The Giver

As the title suggests, I am working on the production of The Giver at my high school. There are a lot of effects to be done since we are doing the production in B&W with pops of color (as per the script). Most of them are already planned, in progress or working. There is one effect, however, that is stressing me out - the books. Throughout the course of the production, over 1,200 books change from black and white to, "every shade imaginable." They have to change in phases, there are no scene change opportunities, and they are seen at almost all times. A lot of ideas were juggled around, and about three weeks ago we settled on building 1,200 books that light up a color from the inside, but are colorless on the outside. I felt that this was the easiest and cheapest way to create a realistic looking set of books.

I was almost right. The issue is that, as you might have guessed, there are 1,200 books to light up! Building them was going to happen anyway, but as the person wiring them, it seems impossible to get 1,200 books done by my deadline, simply because of how we're wiring them up - re-purposed Christmas lights.

My question posed to you all is if there is a better way that won't break the bank. I have a few ideas that I simply don't know exactly how to execute or how to make nor what products would work. The BEST thing for what I'm working on right now would be a string of lights I can put through all of the books that I can individually control over DMX or another control protocol. Kind of like an EPiX Strip, but in rope or even individual light form.

Another idea was using fluorescent paints or pigments to reveal color. However, I do not know of any pigments (though I'm sure they are out there) which are colorless when lit by anything other than UV lights. The other issue is how to isolate the individual sections of books - which essentially means a controllable UV fixture, like an ellipsoidal. Ideally, there would be a way to stick a UV bulb in our existing S4 or Leko fixtures (G9.5 base lamp would be great), but I doubt something exists quiet like that.

I'd really love any ideas I can get. Post them here, PM or email me. While I'd rather not spend my time wiring up 1,200+ lights, I can do it if necessary. I just would like to keep up with school while I'm at it.
 
How many colors do you need. In groups or do they change. IE red to green to blue.

Can you back light them? Use coroplast white And put gel paper inside. Lit from front is white, from back is color.

Or fiber optics

Or led projectors from the rear

Or led TV tape off and turn on the book channel.

Focus three ellipsoidals all on same spot of books, gel red, blue, green. Shutter edges. All colors make white, then you can blind them.
 
The books go from black and white to color. Each book need only be one color. I can settle with groups, but would prefer to have each color of book randomly distributed throughout the room of books.

The books are constructed in units per shelve with individual cells for each book. The plan has been to use string lights from behind (the faces are tracing paper), so I can easily make big sections of books that are the same color without difficulty. I'd prefer not to, so I'm looking for better options - projections from the rear are not an option. Coroplast would be wonderful, but is a little on the expensive side. The larger issue is that we see the color red first, and then blue, and then additional colors from there. Fiber optics are not the right choice for the application, as they don't cast enough light.
 
I think 12v led tape is your best bet. RGB for flexibility, or if you only need each book to be a single color throughout the show, buy several colors of one color reels. Cut it up and stick it where you need it. It's pretty cheap from China, and DMX drivers are readily available.
 
Paint the books on muslin or some other translucent material. On the back side glue or staple colour filters.

When front-lit they are black and white. When back-lit they are coloured. If you need more control over specific books or areas of books, use shadow boxes and/or more focusable lighting fixtures to isolate certain spines.
 
Paint the books on muslin or some other translucent material. On the back side glue or staple colour filters.

When front-lit they are black and white. When back-lit they are coloured. If you need more control over specific books or areas of books, use shadow boxes and/or more focusable lighting fixtures to isolate certain spines.
The problem is that there are over a thousand books. Sadly, that method just doesn't work for how many we need.

Definitely seeing a lot of LED tape suggestions, and I'll look into it.
 
We did a production of The Giver last year and I struggled with this same dilemma. Our color scheme was more grayscale and not just Black and white. thought of UV with invisible paint on the books. that didn't work I couldn't get the punch of color I needed. then, I thought of LED strips but the wiring was going to be a nightmare to finish within my production schedule. So, I ended up buying vacuum form books, Making a glaze of primary colors painting the backs of the books. on the front we lightly sprayed gray tones on the front of the books. the make the colors appear I used a Light Source behind the books.
This show was for a one act competition so space was limited and everything was confined in a Hollywood flat. It had some "Hot spots" but, it was the best solution for our needs. I had 8 different circuits of lights so some were brighter than others as the show progressed they all were bright.

For the single book I used 4 Strips of Red LEDs behind one book.

The apple I ended up using a plastic apple from Hobby Lobby gutting it and put a remote controlled RF relay and LED strips inside and glued the apple back together. for the outside sprayed it with a light coat of paint.
 

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@TDDCAW,
Looks pretty good. If you had the time, I'm sure you could have come up with some way to even out the lighting from within the books. I'd also recommend varying the shades of grey on the outside - keeping in mind the value of the inside color. Lots of little refinements that could be done, but this would be the path I'd be heading down if I were facing the OP problem.
 
I projection designed a production of The Giver last year. Our set was mainly projection screens, and the library unit had a screen that switched between books and the memories. To fit your situation, I would suggest mapping a projection to your wall of books. Find a good location for a projector and, from that exact spot, take a photo of the books. Bring that photo into photoshop and make a layer of colored overlays for each new set of books that receives color.
 
Just for information, the company that commissioned the script (Oregon Children's Theatre) did an encore production of it in my room last season, and all of the library was projected, so it was just a matter of cueing to change the book colors.

The projector mapping seems like a great idea for a production with physical books.
 
I've always thought projections like that would look horrendous. The lights on the lights just washes everything out, especially with the projectors I have access to. I think I'll end up with blocks of books and the original electrical plans I outlined above. It won't be perfect, but I simply can't afford anything more.

The main problem is actually our set design choice, which are essentially 6 4'x12' hard flats with shelves on 1' centers. Lots of books, and all close enough to the actors that projections would either be washed out or on the talent.

I know - I've got an excuse to make color changing books. Life sucks.
 
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This video is the one that finally sold me on fully projected scenery. Though I'm sure I'll never have the ability to do it with the places I work. Just takes a lighting designer who knows how to work with the projection designer and director.
 
So, it's been a week since we closed our production of The Giver. Eventually, we went with LED tape inside each book unit. I really must thank the several parents and students who put in around 3,000 hours worth of work to accomplish this (we messed up many, many times along the way - but that's educational theater!). In the end, we got a great effect and even a mini-rave out of it. No photos from behind the scenes, but here are a whole bunch from our matinees! Thanks to everyone who responded above. If I were to do it again... projections for sure.

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Wish you would of gotten a picture of the wiring I bet it took a while to do all the books. They turned out very well. High Five!
 
Wish you would of gotten a picture of the wiring I bet it took a while to do all the books. They turned out very well. High Five!
Thanks! It took five people two weeks - everything kept breaking! I must admit I intentionally didn't take pictures of backstage because then there'd be proof of the "ghetto tech" portion of our department.
 
Nothing wrong with a spaghetti factory every once in a while.
 

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