What Is A Lamé?
A lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with thin metallic fibers, stretched on a frame for the purpose of bouncing light. Used to reflect soft light, it usually comes in gold or silver and can also be laminated to a white backing.
Soft lighting offers diffused shadows with soft edges and is often used to hide unflattering signs of aging, such as wrinkles. Soft lighting also helps to minimize the effect of multiple shadows when used as ambient or fill lighting as well as minimize or hide camera shadows in moving takes, such as in walk and talk scenes (learn more about soft lighting here).
Gold lamé is used to reflect warm light reminiscent of a sunset or sunrise, often used in filming “day for night” scenes. Silver lamé is used to reflect cool light for daylight fills. The “Elvis” is a checkerboard-style gold and white lamé while the “Priscilla” is a checkerboard-style silver and white lamé.
Lamé can also be used as a costume material and you may notice it in futuristic-type costumes and spacesuits. For example, Jane Fonda’s spacesuit in the 1968 cult classic Barbarella consisted of a silver lamé top – check it out here.
Fun Fact: Lamé is used to make overjackets in the sport of fencing because its conductive properties allow touches to be scored.
If you are looking for grip and lighting experts or costume designers for your next production, visit our online Nevada Production Directory to find experienced Nevada production crew and support services or drop by our office and pick up a free printed directory!
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