Hiring and transporting painted backdrops

[Amorya]

Hi. I'm involved in an amateur theatre society, and am currently considering how to improve our set for our next show. Previously we've used a set of 8 1x2m flats, so sized so as to fit in our van. They look a bit rubbish due to not being tall enough. I'm looking into hiring backdrops instead (we need a cottage, a village scene and the interior of a castle: fairly standard I would expect!)

 

Normally we perform in village halls. The ones we go to do have the facility for hanging backdrops, and the stages are quite small. Even so, just rolled up, the backdrop would be too long for our van. Hence I'm trying to decide what to do.

 

1. Could we hire a bigger van? It needs to be something that doesn't need a special licence to drive.

2. Could we hire backdrops off a company that would deliver them to our venue on the day? That sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen if anything went wrong…

3. Can they be folded up so as to fit in a smaller vehicle?

 

Also, does anyone know roughly how much you'd pay to hire a backdrop (of about 6x3m?) for a week?

 

I'm in Coventry if it makes a difference.

 

Thanks,

 

Amorya

[Dodgecaliber]

How much is your budget for transport?

 

Anything over 3.5t (a van) gets expensive. As an example, Scotland - London - Scotland is over £200 in fuel alone.

[paulears]

They are all folded for transport - usually coming either flat folded about 3ft x 3ft (ish) or in canvas bags. These can easily be put into vehicles, and even with a label on the drawstring at the top, shipped by the usual carriers.

 

The usual way to do it if you are budget ligyt is choose them from a local supplier, then go and collect them, and redeliver yourself. If you don't have sources local, then choose on the net and they send them the cheapest way. This is rarely by their own vans, they just cet a carrier to collect from them, and deliver to you. They all are supplied with ties at the top, and come in lots of basic sizes.

 

My own venue needs wide cloths 10-11m, BUT we only have a visible height of 4m, so we have to lose top or bottom. The usual way to lose the top is to attach the cloth to a batten, then roll the batten, and use special clips to then hang that to a bar. At the bottom, you can just roll them, or use the conduit you have supplied that goes in the pocket at the bottom to make it taught and flat - by bringing the cloth in to the correct place , then taking it backwards, and using the weight of the conduit by laying it on top to give taughtness.

 

Does that make sense?

[robloxley]

Try someone like http://www.borderstudio.com/

[Amorya]

Thanks all for your help.

 

My budget for transport isn't fixed yet: I have to draft a proposal for the entire budget, then it gets reviewed in a couple of weeks. However, typically there isn't that much for transport. We get the use of our current van for very cheap, subsidised by the university.

 

Knowing that they fold reassures me a lot. Someone had told me they tended to roll only, due to having batons stitched into the top or something. If they fold, and we can get them locally, then transport is not an issue.

[GridGirl]

Almost every backdrop I've ever hung up has been folded up, not rolled up! 6m x 3m is not huge in backdrop terms - I can get a 15m x 10m backdrop folded up enough to fit in the back of my car (a hatchback!) easily so you shouldn't have any trouble.

[Ynot]

I don't think transport is going to be your problem.

At only 6 x 3 m (or 20 ft by 10 ft high) your biggest issue is going to be finding suitable cloths anythwere near that size.

Border Studios (linked above) do have some at 14 ft high, (and these tend to cost around £130 per week to hire) but that means you'd have to lose almost a third of the height by folding/rolling at top or bottom, and also up to the same percentage at the sides. Not only does that mean problems with the picture on the cloth but also inhibits any rolling of the cloths between scenes...

 

Good luck in the search, but be wary that you may not be able to get what you need.

 

The other alternative would be to buy in blank cloths to fit the largest venue you use, and have them painted locally. This obviously relies on you having the necessary talent available to paint scenic drops - not something any artist can do due to the scale and type of work needed. It's also not just a case of slapping emulsion onto the cloths (for various reasons) - you need to use flexible paint which won't thicken the cloths inordinately or crack after only a couple of uses.

