Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!iuvax!silver!commgrp
From: commgrp@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Creating effective bolts of lightni
Message-ID: <7200050@silver>
Date: 6 Feb 90 21:48:00 GMT
References: <7183@latcs1.oz.au>
Organization: Indiana University CSCI, Bloomington
Lines: 60
Nf-ID: #R:latcs1.oz.au:-718300:silver:7200050:000:2350
Nf-From: silver.ucs.indiana.edu!commgrp    Feb  6 16:48:00 1990




Daniel Mahler writes:

>     I'm doing some stage/technical direction for a play in a few
months,
>and the script calls for a God-like character to come in hurling bolts
of
>lightning. Can anyone suggest a way of doing this (the lightning) so
that
>it at least LOOKS genuine?

Hot damn (so to speak)!  They never did neat stuff like that in my 
parents' church!

Hypothetical SF scenario:  The Roman Empire had electricity; J.C. was 
electrocuted instead of crucified.  Centuries later, the Church has a 
monopoly on electricity, which is shrouded in mystery and used to awe 
congregations... Communion consists of holding hands and grabbing a 
charged capacitor (extra-big charge conveniently eliminates 
heretics)...  Dissenting monk discovers electrons, is persecuted 
for being unholey...  (See also _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ by 
Walter M. Miller.)

But I digress.

Most, possibly all, flashbulb manufacturers have ceased 
production; "photon torpedoes" are increasingly rare.  I once 
built a 1000 watt-second strobe light for the Indiana University 
opera department, presumably to be used in Wagnerian 
performances.  It was also used for large-area photography at 
night, e.g., football games.  The capacitors weighed about 100 
pounds.

Try stringing a very fine wire in the intended path of the lightning 
bolt, zigzag a couple of times.  At the appropriate moment, 
connect it to 115VAC and fire a strobe simultaneously.  
(Experiment first, preferably outdoors!)

Try stuffing a 115V lightbulb socket with steel wool for that 
_Seaview_ effect.  (Caution: dangerous flying particles.)

Test flash-powder elsewhere before using it in a performance;  
the only time I used it for a (non-church) stage effect, it 
filled the auditorium with sulfurous smoke which persisted for 
hours and annoyed subsequent occupants.  A perhaps more 
acceptable substance would be flash paper, available from 
suppliers of magicians' equipment.  It can probably be ignited 
with a hot wire.

_Popular Electronics_ magazine in its original incarnation (late '50s) 
had a "Carl and Jerry" story where C&J were asked to create special 
effects to enhance a sword fight in the highschool play.  They 
connected the (well insulated) swords to a neon-sign transformer.   
(Guess that dates me, huh :-)

--

Frank Reid     W9MKV @ K9IU    reid@ucs.indiana.edu