# Making a Star Curtain



## tiptontheatre (May 3, 2014)

Hello everyone!

This is my first time posting to control booth, though I have been "lurking" on the site for answers to questions for quite some time... 

I am directing Shrek this fall and would love to have a star curtain for the Act 1 finale scene/song. However, because of the brevity of that part of the show, I would hate to shell out tons of money to buy or rent one. Time is not much of an issue, though, (I am in college, so I have plenty of time over the summer to build things). 

Here's the thing - The High School where my theatre performs is getting new curtains, and they are donating all of their old curtains to the theatre to use how we wish (4 black legs, 4 black headers, 2 black travelers, 1 red traveler, and 1 red header). My thoughts were that I would use the black curtains to make our own fiber optic star curtain. I'm hoping to do it as "correctly" as possible, as I would like it to be something that the theatre could then have to use for future shows. 

So, I guess I am asking for any advice for the process of creating it, best place to buy fiber optic strands/light sources, etc... or if this would be a complete waste of time?

One other random question: I was planning on using one of the sets of travelers and "stretching" it out flat to create a drop, however has anybody ever created a star curtain that actually IS a traveler curtain? Is that even possible? 
That doesn't really affect much, but I was just wondering what my options would be.

Thank you!


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## QED (May 4, 2014)

Yes it is possible to have a star drop as a traveler. For Willy Wonka our theatre decided to purchase two star drop panels and hang them on the traveler track. We purchased a two color LED star drop with white and blue LEDS. I had to be a little creative with running cables to the two drops. The fact that the drapes are LED made it much easier to travel because I only had to run a 5 pin DMX cable to each drape and not have to wory about bulky fiber optic cable and fixtures. 

I have wanted a star drop in my space for a long time but I was in the same situation where it was not cost effective to rent or purchase one for a single show. One of the best ways I was able to get a star effect was to use pin spots and half mirror balls ( I literally cut mirror balls in half and mounted them on a plate that could rotate). I used this effect in two different shows, in one show had the stars appear on a black drop, and in the second show I got creative and used the stars on the ceiling of the house to really make the audience feel immersed in the show. I found that the mirrors made far more realistic stars then a gobo pattern ( I used gobos for stars in Aida and did not like the results at all). I have also used fishing line with nuts and bolts. If you reflect light off of nuts and bolts at an angle you can create a great looking star field. There are also some lasers that create a star field effect. Basically there are several ways to get a great star field effect without a drop.

Another thing to consider is you are going to want a fabric back covering to protect the fibers if you do make your own drop. I too was going to make my own star drop until I priced out all the parts ( I had to buy fabric) and realized I was only saving about $100. How I was finally able to justify the cost of a star drop to my superiors was that I showed how it could be used in all 5 shows of the current season and with the cost divided by 5 the price seemed far more reasonable to the budget gods. 

Good luck.


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## len (May 5, 2014)

tiptontheatre said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> This is my first time posting to control booth, though I have been "lurking" on the site for answers to questions for quite some time...
> 
> ...



I have one that is 12' x 20' for rent. Get me your need dates. Maybe it would be worth it to rent


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## jglodeklights (May 5, 2014)

I'm guessing the traveler has some form of fullness? Probably 100%? Rather than trying to stretch it flat, which is going to be a pain to keep flat, I'd use a seam ripper to pull the stitches as the top, and resew to a new piece of jute or poly webbing and cut to the appropriate width. There actually isn't reason you couldn't convert the traveler to a 0% fullness good with fiber optics in it. You would ideally need 2 or 4 emitters. 1 or 2 for each side. The drop won't collapse as tight so you'll need it to be wider or be ok with a smaller than usual opening of the traveler. You might need to also use larger spacing between ties in order to keep the optics from being damaged. Considering a lot of star drops are stored folded, you may be fine depending on the fiber optics you use. As someone else stated, you will need to back the drop as unintented light from behind along with possible catching on the optics could happen otherwise.

The emitters are the important part. You can buy them from companies such as Rose Brand or a local dealer. I prefer conventional light source ones. I find LED emitters, even the newest ones, still don't dim as well and don't twinkle quite as nicely.


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