Tuesday, September 21, 2021
How Hollywood is embracing Vantablack, the blackest black
www.fastcompany.com: No color—or, more accurately, lack thereof—has caused more of a media frenzy in recent years than “Vantablack.” The blacker-than-black paint absorbs so much light (99.96%) that when it’s applied to something, that thing appears to not exist, giving off the effect of a black hole.
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6 comments:
I am so glad to hear that vantablack is becoming more accessible! When I first heard of it a few years back, I had not even considered the possibilities for its use. It seemed like something that would always be theoretical and never be a paint that could actually be bought and used. At best, I figured it would be far too expensive for any average person to get. I still think its implementation in theater is somewhat far off considering it is currently available only as tiles that can be applied to walls for indoor use. Of course, you can still spray paint it, but that must be done outside. I am sure it will be used in film, concerts, and some Broadway performances in the next few years, but I think until vantablack can be canned and sold on Home Depot shelves, it will not be used in theaters.
This paint is so exciting I want to get my hands on it so bad it's crazy. I’d say I want one in every color but, well, you know… I can’t wait until science figures itself out so that we can have notebooks and pencils and clothes in this color. I’m sure it will happen soon. The theatrical implications are incredible, with endless possibilities. I am particularly excited by the prospect of sitting in a room painted completely ventiblack except for the stage. It sounds like the most incredible immersive experience and I want to see it so bad. The onstage applications are fascinating as well, the ability to create the feeling of floating, the ability to include a color so striking that the audience must look at it and light is suked into it. I cannot get enough of it, and don’t get me started on how it could be used in costumes. The three witches of Macbeth rising from a ventiblack tar pit with dresses of the same color, the phantom disappearing completely into the shadows except for his mask.
This is so incredible to me, I remember when this first came out, there was a huge discussion. My high school hallways were littered with people asking, “what is that feeling like?”, “what’s the difference”,“what’s the big deal”. A huge controversy, and to me it is just shocking how we can still be finding new colors, like this and like the new blue: YlnMN. It is so exciting that this is becoming more accessible, its use in the art world could really change our perception of light, color, and perception as a whole. The intersection of science and art is so wonderful because one can feed the other and vice versa. This sense of community and intersectional collaboration is what drives our society to push the boundaries. I feel that it is important for industries to not get too comfortable with the limits, as this article states, Broadway has been the same for 35 years the introduction of something as simple as a new color has the power to change everything.
I’m very conflicted by the way Vantablack is presented in this article. On one hand, I am so glad that Vantablack is becoming more accessible, and I’m glad that there are ways it can be used to meet the demand for it in different industries. On the other hand, I’m a little bit skeptical of the use of vantablack in the applications it’s being marketed for in this article. Some make sense to me: the one off projects, like the car and house painted in vantablack are artistic pieces that depend on the light absorbing quality of vantablack to create an effect. I can see why painting a theater’s walls in Vantablack could make the experience more immersive. However, as a green screen replacement it seems like an unnecessarily expensive solution to a non-problem. However, I hope that with more information, I can fully grasp the usefulness of this color.
Finally an article about color that I can have a true opinion on! I think that it's fantastic that Vantablack is becoming more accessible to 'everyday' people instead of huge corporations like BMW and Swiss Watches. I think that there are lots of opportunities for this to be used in theatre. I'm not really sure what the idea behind replacing green screens is but I think that if a black box space were to be coated in this, it might create an even more intimate and immersive experience. Also while reading this article, things like Sleep No More came to mind. I think that this would be excellent in an immersive theatre world. I love the idea of having small tiles (that are hopefully affordable) so a unique layout can be made from them. I'm also excited to see what other ways of distributing this product come from this new discovery.
I remember learning about Vantablack a long time ago and being so interested in how it can make things practically look like black holes! And like others have said, it;s cool that it’s becoming more accessible to use for creative applications. There’s a paint similar to it that I’ve seen artists using called Black 2.0 and Black 3.0 which comes pretty close to Vantablack. It’s a matte black paint that is super matte and dark once it dries. The only thing about it is that it’s pretty pricey, and I imagine that Vantablack would cost even more. At $23.99 for 150ML, or $127.99 for a Litre, of the paint the amount that would need to be used to cover things in scenic applications, even with an airbrush, would probably not be worth the effect it has. But perhaps could be more useful in the props shop in the smaller quantities.
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