Storm Lighting Effects

[Rex Lupa Primus]

I’m a high schooler working on a MS production of Once On This Island. There’s a storm/flood scene and I’m looking into water lighting effects. I have enough blue PARs to wash the stage and I’ll fluctuate their intensity to create general mayhem with the occasional flash of white light to accompany a thunder SFX. I want to throw a watery light over the entire stage to add to the setting. The ideal would be to rent a professional effects machine like the Chauvete Abyss USB, but that’s way out of the budget (the budget = 16 year old me). The same thing goes with renting/buying a gobo and rotator.


I’ve read about the “reflecting moving water in pan” idea in other threads, but with a horde of middle schoolers running around the space for a week, I’m not sure I want to use such a delicate set up and I don't have the resources or skills necessary to rig it above the stage. I’ve looked into cheap LED projectors used for decorating rooms, but at 8-9W I doubt one will be able to fill the entire stage or scrim.


We have two follow spots in the back of the house, and I’m thinking of having some kids move/rotate several layers of crumpled gel in front of those to get an effect similar to the gobo/rotator setup. I'll be able to test this idea in a day or two depending on when a snow storm lets up.


I have 6 Altman Shakespeare Ellipsoidals, 12 PAR cans, and 5 sets of 3 CYC strip lights, plus the two manual follow spots. No DMX/intelligent or LED lighting. Any thoughts? Are there other options? Is there anything else I can do to add to this atmosphere?

 

[NateTheRiddler]

I’m a high schooler working on a MS production of Once On This Island. There’s a storm/flood scene and I’m looking into water lighting effects. I have enough blue PARs to wash the stage and I’ll fluctuate their intensity to create general mayhem with the occasional flash of white light to accompany a thunder SFX. I want to throw a watery light over the entire stage to add to the setting. The ideal would be to rent a professional effects machine like the Chauvete Abyss USB, but that’s way out of the budget (the budget = 16 year old me). The same thing goes with renting/buying a gobo and rotator.


I’ve read about the “reflecting moving water in pan” idea in other threads, but with a horde of middle schoolers running around the space for a week, I’m not sure I want to use such a delicate set up and I don't have the resources or skills necessary to rig it above the stage. I’ve looked into cheap LED projectors used for decorating rooms, but at 8-9W I doubt one will be able to fill the entire stage or scrim.


We have two follow spots in the back of the house, and I’m thinking of having some kids move/rotate several layers of crumpled gel in front of those to get an effect similar to the gobo/rotator setup. I'll be able to test this idea in a day or two depending on when a snow storm lets up.


I have 6 Altman Shakespeare Ellipsoidals, 12 PAR cans, and 5 sets of 3 CYC strip lights, plus the two manual follow spots. No DMX/intelligent or LED lighting. Any thoughts? Are there other options? Is there anything else I can do to add to this atmosphere?

Something I've done before:
Try reflective aluminum foil or a piece of flexible aluminum from Home Depot, one foot square or so. Punch a hole in the corners to allow you to safety it to a batten. Hang PAR at a 45deg angle or so from batten. Attach a dowel or rod and gaff it to one of the gel frame clips. Gaff aluminum foil to the dowel, allowing it to sit somewhat loosely in front of the PAR. Hang a small office fan next to the PAR, aimed at the foil, and set it to oscillate. Power fan with non-dim. Bring non-dim then PAR to desired intensity when effect is wanted, and the foil will flutter in front of the PAR, scattering uneven rays across your stage (if you get your angles right). Provided you use a lighter color for the PAR then your majority wash color (say a cyan across a deep blue) and manage your intensity carefully, you'll get a nice shimmer that really creates a moving water illusion. Just be aware that if your foil is too flexible it may bend permanently away from your PAR, ruining the effect. If the aluminum is too stiff, it'll look flat and just be a giant reflector. Takes some trial and error to figure out.

A bit jury-rigged but I like the effect. <insert disclaimer> Your results may vary. Void where prohibited.

 

[Van]

^ Freaking brilliant.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Well, if you're serious, call around and see if you can find a way to rent an Atomic 3000. You might be surprised how cheap it could be.

