# Aurora Borealis



## 030366 (May 9, 2009)

I'm designing _Almost, Maine _this summer, and the Aurora is an integral part of the play. So, as LD, I need to make it happen. Any ideas on how to do this? I have a few ideas...but probably none of them are good. Also, apparently the Aurora has a million faces, so I'm not sure what kind of final product I should be shooting for. The original picture in my head looked kind of like this:




But now that I've looked around a bit, it seems that this is more common:



Any opinions? Ideas? Much like most other theatres, we don't have a lot of technology to play with.


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## gafftapegreenia (May 9, 2009)

If you can afford them, Rosco Colorizers!!!!



Especially when used as side light streaking across a cyc or at other angles, they can look awesome.


If you are cheap, the old piecing together gel trick might work.


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## 030366 (May 9, 2009)

Don't forget that the Aurora moves and pulsates.


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## gafftapegreenia (May 9, 2009)

Gobo rotators, selective chases, maybe even moving lights?

If you had the budget maybe rent a projector or digital light?

It's really up to you there are alot of options, but what is your budget like?


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## 030366 (May 9, 2009)

The budget is something we need to "talk about", which means we probably won't get one. Ha. We do, however, own two gobo rotators. We have a few Trackspots, but I don't know how to use intelligent light fixtures....not as if that sort of technicality has ever stopped me before, but I really don't believe there is enough time to learn it for this show. Perhaps a combination of the rotators with a chase? I figured I'd be cutting my own gobos for this anyway, so I'm all set for that. What specifics do you suggest?


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## gafftapegreenia (May 9, 2009)

I don't really have any specifics. That's kind of a CB thing, we don't always want to tell you WHAT to do, we give you ideas and suggestions to help you on the creative path. This seems like its more a trial and error thing than a "this is how to do it" effect. 

At least you have some equipment and creativity at your disposal. I'm sure with a creative use of gobos, rotators and programming, you can get a satisfying look.

Also, here is an article from GAM on splicing gel colors: SplitGel : Mixed Color Split Gels from GAM : Lighting Equipment For Architectural, Specialty & Theatrical Effects


Remember I"m only one person others will surely have other/better ideas/suggestions.


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## 030366 (May 9, 2009)

Thanks! I figured if I asked here, I would get many different opinions and I could mash it all up into something that works for us. What about the shape of the Aurora? Do you guys think it should be that snakish wavy-line look, or the spikey Windows Media Player look? Or something in between? It's hard to get an idea of what audiences would accept as What The Aurora Borealis Looks Like.


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## MNBallet (May 9, 2009)

I just have to correct the record from Gaftapegreenia.

Those are not Colorizers, they are Color Waves.
I've been asked to create the Northern Lights as well next fall, so I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread too. I was thinking of going with Color Waves and a textured glass in a double rotator. If I can muster up the money.

Kenneth Pogin
Production / Tour Manager
Minnesota Ballet


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## bobgaggle (May 10, 2009)

Or go the easy way

projector paints the aurora borealis on your walls on [technabob]

Im sure this thing won't have the throw distance you need, but maybe some modifications to the device could better suit it to your purposes


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## gafftapegreenia (May 10, 2009)

MNBallet said:


> I just have to correct the record from Gaftapegreenia.
> 
> Those are not Colorizers, they are Color Waves.
> I've been asked to create the Northern Lights as well next fall, so I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread too. I was thinking of going with Color Waves and a textured glass in a double rotator. If I can muster up the money.
> ...



Hm, I like the idea of a texture glass in a rotator and the color wave static.


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## derekleffew (May 10, 2009)

030366 said:


> ...It's hard to get an idea of what audiences would accept as What The Aurora Borealis Looks Like.


The audience will accept a black backdrop as long as the acting is good. Resist the urge to create a stunning, spectacular effect--one that cannot help but "upstage" the performers.

Moving background images can be quite detrimental to the delivery of the message of the spoken word.

Just my 2¢.


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## NJLX (May 10, 2009)

I did Almost, Maine 2 years ago, and here's what I did:

Use Cyc lights with Red, Green, Blue Gels.

Manually fade these in and out for your effect, varying them each time, so they're not the same(works best if you have more than one channel per color, like L/R, or even one channel per bank of cyc lights)

We only did this at the ends of the scene, so maybe 5-10 seconds of northern lights per scene

We performed this at our regional one-act festival, and I got a special commendation for lights

you could also do it with cues/effects/chases, but i find it's better to do it manually, you get a unique effect each time, but it's still controllable


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## seanandkate (May 10, 2009)

Other things I might try in conjunction with the gobo rotator: A linear disk on an animation wheel. If you had a scroller you weren't using, a custom colour scroll with aurora colour slowly going end-to-end might also get you part way there . . .


