The Aurora Lights as a Practical Effect
Almost, Maine has been a lighting dream of mine for quite some time. I really wanted to figure out how to make the Aurora Borealis come to practical life without using projections. This took a bit of trial and error to create this look. I originally wanted something more “billowy” with fabric, but was having difficulty making that happen with our low ceilings and other lights in the way. Instead, I got a DMX-controlled laser and bundled fiber optics at each laser eye before separating the strands. We played with different settings on the laser to get the different colors going through the strands.
The rest of the show was moody (as all scenes took place at the same time of day in the evening, although some were inside scenes) and I enjoyed creating a unique look for each scene.
This production of Almost, Maine was performed at the Evergreen Playhouse in February, 2024.