(If you're *really* serious, and can find the power, get the 240V version. )

 

[Rex Lupa Primus]

Try reflective aluminum foil or a piece of flexible aluminum from Home Depot, one foot square or so. Punch a hole in the corners to allow you to safety it to a batten. Hang PAR at a 45deg angle or so from batten. Attach a dowel or rod and gaff it to one of the gel frame clips. Gaff aluminum foil to the dowel, allowing it to sit somewhat loosely in front of the PAR. Hang a small office fan next to the PAR, aimed at the foil, and set it to oscillate. Power fan with non-dim. Bring non-dim then PAR to desired intensity when effect is wanted, and the foil will flutter in front of the PAR, scattering uneven rays across your stage (if you get your angles right). Provided you use a lighter color for the PAR then your majority wash color (say a cyan across a deep blue) and manage your intensity carefully, you'll get a nice shimmer that really creates a moving water illusion. Just be aware that if your foil is too flexible it may bend permanently away from your PAR, ruining the effect. If the aluminum is too stiff, it'll look flat and just be a giant reflector. Takes some trial and error to figure out.

The snow let up and school's back in session, so I'll try this out today. It sounds like this will be something I'll have to play around with until I get it right. Thanks for the idea!

Well, if you're serious, call around and see if you can find a way to rent an Atomic 3000.

I'll look around and see if I can find some reasonable prices. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[jtweigandt]

Look at your sight lines before you get all excited about "painting the stage" with water effects. In some auditoriums, no one but balcony and booth can see
the effect anyway.. Make sure it's worth the pain.

I did paint the auditorium walls with 2 cheap 15 buck led blue water effect christmas style prism projectors
for the overature of Little Mermaid.... it made both reviews in the paper.. go figure.. cheap trick trumps those actors 6 weeks of dancing their hearts out.

example
https://www.google.com/search?q=chr...8KHT8UD-QQ9QEwBHoECAQQDA#imgrc=pBYqb6dhJ6EPuM:

That type of projector isn't enough to be seen with other stage lighting, but it makes a nice "we're not in Kansas anymore" moment for the audience.

The clock ran out on me, but I was also going to project a tropical aquarium on the walls for ambience pre show. Conventional projector is plenty bright for that.

 

[dbaxter]

jtweigandt, thanks for the link, but it shows 8 bazillion pictures of various units. Can you perhaps share the specific one you used? Thanks.

 

[jtweigandt]

I bought mine from either menards or lowes in season.. I also bought some later that had multi color capability, fire, water etc, but not with a simple switch
it was a single button to walk through various modes. they ended up not being useful because they don't retain the mode when powered down.
They looked more like a little box with a half globe lens. These are more of a full globe lens and simple.. still not bright enough for stage, but like I said could
be used for auditorium ambiance as the lights go down. look up Kaleidoscope spotlight on amazon... controlbooth wouldn't let my link go through.

 

[Rex Lupa Primus]

Look at your sight lines before you get all excited about "painting the stage" with water effects. In some auditoriums, no one but balcony and booth can see
the effect anyway.. Make sure it's worth the pain.

Sorry, I should clarify. When I wrote about throwing a "watery light over the entire stage" I wasn't thinking of having a distinct pattern appear on the floor, or anywhere for that matter. I'm looking more to have the same sort of pattern or light effect projected onto the stage, actors, set, and scrim to disrupt the even blue wash that will be flashing chaotically. It's a storm scene, so I'm trying to create as much commotion and confusion as possible from the flashing wash to the occasional white lightning strike, maybe even some fog depending on the school's fire detector situation.

 

[jtweigandt]

Sorry, I should clarify. When I wrote about throwing a "watery light over the entire stage" I wasn't thinking of having a distinct pattern appear on the floor, or anywhere for that matter. I'm looking more to have the same sort of pattern or light effect projected onto the stage, actors, set, and scrim to disrupt the even blue wash that will be flashing chaotically. It's a storm scene, so I'm trying to create as much commotion and confusion as possible from the flashing wash to the occasional white lightning strike, maybe even some fog depending on the school's fire detector situation.

Yep you will get more bang for your buck painting vertical elements like scrim, cyc, flats, actors...