Light up windows

[Amy Worrall]

I need to make light up windows in our set. The scene is outdoor; act 1 takes place in daytime and the windows will be dark, act 2 takes place at night and windows should have an orange glow. (We're in the 1600s so it'll be akin to candles/lanterns inside.)

In the past I've tried frost gel in the windows and lighting it at an oblique angle with LED PARs, but that did not work well. I couldn't find a good enough angle that didn't spill light around the set and where the audience couldn't see the fixture through the frost. This year I want to do better.

One idea I had was: keep the frost, add LED strips on the back of the set around the edge of the window, and then a light coloured fabric behind everything (so that the LED strips reflect off the fabric). If I do this:
* Should I try and make the LED strips point across the window, or should I just stick them to the set and rely on the bounce/reflection for everything?
* What distance away should the fabric be? Should it be white or beige?
* Any tips on mounting the LED strip?

Also, any tips on which frost gel I should order for the window panes? I guess I need something very strong.

 

[jtweigandt]

Tissue paper instead of frost Gel... I made suspended "Sleep Tite" lettering in tissue and amber/red gel for the "neon" window sign in pajama game... Right in the middle of a big window.. oblique lighing.. I found tissue worked better than frost for this.
Also used that to light the story panels for Beauty and the Beast. Someone created them in stained glass paint, but we needed the tissue to pick up the light.. Again.. pretty bare stage, and spill wasn't noticed as there was nothing else for it to hit.

And by oblique angle.. I mean "skimming" Fixture completely hidden on the ground pointing up.. spill goes into the teasers.

 

[almorton]

I'd agree with tissue or perhaps even translucent fabric. We've done this in the past with a box behind the window, interior painted, and tape around the edges just pointing into the box. A few turns around the frame gives a reasonably even glow. One alternative we've used is instead of lighting the box periphery, light just an area of the back surface with a birdie - depending on the angles you can wangle this can give the impression of a candle or table lamp inside the room. We had the bottom of the box open and lit it with a birdie from below, grazing the back surface at about 60 degrees. Applying slight flicker helps.

 

[cbrandt]

I haven't used it on a stage, but I've had great success using "white" visqueen for this purpose for large building window lighting.

 

[sk8rsdad]

I’ve had more success highlighting whatever frames the window or is visible through the window. In your example I would try sidelight on the window frame, shutters, curtains, shrubbery or whatever may be available to bounce light from.

 

[cbrandt]

I’ve had more success highlighting whatever frames the window or is visible through the window. In your example I would try sidelight on the window frame, shutters, curtains, shrubbery or whatever may be available to bounce light from.

I second getting curtains in the window. People expect to see that, and it sells half the effect before you even turn the light on.

 

[StradivariusBone]

I did this with LED strips inside a frame between two pieces of muslin to catch the light from the strips. It worked well enough, but the individual LEDs were somewhat visible and it didn't look all that natural since the gradually lost intensity toward the center of the "pane". In that case it was on a revolve, so both sides of the window needed to be visible to the audience and we couldn't manage any sort of box or masking. In other situations, I've created some sort of scenic mask through the window and lit that instead.