FLOWER POWER
SOME light relief – mainly, details about my own secret system for making flower displays and gardens look lovely in the dark!
I must confess that I’ve never really gone in for the more flashy types of disco lighting. Instead, over the years I’ve developed a rather theatrical method of using coloured filter gels on my lights to emphasize flower arrangements and architectural features in doors, and – on a much larger scale – whole gardens and houses out of doors.
The basis of this system, apart from miles of electrical cable and dozens of adaptors, is a time-consumingly assembled set of nearly sixty swivel-mounted Par 38 150 watt lamps, some spot but mostly flood, all fitted with Rank Strand colour frame holders (and If you can get any of them these days you’ll be lucky!). Indoors I use specially wired switching circuits that give me many ways of controlling the lighting, while out of doors the Par 38s are very often wired up in conjunction with 500 watt or 1000 watt floods (which I hire). Anyway, on to the principle of the idea.
Light casts shadows, and several sources of light cast several shadows. If the lights are different colours, they combine to produce yet another colour where they all overlap, and then the shadow of each is filled in by whichever other colours can reach it. The effect of a vase of flowers or anything else multi-faceted when lit, preferably from ground level, by several sources of different coloured light is one of distorted reality and incredible depth. In gardens, a border of flowers looks like a jewel box if each individual clump is lit with a different colour so that one stands out against another. All this is hard to explain without the benefit of some colour pics, but hopefully you can get some idea of the effects that are possible. I’ll try and expand on the methods and results at a later date.
HOT TIPS
“Cinemoid” is the brand name of the moist commonly available coloured gel for use as filters in theatre lights, etc. A combination of the following Cinemoid colours will make most flower displays look incredible: – Number 16 Blue – Green, No.34 Golden Amber, No.12 Deep Rose, No.45 Daylight, No.26 Mauve, No.6 Primary Red, No.22 Moss Green, and – depending on the flowers – No.36 Pale Lavender (Surprise Pink), No.1 Yellow or a duplication of one of the others. Those are trade secrets, y’all.
New Spins
UH-HUH!
K. C. & THE SUNSHINE BAND: That’s The Way (I Like It) (Jay Boy BOY 99) Casey and the kids get a crystal dear rhythm thing going and get to chanting “That’s the way I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.” Millions will concur.
THE STYLISTICS: Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love) (Avon 6105039). Eddie Calvert lives!
SOUTH SHORE COMMISSION: Free Man (Pye 7N 25688)
Bunny Sigler penned/prod, Norman Harris arr, vocal group dancer with untypical Philly backing which sets it apart and has made it a big NY disco hit. Disco mix flip. Continue reading “July 26, 1975: “My secret system for making flower displays and gardens look lovely in the dark””