jexjexjex Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Hi all One of our local am-drams is doing Carousel in March and they're asking me about how to show there is a carousel in the vicinity, without there actually being one - if you see what I mean. The stage is simply not big enough to accomodate something built as part of the set. There is a large blank wall space above the proscenium arch and I'd thought of projecting onto that, with something like an Opti projector and wheel, but there isn't a suitable wheel. Another option might be top use several suitable gobos arranged to overlap slightly and programmed into a chase. Does anyone have any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 With the caveat that I'm a sound person.... I worked on this show a few years back on a stage that had the same problem. When we did it, there were no visual effects at all, just a carefully designed sound plot. As I recall, at the beginning there's a scene that takes place (supposedly) getting gradually farther from the carousel. I had to do careful filtering and mixes to make the sound seem more and more distant as the scene progressed. In my case, the decision to go this route came from the director....but I think it worked well (though of course I'm prejudiced! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 We had a central pole free standing as the middle of the carousel, with 6 mini mac's in the roof above, then a bit of crafty programming and haze and you can have the light beams moving around the centre in a circle (one lamp does an arc, then another pics up and takes over, while the other moves abck and starts again. We did also have a circular truss in the roof faced with an edging, but you'd get away without.The cast then each had a pole like a horse would be mounted on and danced around in a circle with the lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w/robe Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 The carousel is only in the opening and if it was not the title of the show then nobody would think of having one, I costumed the 50th anniversary production at the QE Hall and there was no carousel. But what you do has to fit in with the other design elements of the show. If you are dropping in naturalistic painted back drops then you will probably need at least a 2D representation of the carousel. However if the show is on a bare stage with a cyc and various bits of furniture, baskets and lobster pots then some interesting lighting, sound and choreography (possibly on a revolve) is probably going to fit in better.I would think you would get more from going for the movement of the lights on the carousel, even if it is not there, than either jumping between gobos or projection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzette Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I've done it with having a length of material attached to a bar and then using dancers as the carousel horses ... similar to cedd. We also had extra lengths of material from the same point which the dancers used - think maypole dancing. As w/robe said - the carousel isn't actually needed - the only real point that it is of use is for the opening music / overture (the carousel waltz) but it is a fairground so think jugglers/acrobats/clowns/sideshows/buskers with lots of public wandering around... I have also done it with a painted flat in upstage corner and a full carousel on a revolve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Ohh, it was a long time ago but I think we made a box with random flickering coloured lights and had this off stage. The flicker gave the impression of movement. All it was was a bunch of 25W gls lamps in series with strip light starters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick S Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 We had a central pole free standing as the middle of the carousel, with 6 mini mac's in the roof above, then a bit of crafty programming and haze and you can have the light beams moving around the centre in a circle (one lamp does an arc, then another pics up and takes over, while the other moves abck and starts again. We did also have a circular truss in the roof faced with an edging, but you'd get away without. ...or the somewhat cheaper version, which is to presumably use a Harvester instead. (did I get the name right? That era of disco lighting is before my time...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundie Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Our last end of year show we did at the Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House and one scene we had a carousel-type effect on stage. The carousel was constructed using people moving around, it became a kind of dance thing. It was accompanied with a song that we wrote that had carousel type themes and words. People formed a circle on the stage and move around in a circle, each person held a coloured pole and they rose and fell alternately. Someone also stood right in the centre with a large garden-type umbrella and rotated around the same direction as the circle of people. We projected a strange stylized carousel horse on a large screen at the back of the stage. It might not be appropriate in your case, but it worked well for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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