Creating “Blacklight” Skeletons

In our September show, we were challenged to take the classic song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” and turn it into a dance/rave style with props, lights, and updated lyrics to more obscure words like “Abs, Earlobes, Liver, Brain” to make it funnier. The writers got to work on the lyrics and the song, and the production team started on the props and lighting.

We decided to purchase skeletons—like the ones from a science classroom—and paint them neon colors so they’d glow under black light and really pop on stage. I know I may be biased, but they turned out awesome! Let me rewind, and explain our process.

Testing

Using a Pantone color swatch book and a variety of neon colored spray paints, we tested out what the colors looked like under black light. Technically, we didn’t use actual black lights, and instead used our R2 LED light fixtures and found a blue/purple UV-like light that still made neon colors pop.

Planning

Before we started painting, we worked on color combinations. I found an outline of skeleton online, printed out a few copies, and colored it with highlighters matching our spray paint colors. We all voted on the best color combinations, ordered more spray paint, and picked a work day to paint.

Painting

It was super hot and humid on painting day, but my team hung in there, never complaining like champions. Huge shoutout to Weston, Meaghan and Cade! (Side Note: We learned spray paint doesn’t love the humidity and tends to clog pretty easily. The trick is to shake the cans way more often than normal to keep the paint flowing.) After painting, we bought Polyacrylic satin finish spray sealant and put a few coats on top to prevent chipping and scratches in travel.

Rebuild Stands

The skeletons came with stands that wheeled, but they were so cheap the skeletons wouldn’t roll even on a smooth surface. I challenged our intern, who was going to school for engineering, to design a new base with better wheels. Here’s what he came up with:

Stage

The final step: Showtime! Here’s a portion of the song so you can see how we used it.