Skyline projection onto dark surfaces...

[DanielRichards1970]

Hi all,

I'm sure many have asked similar questions before, but here I go anyway. I am designing an exhibition where I would like to project a skyline silhouette on to the walls of the exhibition space. The exhibition has a Tivoli/funfair theme, so the image would feature moving rollercoasters, ferris wheels, etc. The effect I'd like to acheive is a kind of 'moving wallpaper'. The lighting levels within the space will be fairly low with more concentrated lighting on exhibits themselves.

I'd like to keep the wall colour dark (a dark gray or black would be ideal), so my question is: How effective would a high contrast silhouette projection be on a dark wall surface, and how best to achieve this? The resulting images don't have to be very highly visible as they constitute a background, mood setting image - it's ok if the effect is quite subtle. I have also considered using gobo's, but this is only good for rotating images (ferris wheel for example). Any advice anyone can offer is very welcome!

Many thanks, Daniel.

[vanakaru]

I would use black screen material (kind of vinyl) It comes about 2m wide. It is meant to for rear projection, but does good job front as well. We just did a show with projection in black-box and it worked great. It was not too expensive even, but I can not recall the actual price. We bought 25m roll 6-7 years ago.
Here is a bit of that concert

Vimeo Videos

Vimeo Videos
Vimeo Clip 39500529

[mkizer]

If you can repaint the surfaces, consider what the paint finish is. A semigloss dark paint will reflect light (though with a narrow dispersal) can create an effect very similar to the black vinyl RP screen.

Even if you cannot change the paint, projecting right onto dark walls should work fine for what you are describing. Consider that you are not projecting the skyline, though; you are projecting the sky seen between and above the buildings. Make the sky around the buildings glow in an appropriate manner, and possibly throw in some windows glowing on the buildings, and you should be able to create something very interesting.