Anyone have any tips for lighting with black art.....any thing to make the stage look brighter without showing the secret.....I am making someone appear....and am using the 'headlight effect'...but want to reduce the use of that.


Thanks.

One problem people don't realize is that unless this is done in a well designed theatre it is difficult to pull off on a grand scale.
If there are walls or ceiling painted any color other than black then you will get reflecting light. Black art in a church sanctuary will be almost impossible. It can be done but will be difficult. The darker the facility the more light you can use because of less light that is bouncing all around.

Seaarch the Café for other threads about black art. once you have 50 legitimate posts you can have access to secret forums that include threads on black art.

Hope that helps

Kevin

We theatre techs are walking pieces of black art. It's a theatre rule that all techs wear black and, in shows where I have been Tech Director and need people on stage to move set pieces between scenes, I dress them in long-sleeved pullover, hooded t-shirts and have them wear black gloves. The mid-curtain (oleo curtain) and back curtain are black, the teasers and tormentors are black, the stage floor is black and I program the lights to one electric at ten percent. Many times I have had people ask: "How did that sofa move offstage?" Magic... pure magic.

Contact Don Drake at blackartsecrets.com .He is the number one person to ask this question to.

Great info Camelot...
Even having a theatre with a non black floor. With a shiny hard wood natural colored surface will project light right back up. What you described is perfect...a great place to do black art.


Kevin

You should contact Don Drake, he is very friendly and qualified for black art.
Damien

Yes, speaking to Don, I got the impression he was very involved in his work and freely gives advise without hesitation. Don't take advatage of that though

Do a search for Dondrake and black art. He has discussed lighting on several Threads in a diffrent forum.

He also sells a Black Art book.

Ive never had don drake reply any of my general queries so far. Many postings but no replies. But maybe hes a very busy man.

Hello all,

I've found the most help with black art can be obtained by people who use it all the time - puppeteers / puppet companies.

They have long passed magicians with their experimentation in this form of theatre. There are a number of Puppetry books on the subject using what I know as “the wall of light” or “corridor of light” method.

During the Sydney Festival 1996 “STARS OF ILLUSION” I was a co-creator of a black art sequence with the Director of the Production, Doug Tremlett.
We used 8 dancers as operators/puppeteers. The black art state was achieved by a combination of blinders / black light and using a follow spot to pick up faces and non fluro objects. All coverings where made from the same velveteen, all with the “grain” traveling the same way.
The space was very wide, possibly too wide for the blinders to do there job properly but as we also had great depth on the stage, so we got away with it.

Black art in a non theatre setting can be hard work, with no control over the ambient light, viewing angles (black people’s profiles suddenly appearing in the wings) and people with flash cameras..ahhh! I’ve found it’s best to play safe, not take too many risks.

I love black art, to me it’s a wonderful medium to create in, many of my favorite moments have been watching black art and hearing an audience gasp, suspending disbelief. (They mostly know the method – in a theatre non magician situation that is)

So back to my point, seek out Puppeteers or people the likes of CamelotFX. I believe you will learn many different ways of using this form, to puppeteers it is a theatrical device; they don’t consider it secret, only an attractive way to tell their stories.

Hope this helps,

Ray

I would be interessed in helping you, as a lighting designer and puppeteer for giant puppets companies for many years and as a black art lover especially. Send your specific questions at marc_alexandreee@hotmail.com, I'll be able to help you without writing a full book here. Cheers.

S.O.A.B.