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## 030366 (May 10, 2009)

derekleffew said:


> Moving background images can be quite detrimental to the delivery of the message of the spoken word.



I agree. Thanks for the reminder.

So Nathaniel, you didn't do anything to affect the shape of the light, just changed the cyc colour? That worked for the audience?


seanandkate said:


> Other things I might try in conjunction with the gobo rotator: A linear disk on an animation wheel.


I have no idea what you're saying, haha. What is a linear disk? What is an animation wheel?


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## NJLX (May 10, 2009)

the audience loved it. it wasn't too complicated, so it didn't distract from the show, but it was enough like the actual aurora that the audience understood it

i think it helped to have almost waves of color, moving from left to right, or right to left, with some random coloring thrown in.

how i actually worked it: 
6 faders, 1 L and 1 R for each color
one finger on each fader, move from left to right, right to left, sometimes an occasional twitch of the finger thrown in. smooth transitions, just play around with it until you find a speed that looks right


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## seanandkate (May 10, 2009)

030366 said:


> I have no idea what you're saying, haha. What is a linear disk? What is an animation wheel?





Something like this Infinity Wheel from Rosco:
Rosco UK : Lighting Equipment : Infinity Gobo Animation Device

I would try the linear breakup wheel or triangle breakup wheel, that way you get the undulating wave thing going on with the projection. If you have a place that rents them, see if they can let you try a couple wheels to see what works best. It's often hit-and-miss. (I'm lucky in that I work really close to the Canadian office for Rosco, so I will drift by and me and one of their technicians can try some things out to see what works best . . .)

Good luck!


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## porkchop (May 11, 2009)

I really like animation wheels and if you had the equipment on hand I would suggest using them very slowly using higher saturation for times where lights can briefly take over the stage. That being said I have actually seen the Aurora Borealis (or whatever version of the phenomenon is sometimes seen in the northern United States) and what Nathaniel explained on the cyc would be a lot more similar to what I saw than the pictures you commonly see or any kind of color wave. Another wonderful part of this idea is you can use effects (obviously the more effects you use the more time it will take but a larger variety of background effects can be achieved) and that way you could have a slower changing less eye catching effect for moments where the actors must command the viewers attention and more dynamic more bold backgrounds can be used to bump up the attention on the environment. You of course can always use faders for even biggest element of random in the effect but I like pre programed effects.


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## epimetheus (May 13, 2009)

On a tight budget I think I'd go with Nathaniel's solution. Keep it simple and like Derek said, you don't want to upstage the acting.


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## 030366 (May 13, 2009)

On the other hand, though, this has to be somewhat of a showpiece, since this is a high-visibility gig for me, one that will introduce my work to a lot of key people--the sort of people who are impressed by theatricality. No matter what it looks like, there's always still a way to introduce the effect subtly.

I've been messing around with some stuff, and I think it might look really nice as executed with gobo rotators and homemade gobos. I didn't think split gels would look so good, but they actually look a lot better than I thought they might.

Still open to suggestions, though. I asked around about the animation wheel and that's not possible for us.


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## godd2 (Sep 3, 2009)

*aurora borialis affect*

This fall we are doing a production that requires an effect that simulates the northern lights. Since we want it to be dark upstage with "star fiber optics", the white cyc with lighting on it doesnt work. 

so this is where i am at right now.

1.have bought a lower end hazer and am using water based fluid.
2.since the fire alarms are an issue, we have trap doors in the ceiling cracked open to allow escape before the haze builds up. does effect the hang time though. anyone think that oil based fluid may do better in this situation?
3. so began testing yesterday and found that the fresnels I had hoped to use dont really show up well, so I am going to have to use an ellipsoidal. since I do not want "beams" of light but more area of light, I am thinking of using a 50 degree source four with diffusion gel on it and then pointing it up. 
Do you guys think this will give me a decent spread that isnt too defined? should I run the barrel also to make it more hazy? would the source 4 with out any lens maybe be bright enough to show up unlike the fresnel? 
4. I am planning on using 2 small fans to help spread out the hazer quickly and then 2-3 more to try and help push it upstage so it doesnt go out into the audience too much. this sound like a good idea? my origianl idea was a black scrim to help control it but dont have the budget.

thanx for the advise

[Edit by mod: This post moved here from another thread.]


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## SHARYNF (Sep 3, 2009)

Living in the land of the aurora, you might want to look at some video footage

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIXs6Sh0DKs[/media]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icugqEEOgkg&NR=1

Basically when it is being seen the effect is very different from the static photo graphs. It can best be described as a plusating curtain, that fades in and out. Colors tend to vary.

