lighting up 35mm film

[toozie21]

So I have a couple of trailers to Christmas movies that are on film strips. Since I can't actually play them, I thought I would cut some sections off and maybe make a decoration out of them. I was thinking of something along the lines of this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Elf-Framed-Limited-Edition-Movie-Film-Cells-Plaque-/270685795519?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f062174bf
except that I was hoping to light up the film from behind.

That is where I was hoping to get some advice. What is a cheap way to light up the cells from behind? I figure a night light bulb would be the cheapest/easiest, but that is going to get pretty hot. El-wire would be cooler, but much more expensive. Anyone have any ideas of something in between?

Thanks!

[RPM]

Maybe some LED's? They would stay cool enough.


So I have a couple of trailers to Christmas movies that are on film strips. Since I can't actually play them, I thought I would cut some sections off and maybe make a decoration out of them. I was thinking of something along the lines of this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Elf-Framed-Limited-Edition-Movie-Film-Cells-Plaque-/270685795519?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f062174bf
except that I was hoping to light up the film from behind.

That is where I was hoping to get some advice. What is a cheap way to light up the cells from behind? I figure a night light bulb would be the cheapest/easiest, but that is going to get pretty hot. El-wire would be cooler, but much more expensive. Anyone have any ideas of something in between?

Thanks!

[toozie21]

That is a good idea, and I thought of them as well, but I think that lighting them could be costly (or bulky). I guess besides using a wall wart to power each frame, there probably isn't a cheap way to light up the LEDs from AC, right?

[dirknerkle]

You might try putting a couple small fluorescent tubes (the kind that are in laptops) behind a piece of frosted glass. They'd run with a wall-wart and of course, don't get very hot. You might also check HD or Lowes in their garden lighting area. A lot of that stuff is photocell/rechargeable, but the low voltage stuff might be a good place to look...

[RPM]

If you want to get creative, you can get one of those solar garden lights and remove the guts and mount it to the picture frame to create a solar rechargeable back light.
These can be had for pretty low cost these days... the last ones I bought I paid something like $5 for four of them on closeout.

The other alternative is to use a battery supply.


That is a good idea, and I thought of them as well, but I think that lighting them could be costly (or bulky). I guess besides using a wall wart to power each frame, there probably isn't a cheap way to light up the LEDs from AC, right?

[Matt_Edwards]

What would be super cool would be to chase a LED behind each frame. Do you want it visible during the day? You could try 1/2W LEDS. If not just use normal one. I would also try sanding the LED and sticking it in as white ping-pong ball to get even diffusion.
The circuit wouldn't super complicated, even a 555 and a 4017 would suffice.