Electro Luminescence Research | specialistpractice

Electro Luminescence

Lighting Ideas

During the process of this project, I had a tutorial with Pete who told me about Electro Luminescence. It is a material that comes in three different forms, pannelling, strips and wire.

The mediums have to be plugged into a power source. The panel comes with wires attached to it, but not the battery pack.

Below are examples of the EL Panel and the EL Tape. In Fig .17.4 and Fig. 17.5 respectively. for my makeup i think that the panel would work better for this makeup, in comparison with the tape, I think that the shape is more suited.

Colour

Fig. 17.1

Fig. 17.11

Fig. 17.10

Fig. 17.8

Fig. 17.9

Fig. 17.6

Fig. 17.7

Fig. 17.12

Fig. 17.4

Fig. 17.3

Fig. 17.5

Fig. 17.2

In this makeup I have 3 ideas for the lighting as seen in the Photoshop design I have done.

The first being the screen of the phone lit up, This does not necessarily have to be a complete square, i like the idea of it fading out at the edges.

Secondly the keys on the phone lit up, not as strong, or square as the screen. I want the edges of the keys and the numbers to be highlighted maybe.

Lastly I had an idea of the veins leaving the phones and through the tumours to be lit up. These would have to be very thin, and could possibly be done with paint.

Paint

The first possible method for creating a light effect would be to use luminescent paint.

What i don't like about this is that you have to shoot it under a black light to get the full effect. And this means the rest of the skin tone is in darkness. Such as in Fig. 17.3. This is not the effect that I wanted. regardless I will test the luminescent paints.

As you can see in Fig. 17.8, the various colour varieties that El Panel and wire comes in. But for the sake for this makeup I want to stick to a blue hue. From the research I have done, i believe this is the most tech like colour and appropriate to use for my design, that ill complement it.

Below are the 3 different shades the blue one comes in. The white often shows blue, when current passes through it. for this makeup I like the Aqua colour best. Just out of personal and design preference. I want it to match vein tone as close as I can; I believe the slight green hue in the aqua, does this better than the blue and white.

Power Supply?

An alternating current electric potential of approximately 90 to 120 volts at about 1000 Hz is applied between the copper core wire and the fine wire that surrounds the copper core.

From the video above, there is a clip with the panel lit up, for this the instructor has used a 12V battery pack. However this is very bright. I will test with different voltages to get the correct brightness.

Electroluminescent wire (often abbreviated as EL wire) is a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an alternating current is applied to it. It also comes in different thickness as can be seen in Fig. 17.9. For this makeup I would require the thinnest wire. I believe that this may work for the Veins on my makeup.

As you can see in the video below the EL Panel can be cut and shaped into any shape you desire. However the process can be a little dangerous because of the electric power supply. So careful precautions should be taken. When cutting down the panel I will follow all of these steps so that I ensure safety in the workshop.

I think that the EL Panel will definitely have to be cut down. If it couldn't be then I would not use it. However I think that the EL Panel will be the best solution to lighting the prosthetic. However there will be some issues to confront when it comes to moulding and casting the prosthetic because of the wires and electricity involved.