[SML] Mirrors

[Dale Farmer]

Or you can purchase a six pack of disposable medical penlights like 
these. 
http://www.allheart.com/adc-adlite-disposable-penlight-6-pack/p/adc351p/ 
    At about a dollar each, less if you will buy a pallet of them 
shipped direct from china, they are useful for all kinds of things, good 
luck keeping your ushers from stealing them until after the run of the 
show.

tape a shred of frost gel and some yellow/orange gel over the lamp. 
Actie has to learn how to push the switch to make the light flicker a 
couple of times before holding it on.   When they drop it or whatever, 
they light automatically turns back off.

--Dale


On 7/11/2016 7:51 PM, Joe D via Stagecraft wrote:
> If the match can be shaded by the hands, like people often do to shield it from wind, then a simple LED flashlight may do the trick.  Though, you probably would want something brighter than the typical watch-cell version.  That kind of battery depends on the internal resistance of the watch cell, so you may not be able to get much more brightness even if you substitute a brighter LED, since the internal resistance will limit the current.
>
> If it is not bright enough, you would then need to make your own, perhaps with a battery that has a higher voltage.  The actor may even be able to simulate the sound well enough with their own voice, and then it wold be easy to time it with the action.
>
> A button-cell battery can be attached to a LED by soldering one of the leads to one side, and then the other lead is left loose.  By pressing the loose lead to the battery, it closes the circuit.
>
> I mentally designed a more elaborate illusion like this, though I have never built it.  The idea was to actually have a 3 position slide switch.  Then, put a pair of LEDs on the end of a stick, with one LED being very bright, and the other less so.  A a tissue to form, the flame, or perhaps it wold be better to use hot-melt glue, with its better durability.  The furthermost on-position would turn on both LEDs, and make it quite bright.  Then, the middle position would only leave a LED that was not as bright, to represent the continuous burning flame.
>
> A capacitor in parallel may help it look less like it suddenly goes on or off, but I think a capacitor that is big enough to do that may be too big to conceal
>
> The battery might be one of the small 6 or 12v ones used in car wireless remotes. Though, one of the larger diameter lithium coin-cell type is certainly easier to hide, and can simply be held between the fingers as one might hold the end of the match.
>
> The issue of hiding a larger battery and possible capacitor might be solved by simply having it inside the match box, and the actor just holding the matchbox and match in very close proximity.  Yet another possibility is to put it in the sleeve, and a piece of  black elastic wold pull the match back up the sleeve when the actor releases the sleeve.
>
> Joe Dunfee
> jdunfee12 at yahoo.com
>
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