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
Good Advice
Fri, 17 Oct 2008, 11:49 amThe common piece of advice around the traps is nicely described in this.
"The Sword Fight: man against man, clashing steel with force enough to sever a limb.
And sparks. Lots of sparks. When two swordfighters cross swords, the force of their collision will send up sparks, showing just how powerful, sharp and deadly the crossed swords are.
In reality, it is possible to strike sparks with a sword, but it's very difficult. Generating a spark by hitting another sword (as opposed to something like flint) is all but impossible, and it's all a matter of angle and friction, not of strength or sharpness — in fact, a rough piece of steel is much better at generating sparks than a trued and polished sword.
Sometimes this is used to imply a character has a kind of quasi-magical ability without going too fantastical with the show. "
Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)
Jeff Watkins