Creating an ambient stage show

[Unforgiven]

My band recently won first place in a regional competition, and to make it to the national finals, we are required to organize and play at a series of concerts. At the moment, we are really focusing on achieving an eerie, ambient feel on the stage, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to achieve this.

Ideally, I'd have about 50 candles burning, but the gigs are going to be in an old wooden building, so I don't fancy our chances of being allowed to do that...

Any suggestions you can come up with would be much appreciated :)

-Nic

[meegaleedo]

I can get you close.

There are flicker bulbs which mimic a flickering candle.

Try lighting the background but not you so that the band is silhouetted. Maybe with a little sidelight to just define figures. A strip of foot lights will invert the shadows on the faces. If you want.

[Rimmer]

Clever lighting isn't always expensive. It would be worth contacting the local theatre college and offering a small fee for a stage design. Set pieces and cloths and scrims for projecting on make a world of difference to a stage show. Try and get a lighting designer involved. Get friends to paint some backdrops. Most mates do things like that for free in my experience...

Good Luck

SteveR

btw. there is a flame light which is very popular at the moment which is a 12vdc diachroic birdie lamp which projects colour upwards onto a carefully cut peice of white material which is being blown by a fan. It's a no flame effect and can look good when done well... The lamps could be connected to a dimmer which could be controlled from a lighting desk. A worthy effect when done right.

I made some lamps for a large electronica band in the uk some years ago. They were 250 photoflood lamps hung inside some home made iron cages. The light's were hung by chains and dangled over the stage. They were also dimmable... Looked cool..!


SteveR

[MrKnobs]

One of my favorite effects is the flame speaker. This is a pressurized gas flame, usually propane, with an ion source, usually a glass rod though sometimes a liquid solution, with two electrodes placed in the flame to create a speaker. The sound actually is produced by the flame, and is fairly high fidelity.

It not only looks cool, it sounds cool.

I've always wanted to construct one 10 ft tall or more, though I don't know any venue that would allow its use. Maybe in a steel cage. The largest one I've seen was only about 1 ft in height.

Terry D.

[Rimmer]

Originally posted by MrKnobs
One of my favorite effects is the flame speaker. This is a pressurized gas flame, usually propane, with an ion source, usually a glass rod though sometimes a liquid solution, with two electrodes placed in the flame to create a speaker. The sound actually is produced by the flame, and is fairly high fidelity.

It not only looks cool, it sounds cool.

I've always wanted to construct one 10 ft tall or more, though I don't know any venue that would allow its use. Maybe in a steel cage. The largest one I've seen was only about 1 ft in height.

Terry D.

Are you serious?? Got any links??

SteveR

[TruthSyrum]

I really dig black lights !!

It creates a cool 'erie' effect