A weblog about theatrical drapery and stage curtains for Production Managers, Set Designers, Custom Drapery Resellers, and local/school/church Productions
We here at Rent What? Inc. love helping our clients create the beautiful scenery for their events that they always dreamed of. Recently we had one of our favorite clients, Lasertech Productions, use several of our rental Stardrop LED Drapes to make a gorgeous backdrop of stars for a event they had in Las Vegas for a very special client. Since we offer sizes ranging from 30’ x 7’ to 30’ x 15’ (and these types of drapes can be “rotated” to have either dimension be the width or height), this offers our clients a lot of flexibility with how they can hang our drapes, and enables them to create the exact look they are going for.
Photo Courtesy of Linda and Michael Werner, Lasertech Productions
By easily connecting our rental Stardrop LED Drapes to one another with the attached velcro tabs along each side, and utilizing the DMX controller that comes with each drape, these clients were able to make a seamless wall of twinkly lights to create the magical illusion of a starry night. It was exactly what the client had envisioned, and we could not have been more thrilled for them!
One of the drapes that is growing in popularity the fastest in Rent What? Inc.’s rental inventory is our Chameleon RGB Drapes. These gorgeous LED drapes are just wonderful for concert tours, theater productions, and other special events that you want to add a very unique touch to. These drapes allow you to use the supplied dmx controller and instruction manual to quickly and easily change the color palette and speed of the blinking lights, and specialize all sorts of fun color patterns for these drapes. And this can all be done ahead of time too, so that the drape would be all ready to go for the event!
You can see how beautiful these drapes look while they’re flickering between different colors. The versatility of these drapes to become unique to your special event’s theme is what makes them truly special. You can literally have as many color schemes as you’d like, and chose from hundreds of gradations on its almost infinite color palette.
If you really want something truly memorable for your special event, contact Rent What? to get more information on adding one of these amazing drapes to your stage!
With the end of summer coming fast upon us, it’s a great time to start thinking about the holidays that are quickly approaching, and ways to make your special event even more memorable. I recently came across some incredible photos of the amazing LED Stardrop Drape rentals that Rent What? has.
We offer these gorgeous drapes for every type of occasion you might want to add a “little sparkle” to! With a rich black background, you can choose from either beautiful and inspiring white twinkly lights, or really breathtaking “chameleon” changing-colored lights. For these drapes you also have a dmx controller so you can decide how fast you want the lights to blink, in what succession, what colors it changes through, etc. Rent What also offers a very unique Low Tech LED drape, which is a sheer white voile with the beautiful static white lights running through it!
We’ve had some very happy customers use these drapes for their special events. Everyone from Mary J Blige to the Jonas Brothers, ballet and church performances, trade shows, bridal fairs, unforgettable stage productions, and everything in between! These drapes are so versatile, and can help create some really amazing showcases. With some colorful lighting, you can literally create the most dramatic vision on your stage imaginable. Try layering them with other drapes (especially our Silver Satin Series) to create some very spectacular scenes that will not soon be forgotten!
Take a look at our LED Stardrop Rental Drapes on our website, and get ready to be completely wow’ed like I was!
I’ve posted in the past about the great photos that Rent What? has posted on Flickr, but as it has been awhile, I thought I’d mention it again. We’ve told you a lot about the various custom stage curtains, theatrical backdrops, and other theatrical soft goods and supplies that are available for purchase through Sew What? and / or for rent through Rent What? But, as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and so if you are looking for inspiration for your next show or event, why not look through the many great photos in the “Concerts and Curtains” photostream on Flickr?
Here are some of my favorites:
LED Stardrops
Want to add some sparkle to your next show? Thinking about purchasing or renting an LED Stardrop. You can choose between the traditional bluish white night sky look with the Classic Stardrop, or maybe mix it up a little with color through the Chameleon Stardrop. Check out the LED Stardrops photo set for some great visuals.
Austrian Curtains
I mentioned before how much I love Austrian Curtains – they are so beautiful and can set so many different moods. I especially like when an Austrian seems to change color magically during a show (through the use of a variety of lighting techniques) – one moment red, the next moment blue. There are a number of gorgeous examples in the Austrian Curtains for Theatre and Stage set.
Digital Backdrops
Digital printing is such an amazing option today! Whereas in the past, the only way to have a large scale scenic backdrop was to commission an artist to hand-paint the image, today just about any image can be printed and sewn into almost any size scenic backdrop. From a simple 8′ x 10′ backdrop for a trade show booth to a huge 40′ h x 60′ w backdrop for a concert – digitally printing can handle it all. Check out some of our projects in the Wide Format Digital Textile Printing set.
And these are just a few of the photo sets available – there is so much more. So, if you haven’t looked at the photostream lately, check it out – I think you’ll find great ideas and inspiration.
Recently, Rent What? and Sew What? were excited to work with Daunte Kenner of DK Show Production & Design to help him bring his set design to life for Mary J. Blige’s U.S. tour.
In prior posts, I have mentioned the Starlight LED backdrops. One of the great things about the Starlight LED drapes that Rent What? offers for rental is that they are available in two sizes (15′ x 30′ and 20′ x 20′), but they can be run horizontally or vertically and can be combined to make a much larger backdrop. That was the case in Daunte’s design for the Mary J. Blige tour – a number of Starlight LED drapes were combined to make up nearly 5,000 square feet of “starry, starry night”, covering the entire rear of the stage as well as both sides.
Daunte also selected from Rent What? a gorgeous 30′ h x 60′ w Silver Satin Austrian Drape for use as an Act Curtain. Sew What? got into the act by manufacturing a custom “City Skyline” digitally printed scenic backdrop along with additional custom stage drapes.
It really was a fun project to work on, and it is exciting to hear that many of these same pieces with be a part of Mary J. Blige’s upcoming international tour dates in 2011!
Want to learn more about this project? Click here.
I posted back in August about LED Star Drops, but I wanted to tell you more about LED Drapes and offer some links to some cool photos.
The classic “starry night” backdrop that I posted about previously, was achieved with the ShowLED Classic system. In this system, bluish white LED lights are used to create the “starry night” effect. However, you can also exchange the bluish white LED lights for colored lights (red, blue, yellow, and green) for a colored light effect.
For those who want to quickly and easily change the colors (without having to physically change the LED lights), the ShowLED Chameleon is a great choice. It is a RGB (Red/Green/Blue) system, meaning you can change the colors just through use of the menu structure on the controller. Color changes can be done in the blink of an eye!
Check these great photos of LED Drapes using the ShowLED Classic and ShowLED Chameleon systems. Ever wonder what a controller looks like? Here’s a photo for you.
Ever wondered how music tours achieve the “starry night” effect onstage? Well, for years they have used drapes with embedded fiber optics. But the fiber optics tended to be bulky and difficult to manuever.
Today, more and more, fiber optics are being replaced by LEDs to produce a stunning light display that mimics the appearance of a gorgeous starry night. These LED Star Drops are manufactured utilizing a durable black synthetic velour on the face along with a strong but lightweight black lining, with strings of LED lights inserted between the face and the lining. A controller (which can be used on its own or with a lighting board) is used to manipulate the pattern, frequency (speed) and intensity of the blinking “stars.”
Our sister company, Rent What?, has found these LED Star Drops to be quite popular in their rental inventory. As a matter of fact, last year they were used by the “So You Think You Can Dance?” tour (among others). Want to learn more? Check out the “Starlight LED Backdrops” page on the Rent What? website.
