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The Weilandfilm Theatrical Poster Lightbox
© Copyright 2001-2007 Weilandfilm
Productions
Section 2: Basic Design
I Have A Dream...
The backlit poster
box is meant for only one purpose -- displaying two-sided
posters. If you're not planning on buying two-sided
posters, you really shouldn't be putting yourself
through this ordeal. You'd be better off buying a
27 x 40 theatrical poster frame from Suncoast Video
and down lighting it.
With that out the way, the basic design of the lightbox
is fairly elementary: construct a wooden frame (the
hull) deep enough to house three strips of fluorescent
lights needed to illuminate the poster from behind.
Now float your favorite print between two sheets of
Plexiglas. See, it's not that complicated.
Well it honestly wasn't quite that simple either.
Looking back, I can say that constructing the lightbox
was fun and rather simple, but the design surely took
some planning. And even throughout construction, it
was redesigned a few times. Believe it or not, I was
still revising a few things a month after I had officially
"completed" the project.
Where does the Prototype fit in?
Bear with me a few
minutes more while I cover a topic that will put this
whole workshop into perspective. I've built two lightbox
units. One now hangs triumphantly on my living room
wall. The other was built for a friend of mine. As
this first unit is truly the prototype, I will continue
to refer to it as such. But you will find that this
how-to guide will not chronicle my prototype, rather
it depicts a slightly modified plan that I employed
on the second one ... and the plan I intend to follow
on the next one... and the next one...
So throughout the remainder of this article, when
I refer to the lightbox, I am referring to the most
recent and final (to this point) design implementing
several modifications to the prototype.
Basic Design:
 This
is a quick look at the basic design of the lightbox
unit. Dimensions and schematics will be provided in
a later section.
In its simplest form, the lightbox is a frame (see
figure to the right) constructed of 6 pieces of 1x4
poplar wood. As can be seen, I chose to run the side
pieces of the frame long, covering the ends of both
the top and bottom pieces. I chose not to miter these
corners, but if you're good at mitering corners, by
all means -- miter away! But as you can see, you most
likely won't see the top or bottom of the lightbox,
so who cares if the cut ends show in those locations?
Across the back of the frame (at the top and bottom)
are two reinforcing back braces that add rigidity
to the frame while also serving as mounting areas
for the ballast, wiring and fluorescent tube lampholders.
Notice how these pieces are notched into the side
members. Since the lightbox will be supported primarily
from the top reinforcing piece, I notched it into
each of the side members for added strength. I did
the same for the bottom reinforcing piece for the
sake of uniformity. Yes, you can see the ends of these
pieces, but the ornate wooden trim (quarter-round)
that will run around the lightbox's perimeter will
cover these raw edges.
The depth of the frame is crucial to ensuring that
the fluorescent lighting can be housed inside the
unit without coming in contact with the backside of
the poster. With the 1x4 poplar (which measures 3/4"
by 3 1/2" actually) I was able to achieve this
clearance for the bulbs that I chose to use. Please
keep this in mind if you decide to use a different
type of bulb.
Beyond the frame layout, we'll be slapping some lighting
inside, mounting a ballast, installing a switch, running
some wire, fastening two layers of Plexiglas to the
front, painting and trimming out the unit.
Now that we've had a look at the basic design of the
lightbox, we're ready to review the materials used
to construct this beast.
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