I would think that actual video projection would be an option 
or using some downward and upward pointing gell'd pars or led pars that you cycle in a rippling effect. there is a very definite curved curtain type of effect that is quite dramatic when seeing it live
it all happens a LOT slower than in the video clip

It is hard to explain and a lot of the effects that I have seen really don't look like the real thing. First of all it does not occur in a circular pattern but rather as I said like a curtain

I had an artist do an installation to simulate the effect in a venue once. what he used was a series of clear plastic rods hanging in a curving pattern and then a set of color changing pars giving the lighting effect
That worked for a permanent install but not very practical for just a simple set

I tend to always tend toward video projection, so an option would be to project the effect onto a black drape



Sharyn


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## MNBallet (Sep 5, 2009)

So any updates of things tried yet? photos? My show to make the Northern Lights isn't until October. I had an idea yesterday of trying some cheap painters plastic (sold in a big roll, very, very thin stuff .31 mil, 12' wide strips) and doing vertical strips of it in front of a black curtain. The stuff is so thin that normal air flow will move it around slowly, but is clear so all we'll see is mostly the black curtain. Throw a few LED units and the plastic might pick up a "sheen" of color that slowly dances. Anyone have access to a thater to try this out, cause I don't. Would love to see if this works.

Ken Pogin
Production Tour Manager
Minnesota Ballet


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## edmedmoped (Sep 5, 2009)

We had to make the Northern Lights for our summer production (Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy), because one of the books is called Northern Lights...

I think we did pretty well. At the beginning (way before programming and rigging started), we watched a video of a theatre that was doing the same production, and their go at the Northern Lights. Compared to ours, theirs was pathetic! There's was just 8 or 10 spots moving around randomly on the cyc.

We had a day to devise something, so we put two MAC 250+s backstage left and right, side-on to the cyc. They were cycling green, blue, purple and probably something else, and we also had some green and blue PAR cans on the cyc.

Just realised that wasn't really much help hah. I was busy with recording sounds and rigging the strobe and smoke on that day.

I'll try and find the video of the other one I mentioned.


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## MNBallet (Sep 18, 2009)

Good news!
I tried out my idea of the very thin painters plastic today. First off, it didn't look good front lit, so I tried directly from the bottom. Didn't look quite right either. So, I moved it back a bit and BINGO! backlit was the way to go. It looked so real as the plastic swayed around, the light danced among the cuves and billiows. Of course I had only one led can on the floor as an experiment. I'll have over 16 hung from above for the show. I also thought that seeing the plastic directly will not look too good, so I'm going to throw a scrim in front. Pictures and a youtube video from the show will be posted in early to mid Novemeber.

Ken Pogin
Production / Tour Manager
Minnesota Ballet


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## Dalamar (Sep 19, 2009)

Hey folks, I may be out of my league here, so feel free to let me know. 


But why is it that, throughout the thread, I kept thinking the words "diluted flourescent paint" added to lighting effects?

From the first post on, I'm thinking that we shouldn't discard the simple yet quite efficient invisible UV paint enhencement. 

Am I way off the track here?


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## edmedmoped (Sep 19, 2009)

Found the video I mentioned three posts above:

Northern Lights

Fail.

EDMEDIT: Website no longer exists


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## MNBallet (Oct 19, 2009)

well, my Northern Lights was a huge sucess!

I hung 28 LED units (16 10mm type and 6 3watt type,) all in a row on the line right in front of the cyc all pointed straight down, and 6 3watt from the front. Then on the next line up I hung some painters plastic. at first I did two layers of it, but cut it down to one for the show. Then I had a scrim in front of the plastic. I had a hard time keeping the platsic from static cling to the drop cause they were so close. I would have wanted more room but couldn't get it. I just had 2 crew memebers then stand in the wings with fans and had them move the fan around to keep it from sticking to the cyc or scrim. I've got to say that the effect was very real! The LED's were on a random program I had running on a laptop (AMDJ MyDMX).

The review said this about it: " ....ending with Acker (a dancer) moving in and out of shadows, momentarily silhouetted. In a piece about the aurora borealis, I would have liked to have seen Gardner (the Artistic Director) take more advantage of such dramatic

lighting.



I'll post a link to a video I'll put up on youtube when I get the video from our professional that taped it.

Kenneth Pogin
Production / Tour Manager
Minnesota Ballet


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## carrot (Nov 9, 2009)

Wow! I'm excited to see the movie of your Aurora! It sounds like it was awesome.


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