Making Real Snow

[damian knapp]

Hey there everyone

 

I just wondered if anybody knows where I can get a snowmaking machine from. The production manager just asked me to look into it and I have tried googling it but came up with a considerably small number of contacts. Has anyone worked on an event with real snow from a snow making machine? can anyone help me?

 

Damian

[WiLL]

I didn't think actually that snow machines in a theatre sense made 'real snow'. As that would rapidly turn into a bit of a water hazard, instead the ones I've seen spray a kind of foam to simulate snow which dissappears when it hits ground. Other than that there is good old paper-snow which is obviously..paper.

 

I put snow machine into google and got this on the first page;

 

antari snow machine

 

it looks a bit 'dj' but it gives you an idea and I've no idea how big your venue is.

Good luck.

[lightsource]

Take a look at the Le Maitre Silent Storm, I have no knowledge of snow machines, but this is the first one that sprung to mind. :)

 

Also, are you looking to hire of buy? , if so, then what is your budget?

[the kid]

I think there are several companies who will "make" snow but I believe they make a block of ice then shred it. Only place I have seen it is Viva La Bam on MTV.

 

There is a company in the Cotswolds no idea of the name, but they make hundreds of different snow kinds for film and TV.

 

Finial try "Thames Cryogenic" although they work in supplying the piping for BIG freezers they might help.

[David]

The company in the Cotswolds is Snowbusiness

 

 

Added clickyness

[Ekij]

My understanding is that snow machines (that make real snow for ski resorts etc) still have fairly tight requirements on ambient temperature and humidity such that it wouldn't work in a typical (heater) theatre.

[mark_s]

My understanding is that snow machines (that make real snow for ski resorts etc) still have fairly tight requirements on ambient temperature and humidity such that it wouldn't work in a typical (heater) theatre.

 

They also require a plentiful supply of high-pressure water and have a sound akin to a jet engine, so they aren't really suitable for stage use.

[Ike]

For indoor use there is a polymer known as "Instant Snow" which is very realistic indeed, a google brings up this.

[c.cam108]

A quick google didn't turn up much here so I thought I'd ask those in the know!

 

I am looking for a real snow machine for outdoors. It is to be used in our church car park during a Christmas festival to attract people. It needs to be real so that it can be picked up/played with/thrown etc.

 

Does anyone know where such a thing can be hired from?

 

Colin C

[DrummerJonny]

Hmm... I've never seen these for hire anywhere other than the French Alps.

 

Got any indoor ski centres near you?

 

Also, just to add, those are serious bits of kit. This is all off the top of my head and translated from a french leaflet I read years ago, but the water needs quite a few chemicals in to make the snow work rather than just being ice. My dad always told me as a kid never to play in the snow that comes from them...

[Avantls]

Hi Colin C,

 

I might be wrong now, but I searched absolutely everywhere last year for such a thing, but came up a blank. I did find a few people in America that used compressed air and water, but unfortunately nowhere in the UK.

 

In the end I used Snowboy, It is a foam based system but if you leave it running long enough and in the right condition it does lay and can be thrown around etc.

They use quite a high grade fluid, bio-degradable, non-toxic, non- staining and dermatologically tested. Here is their web http://www.snowboy.co.uk/

 

I hope this helps, sorry I cant help with the real snow, but I did search high and low and came up zip.

[paulears]

Moderation: I merged this with an old topic on the same subject - maybe some of the links are useful?

[the kid]

Snow business. They will do EVERYTHING

[Young Johnstone]

How much snow are you looking at?

I'm currently at Battersea Power station in London, doing Freesports Freeze festival! Basically there's a BIG ramp which they cover in proper natural snow and snow boarders do crazy things on!

 

The company supplying is Polar Europe and are from Holland, they specialize in the snow making buisness! And they make it on a smale to LARGE scale!

 

Hope this may help, but it may be to much for your needs!

[kerry davies]

Snowbusiness down in Stroud once covered a churchyard and church in snow during a summer wedding. The brides face was apparently something to behold. "Narnia!". Not cheap but work at a very high level in film and advertising.

http://www.snowbusiness.com/contact-us.aspx