Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1972 - 22

the impact of their invisability. Rosco gelatin No. 213 (light amber),
No. 206 (lemon), No. 249 (purple),
and No. 202 (bastard amber) were
tried on each of the four lamps and
all previous tests repeated, and although the change in color seemed
interesting, the transparency of the
lamps was destroyed as we predicted. A secondary factor was that
the color media dropped the lumen
level of the lamps an average of
40% making the light levels insufficient. We dropped the color media
at this poi nt, fee Ii ng the fi lament
gave a good color itself without the
aid of gelatin.
The third question was one of how
far apart the lights could be placed
and still give an illusion of movement. I recalled the sight of fireflies
and tri ed to remember the rate at
which they flashed. On our 35-foot
proscenium, an interval of three feet
was the maximum before a definite
jerkiness in movement was noted.
Consequently, the size of the stage
will influence the number of lamps
required.
When we had something we felt
was artistically correct, we tackled
the problem of the physical and
electrical tie-up of the lights. Since
the current to be carried at anyone
time was only that of a single lamp,
only 24-volt control cable was required; and if public relations are
good enough, it may be possible to
secure such wire from the telephone
company.
Our sets were on rolling wagons
for quick strike between scenes,
which also required the quick connection of the light effect several
times each evening. Six sets of connectors were required for this production, costing almost $20.00 per
set. However, we found and were
able to use Cinch-Jones connectors
discarded from an old sound system.
After the sets were completed to
the point where they could be rolled
on stage, we started the slow process of placing the lamps one by
one. The script and the director out-

lined specific times at which Tinker
Bell had to appear, so the problem
was largely to get her to these
points effectively. Holes were drilled
when required, but most of the
mounti ng was
effected directly
through the muslin covering and
held in place with cloth tape. We
did make errors and had to patch a
few times at first, but our learning
curve quickly improved and only one
lamp had to be moved during final
rehearsal.
After we determined the placement, we went about connecting all
the lamps to the neutral.
Because only one lamp would be
energized at a time, only a single
neutral was required, and this was
tacked to the back of the flats and
stripped for connection before solder
joint was made and covered with
electrical tape. (It was felt that the
rapid replacement of lamps was not
as important as not having the connection short out during the production.) The second lead from each
lamp was soldered to a separate
wire which was run to the control
board, and at the end of each wagon
were the Cinch-Jones connectors for
disconnect during scene shifts. The
solder joints were made and the
connectors marked to correspond to
the proper mating connector on the
next wagon.
We had already decided that the
best position for the operator was
out front so he could see the actors
and choose which light should be
used according to the actors' movement and the tempo of the show.
The ru n to the lighting control booth
was too long, both for the amount of
wire we had and the amount of resistance that would be in the line,
and the wings did not afford adequate viewing of the stage. Furthermore, having spent some time
watching shows from the F.O. H. position in the beams, I thought the
angle afforded an interesting and
full view of the stage.
We have talked about the visual
part of the effect, but what about

the vocal part of the character? A
celesta is the ideal musical instrument for the voice, not too heavy
yet abl e to sou nd stern, happy or
gay as the mood dictates. Obviously
we wanted the sound to come from
the lights, not off stage left or right
which would be immediately detectable from the audience. Of course,
the music can be fed through speakers to any part of the auditorium, yet
I felt that the light board operator and
the musician should be placed together so they could work as a unit.
The second beam lighting position
was our choice and became their
home.
If we had not been able to keep
the length of wire-run down, another
electrical problem would have had to
be solved, as long runs of wire
cause power drops which affect the
intensity of the lamps on stage.
These small power drops are not
noticeable in regular 120 volt lamps,
but on these small lamps they can
mean a great deal. Booster transformers may be placed in the lines to
counter this effect (Figure D), but
the transformers must be phased at
the time of construction to prevent
short circuiting.
The analogue control board shown
in Figure E is a mimic display panel
representing the set. Metal screws
placed to correspond to the placement of the lamps in the set provide
the electrical contact point. A schematic of the wiring is shown in
Figure F. Alghough the inside of our
board did not look professional (Figure G), it worked! A second system
was built for the other scene in
which Tinker Bell must appear.
Each of the lamps had a wire both
running and soldered to the contact
point on the board. The common
neutral was run to the power supply.
There are several choices to make
concerning this supply. First, it must
transform the 110/120 volt current
to the 12 volts which these subminiature lamps require. Secondly, it
may be of the fixed or variable design. We chose the variable type be-

THEATER DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FEBRUARY, 1972

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