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Hi Lisa,

While I haven't actually done Cinderella, I hope I can provide some insight from a purely design-based perspective.

Backlighting should, in theory, be able to light the carriage in silhouette, depending on the angle at which the beam is hitting the carriage. Other things to consider include moving the carriage (the more parts of the stage it covers, the more light sources needed).

If you can fit a scrim on stage (or even a small piece of semi-translucent fabric) you'll be able to get away with using a smaller-than-real-life carriage if the light source (could even be a student with a flashlight, doesn't have to be fancy) and carriage are further away.

Depending on your setup, you may also be able to get away with using projections for the carriage as well.

Hope this helps!

Amy

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Amy Ariel
Troupe 4250 - Honor Thespian & Presidential Scholar
Mills E. Godwin High School
Henrico, VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 2/21/2016 5:07:14 PM
From: lisa.singleterry@pcschools.org
Subject: Back lighting a silhouetted shape

We are currently in production for Cinderella and are working on ideas for the carriage scene.  Our stage is ridiculously small, so we are thinking of doing the carriage in silhouette (like a plywood cutout painted black).  Has anyone done the carriage scene (or a similar scene) in this way in a production?  I'm wondering how much backlighting I will need to make it look cool.  I appreciate any advice on this...does it work, does it not work?

Again from the design viewpoint...   :-)

Depending on the visual style of the production, you can certainly do a backlit carriage, but, like Amy said, you may end up needing a lot of instrumentation to make it effective and appropriate. However, the flat cutout idea can be stretched out several ways.

You can do a flat painted carriage that follows the visual style of the rest of the set. Or you can do a "magical" carriage by outlining the shape with small lights (LEDs or rope lights). Or you can build just the outline of the carriage (like a wire-frame shape) with small lights all around it, or, instead of the lights, just use glitter and reflective materials to pick up the stage lights and make it sparkle.

Cinderella is a magical fairy tale. Think magically.   :-)

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George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
www.georgefledo.net

Original Message:
Sent: 02-21-2016 17:07
From: Lisa Singleterry
Subject: Back lighting a silhouetted shape

We are currently in production for Cinderella and are working on ideas for the carriage scene.  Our stage is ridiculously small, so we are thinking of doing the carriage in silhouette (like a plywood cutout painted black).  Has anyone done the carriage scene (or a similar scene) in this way in a production?  I'm wondering how much backlighting I will need to make it look cool.  I appreciate any advice on this...does it work, does it not work?