Stage Designs

Throwback: Plastic Wrap

Tony Bedora from The Crossing in Kirksville, MO brings us this great use of plastic wrap. (Originally posted May 2012)

For this design they used everyday plastic cling wrap. Tony made 6 panels (two-8×3 and four-8×4) and wrapped each one with 200 feet of saran wrap. Each frame was constructed of 1x2s with corner brackets to attach each piece and give the best support to the frame. On the top corners he put in small eye hooks to be able to hang each panel. In the rafters he placed PVC and 2x4s (had them laying around) to hang each panel from. He hung each one using zip ties around the PVC and 2x4s.

Each panel was hung offset and at different levels. They were lit by 7 LED PARs with 4 overhead and 3 on the ground and all behind the panels. They had 10 more LEDs at the front of the stage with 4 lighting the band and 6 facing the audience.

In the middle he mounted five Chauvet light bars to two 2x3s painted black. He put in eye hooks on the top of the 2x3s and hung the lights from the rafters. The light bars at 100% were very bright so he only ran them at 5-8% intensity.

To build the six panels it cost around $50 total.

Editor’s note: Be sure to check out the different texture he was able to achieve. By adjusting the angle of the wrap you can get some really cool, almost brushed metal textures.

Throwback: Bubbling Over and Beside

26 responses to “Throwback: Plastic Wrap”

  1. Josh says:

    Not sure I would trust black security ties, perhaps some other type of vinyl covered wire with ends on it but I was actually toying with an idea similar to this. To see the finished product inspires me to go ahead and try it! El cheapo too! Nice work.

    • I’m the worship pastor here and the set looks awesome. Everything Tony does looks great.

      Those panels weigh almost nothing. The zip ties are great. Sure, if we’re talking about some real weight I’d use something a little more rigid. But they work great for this!

      • Liz Withers says:

        I can definitely vouch for the zip ties. we’ver used them to hang everything from chloroplast to scrim backdrops to screens. They haven’t failed yet.

        This stage is inspiring. Does the plastic stay tight/hold up well?

        • Tony Bedora says:

          The plastic stays fine. We had it up for 6 weeks and we never had a problem with it stretching overtime or getting any tears/cuts. The only thing to note is that the direction of the plastic as it is wrapped needs to hit perpendicular to you lighting. Notice how the middle panels are not as “bright” because the plastic is going parallel to the lighting.

  2. Brandon RayJay Jones says:

    For someone who is not affiliated in any way to, or with this particular campus and/or church, I feel as if this set-up is not only outstanding looking, but cost effective. Thank the God of tech for an inexpensive material useful for set design. This is something I will be using and abusing til the day I die. And for you Mr. Bedora, thank you for your direction as a visionary and architectural genius.. May God bless you with everything you’ve dreamt to be and more. A true visionary of his time Willy Wonka once said:

    Willy Wonka: *We* are the music makers… and *we* are the dreamers of dreams.

  3. John Darden says:

    Wonder if these panels would look cool to use for projection…ambient backgrounds…logos…etc. What do you all think?

    • Tony Bedora says:

      If you used short throw projectors it would probably work. I don’t think projection from directly behind or in front would work too well though. What ever the case is just try and see what happens! Great thought!

    • John says:

      Maybe project perpendicular to the plastic as they suggest to do with lighting? It would need to be for a moving effect, not for image recognition.

  4. Brandon Carr says:

    That is awesome. Love the look, how many LED’s did it take to get it lit well?

    Looks like 12 or more from the pics. . .

  5. Kim Porter says:

    I like this idea for light boxes! We made some out of wood and covered them with white material but are looking for ways to change them up! I think I may try the plastic wrap!

  6. Kenny says:

    I LOVE this setup. We are thinking about doing it in our youth center. Quick question though, do the lights that are on the floor, need to shine from behind the wood frames, or will it look good if they are shining from the front?

    • Tony Bedora says:

      I don’t know that it matters. I did it from behind the frames, but it doesn’t mean it won’t work from the front. Give it a shot and see what works best for you stage.

  7. Tom Holloway says:

    Love it!! Going to try and make it work for us…

  8. marty brand says:

    This idea is crazy awesome!! i was going to try your idea with a twist im hoping it work and if it does i will send you pics. you are very creative dude. i was wondering one thing though don you think the wash strips LED would work because i am goiing to be running my project panels horizontal

    • Tony Bedora says:

      Are you lighting from the side then? Any wash light will work. Just try to think how the folds and wrinkles of the plastic will pick up the light you are putting on it.The light should go “against the grain” if you will of the folds and wrinkles to get the best lighting. I hope your idea turns out well! I would love to see it.

  9. Rhea Mills says:

    I loved this cost effective way to change our stage. I used light PVC pipe for my frames and zip ties to hang from the ceiling. I also sewed a couple to the back wall curtain for added effect. I also wrapped our iron cross with plastic and it looks fantastic! I placed the lights in front of the panels instead of behind and the way layed them out made it look like stained glass! Pretty cool…thanks for the idea!

  10. Leah says:

    Any idea how many rolls of plastic wrap this took? Or how many feet? I’m pricing out commercial bulk wrap online… wondering how much I should get.

    • Tony says:

      I can’t remember. Been a while since I have done that, but I am thinking probably 200ft (just guessing here) per frame. You can do more or less to change the amount of texture per frame too.

  11. Riley Childs says:

    It looks great! I do have an issue with zip ties, because they are made of plastic they expand and contract. As a professional who has seen equipment fall I would advise against relying on 2 rigging points and utilize tie line and steel cable, bot of which can be purchased at your local rental house. Plus if you do it right you satisfy osha and if it falls you would most likely limit your liability.

  12. Kay Pitts says:

    This is a wonderful idea, especially for me, a first-timer. How much clear wrap did you use?

  13. Cheryl says:

    This is beautiful and would fit our theme of ILLUMINATE for Lent so well, my question is, I am at a old church with little or no budget and we have no pot lights or uplighting, everything comes from lights on our ceiling. Is there any way that we could cheaply light these either from the floor or from the sides?

  14. Daniela says:

    Hello Tony, what did you use for the panels? Whats the material?

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