Star Drop

[theatreman22]

Hi everybody,
So I have a dilemma. We're working on an upcoming Christmas program for our church and I want to have a star drop in the back of the manger scene at the end (I think it'll be a really nice effect). Problem, as always, is cost. I live in Bermuda so renting one isn't really an option and we'd like to have it on hand to keep reusing. I found a couple online such as

buy LED Star Curtain/Cloth/RGB Horizon DMX Curtain 4mx6m (3in1 LED)-China LED Star Curtain/Cloth/RGB Horizon DMX Curtain 4mx6m (3in1 LED) reviews,price,picture

but I've read that many of these Chinese wholesalers are scammers and I don't need that hassle. My budget is about 500-800 bucks.
If buying one isn't an option then we're just gonna rig one up with christmas lights which shouldn't be too hard. Just thought I'd see if anybody had any input or good advice.
Our stage is about 4 x 6.5 m.
Thanks for your help!
Love this forum!
theatreman22

 

[sstolnack]

The way I've done a star drop was a dark grey drop with a bunch of small holes in it, hung a few feet in front of the cyc. We then light the cyc with ungelled cyc lights and some zip strips on the floor, so the white cyc, when it was lit, showed through the holes in the "star drop". It doesn't give quite the same effect, but it did look good.

 

[derekleffew]

See the thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-effects/14789-another-star-curtain-question.html for some alternatives to an LED or fiber-optic star drop. Italian lights (mini Xmas lights) safety-pinned to the back of your cyc works well too (hint: use Blacktak to cover random bulbs).

 

[xander]

This is mentioned in the link Derek provided.

Back before the pervasiveness of LEDs and fiber, etc, I always made star drops with monofilament and basic washers/nuts. Take the monofilament and tie in the washers or nuts at random intervals and hang a bunch of strings vertically off of a batten. Side light it and as the little washers spin they catch the light and look like they are twinkling. You may have to black out one side of the washer if they are "twinkling" too fast. Very easy and effective. Not super easy to store though...everything gets all tangled up if you are not careful.

-Tim

 

[Grog12]

Dang it xander way to beat me too it. Though you are missing one important element I always put into mine, wrap the nuts and washers in aluminum foil. Also you want to light the drop from the sides, I found a floor mount 36 degree ERS on either side worked best. It's a beutiful cost effective effect.

 

[venuetech]

have done the same but with sequins instead of washers.

 

[kicknargel]

Another way I've done is to hang a bunch of christmas lights from a batten (or on a wall) and then hang black cotton fabric (broadcloth, black muslin, etc) in front of them (it should be flame retardant). The weave of the fabric is open enough that you see the points of light through it. Black scrim also works.

You can hang strings of lights in big swags, or use net lights. Either way you want to bunch them up a little here and there to create a random pattern.

And, if the black had a bottom pipe, you can give it a little tug to set it swinging, and the stars will twinkle as the weave passes past the lights. We used to call whatever deck hand had that job the "twinkle technician."

 

[Dsotm75]

I've put together two stardrops in the past. The first one I built was a fiber optic stardrop, which looked OK...it took about 2 weeks working between classes to put together. I was kind of bummed out that the stars did not look as good as I would of hoped (we didn't have the budget to purchase nice light sources, so I built two three-circuit light sources with 120V MR16 lamps).

This past summer, I helped put together a star drop using an old blackout drop and christmas lights. We grommeted holes into the back drop, poked the chrismas lights through one by one, and it looked pretty awesome. The only downside to it was we had all of the departments helping us mask the lights still behind the blackout drop with a little bit of gaff tape around each light so that they didn't bleed through...Good times

Just forgot, we spend peanuts for the christmas lights because they were out of season and on clearance...

Just my two cents...Long story short, I think that the christmas light star drop looked better than the fiber optic stardrop