Bare Fluorescent Bulbs, visually

[Les Engineer]

Hello hive! Quick question: practical fluorescent lighting with the instruments visable to the audience - how distracting is this? Time is moving and the budget for this little drama (as usual) is small. The design calls for fluorescent lighting that can be manipulated by the actor. Shop lights from the hardware store plugged into a common extention cord and run to an outlet whose switch is in full view of the audience (existing, fortunately), seems to me to be the quickest/cheapest/easiest solution. However, inexpensive shop lights only come (at least locally) without a diffuser/shade, leaving the bulbs bare, making them quite visable to the first 1/2 dozen rows, diminishing in visability as the auditorium seats move higher and away from the stage. As I understand it, these lights cannot be dimmed, and so are either off or at full strength. Has anyone been in this spot, seen this configuation, or had any experience with bare fluorescent bulbs on stage in a play (as opposed, say, to a rock 'n roll performance) and would like to share. Thanks! [Maybe I should add that this is a converted movie theater with limited loft height and no fly system. These lights are to be hung with chain, and will be made visable by necessity.]

 

[StradivariusBone]

Does the script call for the lights to be visible? How is the actor supposed to manipulate them? An option that comes to mind is fitting the fixture with LED tube lamp replacements. The dimming will probably still suck, but it might be an improvement over the fluorescent tubes themselves. I would also double-check that using such a fixture (on what I presume is a SCR dimmer) won't destroy the fixture, dimmer or both first.

Also if you need to diffuse the light, they sell sheets of that plastic stuff at most box stores. You could probably gaff some onto the reflector on the fixture if you need diffusion.

 

[Timothy A. Samuelson]

I wish I could help. The only time I've used the shop light configuration on stage, I was doing it for the look and harshness of the light. I lit an entire production of RENT with a whole bunch of these hanging at weird angles from the ceiling above the stage and audience and about 12 old school TVs running static except when a complete blackout was entirely necessary. i.e. Angel's Death. I got super lucky and got a few shop lights with bad ballasts. The few flickering lights made the whole concept take flight. I know that doesn't help you, but I had to share.

As far as your circumstance, this is why I keep a roll of CineFoil in my truck. Make you a shade with that and move on to the next challenge.

A situation that gave me a heart attack: I attended my brothers' high school band concert at the close of the last year. The following night, was the Jr. High concert. The jh director is a bit of a tinkerer. He had hung three shop lights from the ceiling above the stage for some effect he needed to achieve. He made shades with foam board (that stuff melts if it gets hot enough). To add to the infraction, he used orange extension cords against a black backdrop, AND none of them were hung level to the stage. I couldn't not stare at them. I never got to see the effect, but I sure hope it was worth it.

 

[sk8rsdad]

If you need some semblance of control over intensity there's always Rosco Color Sleeves or Apollo Gel Tubes with a neutral density filter, or any other colour you like.

 

[Les Engineer]

Does the script call for the lights to be visible? How is the actor supposed to manipulate them? An option that comes to mind is fitting the fixture with LED tube lamp replacements. The dimming will probably still suck, but it might be an improvement over the fluorescent tubes themselves. I would also double-check that using such a fixture (on what I presume is a SCR dimmer) won't destroy the fixture, dimmer or both first.

Also if you need to diffuse the light, they sell sheets of that plastic stuff at most box stores. You could probably gaff some onto the reflector on the fixture if you need diffusion.

Yes! making my own diffusers... why didn't I think of that? Thanks.

 

[JohnD]

For safety you should consider bulb guards:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_163817-337-...tURL=?Ntt=flourescent+light+sleeve&facetInfo=
You could also sandwich diffusion or get strips between the bulb guard and the lamp. Quicker than ordering the sleeves.

 

[Dover]

Back before there were LED tubes available I use to stuff those protector tubes with heavy diffusion and C9 or C7 Christmas lights. Yes the color temp was wrong but when all the other lights were incandescent it worked. It doesn't light up much but you could tell they were "on"

 

[Roger L. Lattin]

If they are standard tubes get color correct tubes T-5 or T-8s from kino-flo either tungsten or 2900s balanced. If you need to dim them there are several dimmer curves in the ETC Sensor system that don't work too badly. They work best with proper "shop lights", the cheep home center units with the small ballasts moulded into the plastic end caps are POS and don't dim well at all. Use ND gell wrapped around the tube and secure with JLAR tape. If getting proper tubes is not an option the major gell manufactures make sleeves with minus green color correction.

 

[Les Engineer]

Update: Yes, they definatly scan from the audience and yes, they're annoying. By the time I finish difffusing them I might as well have paid for the expensive (i.e. with diffuser) fixtures. Lesson learned.