Glow in the Dark

For the 2007 Christmas Services at Grace Church this project was created. It shows the story of Jesus and the journey up to his birth and ends with a surprise.

Here is a concept sketch:



Preparation:
Two pieces of 3' x 6' plywood were primed with white enamel and then the face of Jesus was painted on to the boards with Glow in the Dark paint. The paint is essentially invisible, so the image had to be painted in the dark, under UV light. Stencils were cut from black card stock paper of Mary and Joseph, the three wise men, shepherds in a field, and the manger scene. Hooks were attached to the back of the boards so that they could hang from the framework under the projection screen on stage. The boards were covered in thick black fabric during the service to keep them from collecting a charge from the lights.

Here is a mock-up of what the boards would have looked like on their sides:



Performance:

The 'light' areas of Jesus' face acted as areas of sky and the dark areas as ground, essentially creating a landscape for the story. There are four large areas of 'light' on the face which the stencils were placed one by one and a high powered flashlight to activate the area around them. Telling the story of the Nativity. After the story was finished, the boards were flipped right side up one at a time and then blasted with a spotlight for one final charge and also as a surprise to the audience, the boards are solid white. Then the spotlight turns off and a UV light is activated to illuminate the face of Jesus.

Here is a YouTube video of the performance: