OnStage Electric Shock /Person Electrocuted SFX

Dibio

New Member
Hi,

I am looking for ideas for a theatrical scene where a person gets an electric shock. Ideally "blowing a fuse" would be involved but that entails hiring a pyrotechnician etc. My idea is that the character grabs a hanging cable and the audience sees some sort of "electric lightning bolt" going through his body OR at least at the point of contact with the cable. I thought of using a battery operated LED string so that I could press the button and a blue light flickering will occur. Can someone suggest any other idea? Thank you
 
Flickering stage lights, and a well timed sound fx would do the trick.
 
Agreed, flicker dip the lights on stage, maybe have a single very short duration bright flash. If you can use a robotic for the blowing fuse, so much the better, but it's not essential.
 
Bright LED strobe, illuminating the performer. 2-ish flashes at the moment of "electrocution" will, along with the sfx make a convincing shock
 
Can you hide a small smoke effect by the actor's feet and/or add a strobe above or behind them? Or maybe have them palm a small strobe flashlight or attach it to the end of the cable that they can trigger? If you have blinders that you can use to flash the audience with that would also probably help too.

If the lights come back up and the scene continues after the shock, I think selling the gag is as much about what happens right before and after the effect as the immediate effect itself.
 
Can you hide a small smoke effect by the actor's feet and/or add a strobe above or behind them? Or maybe have them palm a small strobe flashlight or attach it to the end of the cable that they can trigger? If you have blinders that you can use to flash the audience with that would also probably help too.

If the lights come back up and the scene continues after the shock, I think selling the gag is as much about what happens right before and after the effect as the immediate effect itself.
smoke is, unfortunately, out of question, due to stringent venue rules. I like the "small strobe flashlight" idea though. I will research on that. Most of the flashlights switch to strobe AFTER a few solid modes and that is not very convenient. The reason why I thought of a led string is that I can warp it around the actor and he can hold the trigger button and it may look as if there are streaks of light all around. Even some fiber optic might work I suppose, but the ones I saw are more of a flower/dome or a whip type.
 

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