# Backlighting panels



## James waterkotte (Feb 9, 2015)

I am a music teacher who has been thrown into the technical theatre world as the tech director at my mew school in Switzerland. I am learning massive amounts everyday BUT we have a show coming up and the director just threw me for a loop. The director wants to have 5 movable panels made from recycled doorways covered with fabric so that actors can create shadows with backlight... The setup needs to be super simple and light weight because my crew is a bunch of 8th grade students... I was thinking of using flashlights but i get a hotspot and quick decay... Any ideas, help, advice????


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## robartsd (Feb 9, 2015)

James waterkotte said:


> setup needs to be super simple and light weight because my crew is a bunch of 8th grade students... I was thinking of using flashlights but i get a hotspot and quick decay...


So both the panels and the light sources need to be movable by 8th grade crew?
My first thought would have been to find a place to hang and focus the light source and have it stay there the durration of the show (perhaps finding a creative way to conceal the lights when the shadow panels are not in front of them.

What are the space requiremints/restrictions?


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## JohnD (Feb 10, 2015)

This has come up many times before, try a search for shadow puppetry . Here is one good one:
http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/shadow-puppetry.21697/#post-192804


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## Brandon Merkle (Feb 10, 2015)

Looking back at the thread JohnD linked; People mentioned using top hats, and it makes me wonder what an iris module in a Source Four would look like. http://www.usedlighting.com/313/sou...Phz5F4QAie5WhKGnZVZWfIV2uRlkec9xzcaAvk08P8HAQ

Mount the S4's on a moving spot stand, drop in those iris's. Obviously not a cost-effective method for an 8th grade production if you didn't already have everything you need lying around, but easy to position and spike, if you just combined that with some light foamboard or Luan frames with cheap muslin stretched across. Could even use bedsheet, as johnliles mentioned in the linked thread.


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## James waterkotte (Feb 12, 2015)

robartsd said:


> So both the panels and the light sources need to be movable by 8th grade crew?
> My first thought would have been to find a place to hang and focus the light source and have it stay there the durration of the show (perhaps finding a creative way to conceal the lights when the shadow panels are not in front of them.
> 
> What are the space requiremints/restrictions?


Yes, movable by 8th grade students.... As it is looking there will only be 1 meter between the backdrop and the panel.. The space we are working with is very limited


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