Flame effect

[Jambo_UK]

Hi there,

 

I need some help with an idea, me and a couple of friends have had for a concert coming up in the summer. We want to start the concert with flames coming up on the stage so we have designed some piping with holes in it, caped at the end and connected it to a propane gas bottle, but we wondered if we not some sort of value so it flames does not go back up the pipe to the gas bottle,

 

Also do we need a licease to use this effect, if where can we get it from,

 

from

 

Jambo

 

PS. We are goinbg to get it checked by a gas man before we use it at the concert.

[gareth]

Whoah! Have you really considered the safety aspects of this kind of effect? Emergency cut-offs? Dead-mans handles? Flame retardancy of all surrounding surfaces? This is the sort of thing that even the big production companies bring in specialists to deal with - I really don't think it's something you should be mucking about with. Apart from anything else, you'd have to get approval from your local fire officer, and probably your council licensing and H&S people too - and I have a feeling their answer would be an outirght 'no'.

[Jivemaster]

Jambo. In an industry where candes are simulated because of fire risk, you seem to be planning a DIY cremation pyre and hoping to get away with it. do you want to see your 17th bday facing a mass murder charge.

 

It can be done with the right kit and the right experience, but by that time you would be the seasoned pro you are trying to be.

[Stu]

While knowing very little about Pyro, I know enough to say what your trying to do is most likely to come back and haunt you.

 

I would most highly recommend that you hire a professional pyro company who knows what they are doing and let them deal with the whole project for you. If you can't afford it, you'll have to cut it. Thats life I'm afraid.

 

Stu

PS. I'm pretty sure you'd have to be 18 to do this anyway.

[Jambo_UK]

Thanks everyone, especially gareth, that has given me all the answers I have needed. We have installed emergency shut offs and some special value that does not allow gas to flow back in to the tank and have been testing the effect on a big fields, which is owned by a friend. We have got the effect to work but as you say there is to much red tape holding it back from being used at the show, instead I'm now going to film it down at the site and project it onto a screen at the show.

 

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

from

 

Jambo

[Bryson]

Jambo

 

What you refer to as red tape is there for yours and others protection. What you are doing (regardless of where you are doing it) is very very dangerous and for your own safety do not do it. I don't think we can be any clearer than we have been. I do hope that you are not injured, but I'm not optomistic.

[egw]

Hi,

 

Firstly I'd like to second Brysons post.

 

I don't know if you've read the other thread on this forum at the moment: Fire on stage but that might help you a bit. I would suggest that you look at options like silk fires - might or might not be suitable but under no circumstances would I suggest trying to construct a D.I.Y. flame source.

 

It is worth talking to a professional, even if the exact effect you want is too dangerous / expensive they may be able to help you with another option (e.g. Flame projectors - though you need to be 18 to use them). Given that hiring a respectable sized LCD projector is quite expensive why not think about putting that money towards hiring a pyrotechnics professional, who might give you a much more impressive effect than projection. At the same time this would eliminate the risk of blowing yourself up.

 

Ed

[Jivemaster]

What time of evening are you planning this to be. Summer nights are light late and fx like flames look MUCH better against a dark ground. You should be timing flames for the sunset +/- 15 mins time slot

 

I used to do big fire fx years ago but then I had 200metres radius and 1000 feet height as an available safety zone. Yes it was on an airfield for airshows with a civil and a RAF airport firecrew on duty

[Lincoln]

If you ONLY want to have Flames ONCE at the start of your concert, I highly recommend Le Maitre (ProStage II) Pyro Flames...

 

Available in 3 Sizes Medium, Intermediate and Large.

 

Hard wired devices with rather a warm "radiated" heat from them when they go.

 

Very effective and very easy to use. All the safety rules and risk assessments apply as usual when using this kind of material. And DO TESTS!!!

 

 

 

Lincoln

[Jambo_UK]

It has filmed last night about 8:00 and all went well, No-one got harmed and the film is being edited now, The venue is a school and they are allowing us to use their data projectorer seeing that they have around five of them now.

 

I know red tape is there for a reason I was not going to take advanatge of it and take unwanted risks. Even through the risk assement we did said high we took a lot of percautions, included using a small gas bottle then we orignal tested this gas bottle was when sealed in a old flight case, with a hole in it for the tube.

 

Plus we had a 100 metre excution zone, with the camera being placed in the middle f it controlled by a remote,

 

Gas only lasted about thirty seconds and we got a six foot flame on the camera tape when we checked it.

 

We know that we really should have just hired a pro technician and used pre-made explosives from professional componies,

 

from

 

Jambo

 

PS. We will not be trying to film it again! or create anymore of the effects unless we either get them to pass through a technicions with the preofessional qualitifications.