Please examine the following four photographs of "Treasure Island" ; a production for the Minneapolis Children's Theatre in which lighting was designed by Don Darnutzer. The stage has a proscenium, 36 feet wide by 24 feet high and is 40 feet deep, from the plaster line to the back wall. A downstage, oval portal framed the projection cyclorama, ( Procyc ).
Pay particular attention to the background lighting. The common thread between all photographs is the use of a rear illuminated, translucent projection cyclorama. The photographs of Treasure Island are used simply as an example to show the different looks possible. We will examine each of these scenes in greater detail.
The function of a cyclorama is twofold, 1), as a masking device to limit the view of the audience into the backstage area and 2), as a surface that can be illuminated to complete or enhance the mood of the scene.
A TRADITIONAL CYCLORAMA is made of a SEMI-OPAQUE TEXTILE and, even with special lighting equipment when light is cast on it's FRONT surface, the reflection results in hard edges and scallops. (When was the last time you saw an evening sky with scallops ?)
A PROJECTION CYCLORAMA (Procyc), provides the same critical masking, but, and here is the main difference between the two, it is made of a TRANSLUCENT MEDIUM. Light diffuses through it like dyes through water. NO HARD LINES OR SCALLOPS, (unless you want them). This means a projection cyc can be illuminated from the FRONT, the REAR , or both, FRONT and REAR, together . Lighting fixtures can be placed closer and directly behind the procyc, which makes an immense difference in the remarkable variety of SKYdrops or backgrounds you can achieve.
Using standard theatre lighting equipment, nothing exotic or special, let me suggest a method for lighting a projection cyc. The secret is to learn how different light sources diffuse and pass through a translucent medium and, of course, learning how to set cues that control the light illuminating the cyclorama.
The process or method of lighting the scenes above is similar to the way a water color artist approaches his painting. Instead of pigment we are using LAYERS of light. The BROAD BRUSH strokes or washes are made by STRIP or BORDER lights on the floor and hung overhead; the more SPECIFIC DETAILS, with SPOT lights and image PROJECTORS and the SOFTER edged AREAS, with FLOOD lights (fresnels or parcans).
If you are unfamiliar with these lighting instruments or want to refresh your memory, click here.
Of course, the water color artist can only make one painting on one background. You can create an infinite number of backgrounds, just by changing light cues.
The BROAD BRUSHSTROKES: To create the basic sea and sky, two rows of STRIPLIGHTS located on the floor upstage of the projection cyclorama were divided by a 30" high plywood groundrow placed between them. Each STRIPLIGHT had 4 circuits with 4 different color blues. The use of 4 different blues was specific for the nature of this show. However, by placing the 3 primary colors (red, green, blue) in three circuits and leaving the fourth circuit white light it is possible to blend and create almost any color of light imaginable.
Notice, that the lower edge of light from the upstage striplight is obstructed by the plywood groundrow. This creates a shadow which looks like a horizon line. By aligning the upper edge of the downstage strip to this line, not only does it reinforces the horizon, but, more importantly, it allows the sea to be a different color from the sky by simply layering different intensities between each set of strips.
THE DETAILS : The wispy clouds were made by layering SPOTLIGHTS with cloud gobos in the gel frames. Intensity was adjusted to produce a natural balance between night sky and clouds. Downstage left , behind the wooden pilings, a single SPOTLIGHT focused on the horizon line, with a gobo in the gel frame was used to create the distant ship image.
In this scene, the STRIPLIGHTS creating the sea are intensified to corroborate and reflect the illumination of the full moon which is made by an IMAGE PROJECTOR placed directly behind the procyc.
The atmospheric night sky is built up by layering and overlapping various SPOTLIGHTS with different gobos focused on the upper third of the projection cyclorama. The central section uses elongated cloud gobos along the horizon line. The reflection of the moon in the sea is made by placing two spots on the floor with custom patterns, cut from aluminum foil, placed in the gel frame. The overall composition gains depth by mixing warm and cool color filters behind the gobo cloud images.
The STRIPLIGHTS used to illuminate the sea and sky are dimmed to a low intensity. Offstage FLOODLIGHTS positioned on the floor are focused at the stage right half of the projection cyclorama. By mixing a reddish-pink color from the FLOODLIGHTS onto the blue sky, a soft edged, scallop-free sunset is created. The intensity of the red floodlights is greater than that of the sky. Two SPOTLIGHTS with cloud gobos were used at low intensities to suggest faint clouds in the distance.
In this scene, all lights are off except two wide angle SPOTLIGHTS fitted with ship gobos and focused at the stage right half of the projection cyclorama. The procyc takes on a fine detailed, high-contrast look.
