Looking for a low-cost ocean waves effect.

[Stevens R. Miller]

I'm the lighting tech for a community theater production of "The Little Mermaid." Our director bought two of these ocean wave projectors to light some rocks in Ursula's Lair. To her dismay, the devices were each about the size of a paperback book, and relied on three 3W LEDs for their FX. Far too dim for stage use, even in a dimly lit scene.

So, she has asked me to look for alterntives. A DMX512 intelligent light with mixable colors, motorized gobos, and so on, would be great. However, she has also told me we've only got $100 to spend on this.

I'm fairly handy in the workshop and could fabricate something not too challenging. Used lights are always appealing, too.

Any suggestions?

 

[cbrandt]

Rent a couple gobo rotators with slow glass? You can get some pretty great effects out of those. Some of the old FlameFX units have some good options as well.

 

[MRW Lights]

I did the show in the fall with the same request. if you have the budget for them use the GAM FILM FX either with the waves or flames depending on the edginess of your desired wave. If you can't invest in the accessories themselves, you can rent the units typically for a good price and the FX Loop should run you around $100 each retail.

I'll see if I can get a release for the photos.

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

Thanks, both of you! Anyone used an American DJ H2O? Those look promising and are available on eBay for about US$70.

 

[JohnD]

How about a mechanical effect, long ago I was into building light show devices. For one device I used the rotator motor from a Christmas tree colorwheel, but instead of the color wheel, I used a disc of chromed steel (scrounged from an old recessed light fixture), I put a few bends in the steel and lit it with a film strip projector. It gave a very watery effect. Perhaps some chrome mylar and a barbque grill motor. Shine a spotlight or two on it and see what that looks like. You might do a search for aurora borealis , it is a similar effect and has been covered here a lot.
EDIT: If you are lighting this with incandescent ERS, do try the split gel technique.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

The most "ah inspiring" wave effect I've seen is two stage hands with a long piece of lightweight fabric, just down stage of the action, and any light projected across it. If space it tight, they could even stand in front of the stage and flutter it at chest height. A bigger piece with four - one at each corner - is also very cool. The "storm" can ebb and flow as well.

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

How about a mechanical effect, long ago I was into building light show devices. For one device I used the rotator motor from a Christmas tree colorwheel, but instead of the color wheel, I used a disc of chromed steel (scrounged from an old recessed light fixture), I put a few bends in the steel and lit it with a film strip projector. It gave a very watery effect.

That's an appealing idea. If we can't find one to buy soon, I may take a stab at something like that. Not everything has to be run by a computer, now does it?

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

The most "ah inspiring" wave effect I've seen is two stage hands with a long piece of lightweight fabric, just down stage of the action, and any light projected across it. If space it tight, they could even stand in front of the stage and flutter it at chest height. A bigger piece with four - one at each corner - is also very cool. The "storm" can ebb and flow as well.

That sounds impressive, Bill, maybe too much so. The director wants something that definitely says, "underwater," but it's not the focus of the scene.

Another problem is that this company has an unwritten policy of using minimal crews. Except for me, the spot operator, the sound tech, and someone to run the curtain, everyone else is an actor. Apparently, they've had some bad experiences with crewmembers just sort of going MIA sometime before the first curtain rises, so they try not to use them. Other companies around here have big crews, but that's just not how this bunch does things.

 

[JonathanHarpur]

Bump on a mylar strip bounce, but you might opt for a small fan blowing across them for ripple/movement effect, which is likely simpler and more brownian than that which a direct mechanical oscillating movement might provide. A cool effect, with the possibility of snacks for the crew - depending on your sources for mylar. It could be "all that, in a bag of chips".

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

Bump on a mylar strip bounce, but you might opt for a small fan blowing across them for ripple/movement effect, which is likely simpler and more brownian than that which a direct mechanical oscillating movement might provide. A cool effect, with the possibility of snacks for the crew - depending on your sources for mylar. It could be "all that, in a bag of chips".

Neat idea! I just dumped the remaining Ruffles into a jar, and opened the bag up flat. Just tried it with my pocket flashlight, but the reflection was promising. Maybe I need to cut it into several strips, so the various reflections move independently of each other?

 

[AudJ]

https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/effects-and-colors-to-simulate-water.6609/#post-282416
Here is one of a few old threads on the topic.

 

[JonathanHarpur]

Neat idea! I just dumped the remaining Ruffles into a jar, and opened the bag up flat. Just tried it with my pocket flashlight, but the reflection was promising. Maybe I need to cut it into several strips, so the various reflections move independently of each other?

If you cut it into strips, attach the ends of the strips flat at one end, loosely twist each and attach the other ends - like in a frame of some kind - so there's a little play, then blow a fan gently along the strips, the effect may be close to what you'd like.

You may need to fiddle with distances, angles and positions a bit.

 

[ship]

Jelly in the Jar, Jelly in the Jar... or something like that in a book for my daughter. Believe I read something from way back - like 50 to 100 years ago in book about something like a pan full of water and light shown on it from an angle. If light shown on the water, and that water moving a bit specific in rate to cue, it would reflect if designed to do so at the proper water image on the set.

Never tried such a thing but possibly worth looking into a concept of.

 

[Judge]

This is a great way to do it and I have done several versions of it. The most effective I used for a TV show.
1. Shallow tank that can be filled with water. You only need a few inches deep, but the wider the better.
Get some bits of broken mirror and lay them in the bottom of the tank
Then shine a big light on it - I used a 1200w HMI.
Then get a stage hand to a agitate the water with a stick.
Old skool and works a treat! Of course it all needs masking and may not work for you.

Another way is more automated and requires no mirrors to come to harm.
2. Lay strips of cooking foil shiny side up on floor and ruffle them a bit.
shine lights with gobo rotators onto them

If you have the budget for movers, the Mac 700 have great animation wheels that you can stick in front of a linear gobo and throw out of focus to project directly onto floor or set.