This project was the result of a close collaboration between the Director, Costume Designer, Lighting Shop, and Sound Shop. The Scenic Designer/Director specifically asked for the ability to create the ability for the supernatural characters in the production to have eyes that could begin to glow, yet be overlooked by the audience when they were not glowing.

I selected LED sequins as the lighting device most appropriate for the application, as they were inexpensive, small, and bright enough to be visible as a point of light even under stage lighting. The next step was determining how to conceal the wiring that would be necessary to provide power to the sequins. I experimented with a number of different wire types and methods to conceal them, when I had a conversation with the Department's Sound Supervisor. He had a number of connector cables in various skin tones that he had used for the Department's wireless mic system that he was no longer using for a variety of reasons, and if I wanted to I could use them. Since the sequins used such low voltage to power them this proved an ideal solution.

I matched as closely as I could sets of wires to the performer's skin tones, and then modified them to carry direct current by stripping the wire and using the shielding in the cable as the negative, and the internal insulated wire as the positive. After soldering the wires on to the sequins, I then coated the entirety of the sequins with clear nail polish. This allowed me to protect the sequin's wire connections from the actor's sweat. Once the polish had fully cured I gave the devices to the Costume Shop, and they coated the entire sequin, except for the LED chip in silicone that matched the skin tones of the performers.

To attach the sequins the back of each was dabbed with spirit glue, and positioned just above the performer's eyelid. The wires were then run across the performer's temple, secured with mic tape, and down their back to a modified mic pack which contained the battery and an RC4 Wireless Dimmer.

The effect worked exceptionally well, as from stage it was difficult for an audience member to see the prosthetics, and it allowed the lighting designer to have full control over intensity without having to burden the actor with controlling the effect.