Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:01:27 -0500 To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Cinderella effects An effect I have toyed around with, but never actually used was fiber optics illuminated with color-changing LED's. I have a toy LED device is sort of like a magic wand, with what looks like a ping-pong-ball at the end. There is a tri-color very bright LED inside. It flashes faster than the eye can see, and as you swing the wand around you make rainbows or other interesting patterns in the air. I removed the ball, and put a small bundle of fiber optics up to the LED. As I wiggled the fiber optics around, it gave the effect of multi-color glitter that stayed in the air. The only draw back was that this was not bright enough, even in pitch darkness. However, I was not using a well-prepared bundle of fiber optics (cut off together and the end polished). Also, LEDs are available that are brighter today. For the effect to work well, you need the fiber optics to be long enough to wiggle around. Also, you need to somehow hide the light that escapes from the fibers before they get to the end. High quality fibers are better, and there are also black plastic jacked fibers. I am not sure if a dusting of black spray paint would help, or perhaps damage the internal reflections that make the fibers work. The biggest drawback is that you will need someone familiar with electronics to prepare something like this for you. Regarding the carriage. I've always wanted to see a full-sized (but puppet scale) carriage with full-sized horses (1 horse may suffice) I can picture the carriage being rigged in a manner comparable to a break-away skeleton. The carriage is often decorated with vine-like ornamentation, so these pieces could easily be hidden in the garden. If the back-sides are painted a darker green, and the show side something brighter then this will help the transition. Pulling a string, (or set of strings) pull the various parts to the body of the carriage. Now the body is often a giant pumpkin, and that would be a more difficult transformation. But, perhaps you can use something other than a pumpkin for the body, and use the pumpkins for the wheels. A gazebo or just garden benches could form the body of the carriage. If the carriage is not an enclosed one, it will also facilitate Cinderella riding it. If you go to all the trouble of the above transformation, I wouldn't feel obligated to do the horse in as elaborate a fashion. A simple poof-flash type quick appearance is sufficient, and may even be a welcome change to the more gradual transformation of the carriage. Joe Dunfee joe-AT-dunfee.com Gordonville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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