A System for Creating Stunning, Atmospheric Backdrops
The following light plots are intended as a "loose" guide or "starting point" to help the designer or technician develop a system for lighting a projection cyclorama. The light plots do not attempt to solve all problems. Variations and modifications should be made based on stage dimensions and availability of lighting equipment. In these examples we are assuming a stage approximately 36 feet wide x 30 feet deep x 18 feet high.
STRIPLIGHTS/BORDERLIGHTS - Used to create Broad Brush Strokes or Washes of Color SPOTLIGHTS - Used to create specific or fine details FLOODLIGHTS - Used to create large, soft edge pools of light
Product Report Reprinted from Theatre Crafts International Copyright. Courtesy of Intertec Publishing Corp., New York, NY 10011 All rights reserved. Info: http://www.etecnyc.net
The lighted cyclorama is a familiar background for dance, opera and drama. On a purely practical level, it hides the back wall, but aestetically it can provide an effective and appropriate back-drop to the production. To this day, the full-stage cloth cyclorama is considered a standard item for the well stocked theatre. The venerable cloth cyc, however, presents some problems. Great care must be taken to keep it clean. It should be hung and piped for a long enough time to pull out wrinkles accumulated in storage. It's light reflection qualities are good, but regular spacing and coloration is necessary to insure smooth lighting. All lighting has to be projected from in front of the cyc, otherwise the sources are visible to the audience. Through the years, lighting equipment has improved from border strips to optically designed cyclights which enable the designer to more smoothly light the cyc from top to bottom. However, the most SIGNIFICANT CYCLIGHTING IMPROVEMENT in the minds of many lighting designers has been the introduction of the plastic rear projection surface. Gerriets International Manufactures PROCYC, the current version of this kind of screen pioneered by Joseph Svoboda over 20 years ago. Company president Nick Bryson offers a long list of advantages the plastic screen presents over its cloth cousin. It is portable, durable, easy-to-clean, flameproof and apparently seamless. Unlike a woven cotton cyc, the PROCYC does not rot or discolor. It can be cleaned with mild detergent. At room temperature, it will hang out wrinkle free in a matter of a few hours. These screens can be made up to 100 feet high without apparent seams. More importantly, the PROCYC diffuses light smoothly across its surface. Cyclighting is more efficiently accomplished because the screen itself helps blend the washes. Exact instrumentation positioning becomes less crucial. Moreover, the screen does not transmit an image of the source when rear illuminated. Any light source may be used behind the screen to create an effect without revealing the actual point source. A setting sun can be projected directly onto the rear of the screen from a position parallel to its desired position. That results in a true round beam, not the oval produced by a batten or floor mounted instrument. A common technique is to use a black scrim downstage to soften and deepen the effect. Cyclights can be used to color either the front or rear of the screen. A groundrow may be used behind the screen as a horizon strip without having to conceal it behind scenery. While the traditional cyclorama has its fans, PROCYC is doing its best to upstage it.
The venerable cloth cyc, however, presents some problems. Great care must be taken to keep it clean. It should be hung and piped for a long enough time to pull out wrinkles accumulated in storage. It's light reflection qualities are good, but regular spacing and coloration is necessary to insure smooth lighting. All lighting has to be projected from in front of the cyc, otherwise the sources are visible to the audience. Through the years, lighting equipment has improved from border strips to optically designed cyclights which enable the designer to more smoothly light the cyc from top to bottom. However, the most SIGNIFICANT CYCLIGHTING IMPROVEMENT in the minds of many lighting designers has been the introduction of the plastic rear projection surface.
Gerriets International Manufactures PROCYC, the current version of this kind of screen pioneered by Joseph Svoboda over 20 years ago. Company president Nick Bryson offers a long list of advantages the plastic screen presents over its cloth cousin. It is portable, durable, easy-to-clean, flameproof and apparently seamless. Unlike a woven cotton cyc, the PROCYC does not rot or discolor. It can be cleaned with mild detergent. At room temperature, it will hang out wrinkle free in a matter of a few hours. These screens can be made up to 100 feet high without apparent seams.
More importantly, the PROCYC diffuses light smoothly across its surface. Cyclighting is more efficiently accomplished because the screen itself helps blend the washes. Exact instrumentation positioning becomes less crucial. Moreover, the screen does not transmit an image of the source when rear illuminated. Any light source may be used behind the screen to create an effect without revealing the actual point source. A setting sun can be projected directly onto the rear of the screen from a position parallel to its desired position. That results in a true round beam, not the oval produced by a batten or floor mounted instrument. A common technique is to use a black scrim downstage to soften and deepen the effect. Cyclights can be used to color either the front or rear of the screen. A groundrow may be used behind the screen as a horizon strip without having to conceal it behind scenery. While the traditional cyclorama has its fans, PROCYC is doing its best to upstage it.
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