Fiber-optic technology is in a constant state of advancement and, like everything else it seems, can be used effectively in film and in commercial production.

According to Craig Scott, vp of Millennium Fiber Optics in Hamilton, Ont., fiber optics will some day be responsible for the illumination of entire towns and cities, but for now it can provide some very impressive and realistic outdoor nighttime backdrops.

The thrust of Millennium’s business is the rental of fiber-optic curtains for a variety of purposes. They can provide background visuals for concerts, trade shows or just relaxing in your basement set to music with some intoxicants, acting something like an in-house planetarium. What frustrates Scott, however, is that this commodity seems very much unknown to commercial producers.

‘They don’t know about this curtain, so they don’t know to recommend it to people,’ says Scott. ‘Let’s say you went to do your commercial and you did the backgrounds on computer because you wanted the night sky. The curtain looks like the sky at night, and looks better than one a computer can generate. This is the future for the night or evening sky effect; for twinkling stars or galaxies on film.’

Scott says some producers are still under the assumption that the fiber-optic curtains have not advanced over the years and are only capable of producing a handful of colors and minimal intensity. In actuality, he says, the curtains of today are computerized and capable of producing more than 30,000 colors, with more than 250 shades of blue, red and green.

The new generation of curtain is also capable of generating 255 degrees of intensity for the light, which can be set for the needs of cinematographers.

He says in the u.s., Coca-Cola and Huggies Diapers are two companies that have used the fiber-optic curtains for commercial shoots, but he says he is still waiting for a Canadian production company to call him up in need of a picturesque evening or night sky.

Scott says the rental of fiber-optic curtains (which are manufactured in the u.s.) is also much more cost-efficient than getting a post house to create a night-sky effect from scratch. He says curtains are available in different lengths and sizes for producers looking to rent, but he is hoping a time will soon come where he can stop sending cheques south of the border after a rental.

‘We are also looking for investors to assemble them in Canada,’ says Scott. ‘I hate sending the money down to the States. The American know-how is nowhere near Canadian know-how. We can do a much better job on these than the Americans, but they have the technology right now.’ *