Dry Ice + Ducting...

[rossmck]

We're trying to use a dry ice effect on a stage that's really too small for it (not my choice sadly!) - although the appropriate safety considerations have been taken into account, it's used very sparingly and the room is well ventilated - there's no risk from that point of view...

 

The issue we're having is trying to get the effect we want and hope some of you experts could offer some suggestions :P

 

The fog should lie across the front of the stage (doesn't matter if it fills further upstage or not). Due to the nature of the stage, and the small size of the wings, the operator is positioned above stage level in what is effectively a cupboard (well ventilated with a window in it! - it's an odd building)

 

There is then ducting from the output of the Pea Souper to the side of the stage, taped in place. The effect works, but we're finding it almost impossible to get enough throw from the output of the ducting to reach the other side of the stage (around 6.5m at most) and to stop it flowing off the front of the stage almost immediately.

 

Any suggestions? we're currently thinking along the lines of some sort of funnel on the end of the ducting or a small horizontal air blower to try and blow more of it back onto the stage...

 

I might add that none of this would have become a problem if I had been able to position the Pea Souper in a more sensible location - but the venue makes that impossible

[paulears]

Pea soupers are great machines, but the output is not fan assisted in any way. If you are using 4" ducting, then a cheap bathroom extractor will fit it and could boost the flow - be careful though, as the lowish capacity of the water tank means there isn't an huge supply of CO2 coming out and you'll have better flow for a much shorter time.

[rossmck]

Paul - thanks, great idea, we'll try that ... at the moment I've got a small domestic air blower on the front edge of the stage which is helping somewhat to at least keep it going along the stage for longer (as opposed to rolling straight off the front and into the audience :P)