Chinese Lanterns

[lewisurwin]

Hello all, I wondered if anyone had any suggestions as im trying to rack my brains about this one

Director has asked for around 10-15 "chinese lanterns" for a production. We eventually settled on paper lanterns (that are basically circular lamp shades made from paper chinese style)

Then comes the light part, I need to have some kind of lighting inside them, and they will be hung from the ceiling with something like fishing wire (they are only paper) and initially I was thinking standard small LED's connected in a little circuit with a removable battery for future use, but after trialling this it was not bright enough.

I need something that is similar to the bulb in a torch (ideally a little bit brighter) and needs to be powered by battery, but all I have found are LED or halogen lamps (like ones that can be ceiling mounted) that are 12V so I cant mount a massive 12V battery inside a circular paper lantern, but something that bright would be amazing, or am I simply missing something obvious?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if its just pushing me in the right direction

Cheers! - Lewis

 

[Van]

How long do these need to be on? Are you locked into them being "Wireless" / batt-op'd? Must they appear to be floating eg the monofliament ?

 

[lewisurwin]

How long do these need to be on? Are you locked into them being "Wireless" / batt-op'd? Must they appear to be floating eg the monofliament ?

Well the idea is to hang them from the lighting rigs, and no thats not such a crucial issue they can have wires, one option I have just been suggested is use kynar wire as its flexible up the fishing wire and connect it to a suitable power supply, but if its easy enough for everything to be inside the lamp then that would be good, so they could be used again without too much hassle, if not then o well!

 

[derekleffew]

Not that I'm advocating or suggesting this, but something I have seen (but I personally, of course, have never ) done:

Black, white, or brown zip-cord, "festoon sockets", and 15W-25W bulbs. The zip-cord hangs the 2oz. paper lanterns. All plug together using "add-a-taps" and the home-run goes on a dimmer. If desired, wire the fixtures randomly into 3 or 4 multiple circuits/dimmers so they can be chased/flickered.

Nice effect, (or so I've heard).

The above represents design concepts and construction suggestions only. Neither the author nor ControlBooth is/are qualified to determine the structural, mechanical or electrical appropriateness of this design and will not be held responsible for its use. All rigging should be evaluated and approved by a structural engineer prior to construction. All equipment, and installation of said equipment must comply with the most stringent applicable safety and fire codes.

 

[Van]

Hey You stole my suggestion Derek!
I once made a "chandelier" of sorts for a Nike trade show, it consisted of around 200 "Chinese Lanterns" the globe kind hung in the manner that you suggested. They ranged in size from 36" to 8". It was really pretty.

 

[icewolf08]

Yeah, he stole mine too! Some of that style lanterns even come with a prewired lamp base and the structure of the lantern is designed to support itself from the zip cord. Here is an example:

You can sort of see the zip running up from the lanterns. No splicing was required, the lamp bases came with tails long enough to go up to the batten and then be adapted to stage pin.

 

[derekleffew]

...Some of that style lanterns even come with a prewired lamp base and the structure of the lantern is designed to support itself from the zip cord. ...

Yeah. That's what I meant. Use a UL-Listed socket and cord with a molded, polarized male plug already attached. Something like this.

As for filing down the polarized blade so they fit into Add-A-Taps, well...

lewisurwin, these are what you originally asked for: a battery powered (3@ AAA, LED) "chinese lantern".

I didn't steal anyone's ideas. I've just done too many High Roller Chinese New Year parties in Casino Ballrooms.

 

[len]

There's a number of places that sell all types of paper lanterns, different sizes, etc., and have led, battery, etc., powered lights for them. just google "chinese paper lanterns" and you'll find a number of sites. I use cultural intrigue but there's plenty others.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

No, Derek stole my idea.

 

[Dillon]

+1 for the less-than-code zip cord...

If wireless becomes more of an issue, I was initially thinking of a AA battery pack running a string of Christmas lights.... ball up a string of 8 or 12 and stuff the whole shebang into the lantern. I've seen plenty of these setups in stores around the holidays... this time of year you may have to hit the web.

 

[Les]

You could also use these "Chinese Lanterns"

 

[BillESC]

On the seventh of June we're hanging 40 of the paper lanterns in a 60 x 40 frame tent. Zip cord, add-a-taps and add-a-plugs are the way we're going.

 

[DarSax]

Hah. I'll give you that one, Les. But just this once.

 

[Les]

I'll have to admit, I felt pretty clever for doing that.

 

[BillESC]

Here's a pic of the job I mentioned above.

 

[derekleffew]

Here's a pic of the job I mentioned above.

But I don't see any 12/3 SOOW! May we see a night picture?

 

[rosabelle334]

Here's a pic of the job I mentioned above.

Oh wow, that looks beautiful! I want to do something like that for my Sweet 16.

 

[Wolf]

hey Rosco sells flicker candles. On a production that I worked we had to have a large birthday cake with candles on it. We got some candles from rosco inserted them on the cake and circuited them together they are made to flicker on their own so that was taken care of. The power source was only batteries that was paced inside the cake with a VERY small switch on the side of the cake for the actor to turn off. So basicly what I was thinking was get the candles (flicker is taken care of) place them inside the lantern and either add a batterie with them or circuit them together and run them to dimmers. I cant remember how much power each one takes but we didnt use many batteries so im sure its not. Just search for the candles on rosco's web site (even if you dont use them they're good to now about I think).

Hope this helps