc and buy a scrim later after you have the cyc....
 
I would disagree slightly with Footer4321's comment and say go with a light blue. It gives good color but is not so reflective when you're not trying to light it.
 
but you cant mix correctly on it... you have to compesate for the blueiness....
 
I've never had a noticable problem mixing on the blue. It's not very dark, just a hint of blue/grey.
 
what angles would you generally light a scrim from. like would you employ just front light to get that transperency. i have no clue as to what goes into lighing that.
 
LightingChild88 said:
what angles would you generally light a scrim from. like would you employ just front light to get that transperency. i have no clue as to what goes into lighing that.

whatever you do you do not want to have any light comeing through the back of it if you want it to look solid.... the steaper angle the better on it....
 
Got to agree that if you just want to light up a background with color you want a cyc and not a scrim. Furthermore I've got to put my vote in for a white scrim. I've used blue and had a hard time with things turning green the first time you spill some amber or yellow light on it. In an amateur setting where you don't have a lot of instruments, it's much easier to use white. If you're worried about having a giant white wall there the whole time another option is a grey scrim. It's harder to get a good bright punch out of, but it's not as bright the rest of the time and still picks up colors well.

As for lighting, yes you want to use as extreme flat angles as you can get on it to make it appear solid. Front light will allow you to see through a little. If there is ANY backlight you will see through. One trick many people use is to have another drape right behind the scrim of the same color to ensure that it looks solid. When it's time for the big reveal effect you fly that drape out at the last second.

True you can use a white scrim as a cyc... but you better have something behind it just in case because you will probably see through a little.
 
we love using our cyc for background colors...works as an amazing projection screen to. But you can also use just a white wall. In our rigs we have a flyable wall thats painted white with flat white paint. Its mostly for concerts, but it works great for lighting. Its a great look for when u have the stage lit white and your looking for some b/g color. But when the stage is dark, the cyc deffinatly looks better, as long as no one touches it
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back