let the sparks fly?
Thu, 16 Oct 2008, 10:14 pmJim C8 posts in thread
let the sparks fly?
Thu, 16 Oct 2008, 10:14 pmA poser to all you teckies out there. Does anybody have an answer to how we can create sparks to occur during a sword fighting sequence? During a sword fight rehersal for our performance for Peter Pan we did have a couple of sparks fly, the effect was "electric" and we would like to reproduce this on cue each show. There must be some elements that could be coated to one sword that would create sparks when struck by another.
Jaguar
Danger Danger Danger
Fri, 17 Oct 2008, 11:37 amThank you Stinger for highlighting the Dangers of Stage Fighting.
Sparking Swords is, by my understanding, rather tricky. If you have heavy swords of flint like steel, they will spark, as Stinger mentions, wonderfully. Lighter swords very rarely. Sparking Swords Fights is really only a cinematic illusion and natural sparks are rare.
The problem is that you need to exert a fair amount of effort to generate sparks and that only increases the danger of the sequence, and can often appear somewhat 'staged'. I believe that there are ways to generate sparks including special coatings and using electricity, but the former can be quite costly as well as risky and the later cumbersome and dangerous. Most artificial sparking solutions have an increase in danger cost.
While sparks are eye catching, I would tend to avoid trying to make them. When I design sequences, I try to focus on speed and sound. Clanging Swords is far more interesting and much easier to create.
Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)
Jeff Watkins