Technical Design Solutions for Theatre

Mark R. Weaver

Moving Leaves by the Power of Spring

Lighting designers are constantly faced with the need to mimic nature’s lighting on the stage. Template breakup patterns or gobos are often used to simulate the effect of natural light as it passes through leaved tree limbs. The result, while a good start, is never complete, for in nature the patterns of light change as the wind moves the limbs, and the stage lighting equipment available to simulate movement like this is often prohibitively costly.

THE RIG

Described here is one device which can give stage lighting patterns the movement produced in nature. As the figures show, the rig consists of two simple additions to standard lighting equipment: a spring mounted between the C-clamp and ...