Hiding actors onstage using lighting

[MistWalker]

I have an idea for a stageplay, however, for it to work without being reworked it requires a way to hide actors while they're onstage and dressed in white (facepaint etc. too). I've got a friend who says that she saw an example of it being done at the Edinburgh Fringe where they used certain colours of light to hide actors. Unfortunately she can't give me any more information than that.

To me it seems feasible although a bit unlikely with white clothing. Can anybody help with whether this is possible and how to go about it if it is?

 

[sk8rsdad]

It would be very tricky to find the right combination of lighting filter and fabric and paint pigment so an actor in white becomes the same color as the background they are standing against. Careful choice of angle and diffusion would be needed to prevent them from casting any shadow on themselves or their background when hidden and spoiling the effect. Using breakup patterns in the lights and a mottled background might help to make it more difficult to see the edges of the actors. The angle and/or colour of the light would need to change to increase the contrast between actor and background and reveal them. Tricky, but possible.

 

[Van]

Hmmm, Our actors never seem to have a problem hiding from the light when on stage....

 

[JChenault]

Hmmm, Our actors never seem to have a problem hiding from the light when on stage....

But Van.

Your actors are highly paid professionals.

 

[JChenault]

To the OP. just curious why the actors need to be on stage as opposed to coming through the upstage wall at the right time.

How long do they need to be up there. What does the wall they are hiding in front of look like, etc

 

[lwinters630]

The art of illusion.

Do they have to be pure white? (See the hidden image)



Can you use a white out with punch lights?

 

[Dreadpoet]

I didn't see that if you had said if they had a white back ground or not...what is their background? I like winters idea, you might also play with scrim/lighting. Frankly, no matter how much money or time or effort you put into, having someone appear from nowhere is only as good as the audience chooses to play along (examples: Phantom/Les Mis)

 

[JChenault]

Frankly, no matter how much money or time or effort you put into, having someone appear from nowhere is only as good as the audience chooses to play along (examples: Phantom/Les Mis)

That's what I thought until I saw Twyla Tharp's "Changing Room'. The dancers just appear from the fog upstage, and disappear back into it. Amazing effect

 

[zmb]

Actors don't find the light I turn on for them either. Is it me or them?

Using LED light combined with the right pigments can make items disappear. Discovered this with an LED test on stage, any color except Red made some hardware store red paint be darker than the real black paint on stage. Inversely, it can also make some colors "pop" while not messing with skin tones too much.

Something also tells me straight on front light could also help combined with strong backlighting.

 

[wallin6228]

What about using a gauze?

When lit from behind it becomes "invisible" but when lit from the front it isn't see through anymore.

 

[chausman]

What about using a gauze?

When lit from behind it becomes "invisible" but when lit from the front it isn't see through anymore.

Otherwise known as a scrim.

.

 

[wallin6228]

Otherwise known as a scrim.

.

Oh yes my bad it's more commonly called a gauze in the UK. But I guess it's a scrim in the USA. I guess you do learn a new thing each day......

 

[cadcoke5]

I have used a light curtain before. It is a very thin fan of light coming from an upstage source, and visible because of a heavy haze (or well dispersed fog). Of course, lasers are sometimes used this way, but as soon as you start aiming powerful lasers where people can go, the rules and laws get understandably tougher.

The laser will allow the swirls of smoke to be outlined, but you don't need a super thin beam for the "light curtain" effect. Just what a "derby" disco light puts out is fine, and perhaps puts out more total light than the lasers used for this type of effect. I have an old non-moving fanned "derby" light that has a 5inch bulb. It looks very much like a laser type beam. Other, more contemporary, but non-led versions can have their motors disabled for the same effect.

I should mention, that the above is assuming a very dark theater, and a black stage. But, but I have not tried this with white clad actors. If they show up, you can hide them by using black-clad ninja-crew holding up a black cloth between their hands. They simply drop the cloth when the actors need to step forward of the beam.

When the actors step in front of the light-curtain, they will be seen in silhouette. But, it may be possible to have a bit of side lighting on that area of the stage. Note that it would need to be well controlled to avoid putting light upstage of the light-curtain before their reveal.

Visible light sources around the stage, as long as they don't cast much light on the hidden areas, will also help make it harder to see into the shadows.

Regarding the monochromatic light approach, I do recall reading about it. The idea is that an actor dressed in red, standing in front of a white background will somewhat disappear if they are illuminated with a monochromatic red light, since both they and the background will be the same color. But, if you switch to a white light, you will see red actors on a white background. If you switch to a monochromatic blue light, then the actors will be black, against a blue background.

If my recollection is correct, this all was some very early experimentation in the development of theatrical lighting. The whole monochromatic thing is unnecessary for the effect if you can light the actors and the backdrop separately. Something we take for granted nowadays. Though, I imagine you still need your actors dressed in a single color.

Joe Dunfee