Thread: -= Help! =- Need advice on indoor lighting for prop

Tweet

Hey folks,

I am looking for some advice on how to setup some indoor lighting for my coffin prop. I am unskilled in lighting setups, and really don't have a budget for it this year. So--I have to make do with what I already have, or something fairly inexpensive if needed.

I'm not sure the best way to go about this, so I did some markup on my floor plan, hoping it'll make things easier to talk about.

Here's what the current setup looks like:



A. overhead lamp - 3 red party bulbs
B. flicker candle lamp
C. light from dining room chandelier
D. light from living room can lights and kitchen overspill
E. can light above basement landing
F. can light above basement stairs

(there is a can light available in the ceiling above "B" area)

The plan is to setup the coffin (in purple), with open lid, down on the landing leading to the basement. It will be set on top of a coffee table to get it off the ground, and allow lighting underneath it.

Okay, so we're trying to figure out the best lighting model to use to give the coffin a "spooky" feel. It will be painted to look like stone, if that matters. Additionally, we'll be stringing webs across the stairs leading down.

Problem is, there is a bunch of light pollution from the 1st floor spilling down the stairs. We're having a party, so we have to keep lights up for safety. Additionally, any color light we've tried in the can above the coffin have yielded poor results. (incandescent black, red, amber, orange). We tried leaving the can above the coffin unplugged, and just use the one on the bottom set of stairs, but the bounce lighting coming back up is not optimal either.

The best result we came up with so far, was to put a red party bulb in one of those clamp on lamps with the metal shade cone around it, and clamp it to the coffee table leg and up-light the coffin. Basically it tosses red light up from the ground, casting long shadows up the walls. It will work in a pinch, but I'm hoping to find a better solution from someone in the community.

Any thoughts from the graveyard on how to improve my lighting setup? I'm open to any ideas about current lighting on 1st floor, in addition to the problem area on the bottom landing.

Thank you in advance!!!

Oh, cool. I'll have to take a gander. Thanks for posting the information!

If you don't need a lot of light, but still want to show off the dead guy in the coffin, I'd recommend some purple LED rope light... Here's a bad pic, but it'll give you the general idea:

nice effect with the rope light!

They have little LED mini spotlights at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, ect... The ones I used last year were quite bright (to light up the prop and a little for the walkway). They are small disk shaped lights that can be attached anywhere with velcro pads that come with the lights. They work similar to the touch pads, touch the middle to turn them on but these have a bright and dim light output options. They also had a pivot head (I think up to 45 degree angle). Use Orange rope light for the stairs (bright enough to light up the walking area without ruining the effects). Maybe a little low lying fog could help. If the fog is good and chilled, it will bring out the contour of the stairs. Plus if it works, I'm testing out some fog that glows in the black light. The reflection off of the glow would help light up the staircase.

@ PP. Huh. I wouldn't have thought that those touch-puck lights would be that effective. I'll have to grab a few the next time I'm out. I just borrowed a fogger this weekend too, and will have to see how it works with the setup.

Thanks for the notes!

As far as light pollution from other rooms, simply hang a shredded black trash bag from the ceiling anywhere light needs to be blocked. Not only is it cheep and effective it can also add to the spooky, mysterious ambiance.
Can't wait ti see pix of yours!

[QUOTE=thud;533101]@ PP. Huh. I wouldn't have thought that those touch-puck lights would be that effective. I'll have to grab a few the next time I'm out. QUOTE]

I didn't think so either, but I needed cheap, semi bright lighting that could hang anywhere. I was surprised since it was battery powered and only 3 LEDs. I’m not sure if they offer other colors (I got the white lights) if they do it could help with the rest of your lighting dilemma. Even if the lights only come in white you could put the white lights on the ceiling in the staircase pointing straight down on the stairs with some rope light. Then you could position the lights exactly where you need them to where they don’t interrupt the effect of the coffin. That way you wouldn’t have to use room lights that could kill the overall look.