 

I do this occasionally for some of the groups here, and buy in plain cloths at about 30 feet wide by 16 feet high from Whalleys in Bradford - at that size they cost a little over £100 plus VAT, so your smaller cloths would most likely be a little cheaper (plus delivery).

[Amorya]

I don't think transport is going to be your problem.

At only 6 x 3 m (or 20 ft by 10 ft high) your biggest issue is going to be finding suitable cloths anythwere near that size.

Border Studios (linked above) do have some at 14 ft high, (and these tend to cost around £130 per week to hire) but that means you'd have to lose almost a third of the height by folding/rolling at top or bottom, and also up to the same percentage at the sides. Not only does that mean problems with the picture on the cloth but also inhibits any rolling of the cloths between scenes...

 

Good luck in the search, but be wary that you may not be able to get what you need.

 

Having checked with the venue, the stage is 6.9 metres wide (plus wings), and while they don't quote a height it may be more like 3.5m. I think I underestimated a bit before.

 

of us performing HMS Pinafore there. The flats behind us are 2m high. (They've redone things a bit since then, and there are drapes and proper places to hang stuff, but the dimensions are the same.)

 

I realise that this is not the easiest problem to solve. I guess it wouldn't be amateur theatre if everything went smoothly!

[paulears]

I'd guestimate that you've only got about 2.5m to play with, height wise. The only problem I can think of is that changing cloths will be almost impossible - so you could get one and fold back sides, top and bottom - it's going to look 'wrong'. Tony's suggestion of making your own could be the best - in fact, if you constructed a false rear frame, you could use 6mm MDF painted boths sides, and just hang them from the top, lined up in a row. Then in a blackout, you unhook them turn them around and voila, new background. Probably be cheaper than hiring, and you could have exactly the image you want?

[Ynot]

Well.

After a couple of background PMs with another Coventry BR member, a penny dropped, and I realised that you'd actually contacted me in August looking at bringing your next show (Ruddigore?) into our venue next March. (And some of your predecessors came with the Merry Widow a couple of years ago). As I've not heard anything more back from you I'll assume that's no longer under consideration.

 

However, if you were still looking at us for your tour, you would indeed be looking at the size I mentioned above for our stage - your 2m high flats would definitely look very lost here - especially compared to a village hall option.

 

We do have some cloths in-house - painted for various past shows. We also have a list of the 15 to 16 feet high cloths available from local scenery contractors Clifford & Brown - all on our web pages

[Amorya]

Well.

After a couple of background PMs with another Coventry BR member, a penny dropped, and I realised that you'd actually contacted me in August looking at bringing your next show (Ruddigore?) into our venue next March. (And some of your predecessors came with the Merry Widow a couple of years ago). As I've not heard anything more back from you I'll assume that's no longer under consideration.

 

However, if you were still looking at us for your tour, you would indeed be looking at the size I mentioned above for our stage - your 2m high flats would definitely look very lost here - especially compared to a village hall option.

 

We do have some cloths in-house - painted for various past shows. We also have a list of the 15 to 16 feet high cloths available from local scenery contractors Clifford & Brown - all on our web pages

 

We're still considering venues. The schedule's now moved so that we're aiming at performing in May. We're almost certainly doing the village halls (Lapworth and Tiddington), as we get loyal audience there.

 

Regarding the Abbey Theatre, the main concern is audience numbers. I wasn't around when we did Widow, but from speaking to previous members I believe we never quite got the publicity campaign right for Nuneaton. I've just had another look at your email and the price certainly looks reasonable if we could pull in an audience of 100-150. Thanks for the reminder!

 

If we do go to larger venues we'll definitely hire backcloths. I was hoping to get some to fit the halls too, in order to firstly avoid painting our flats (all extra effort) and also to look more professional. I actually designed and built the flats originally, but I was given the 2m height specification based on the van size, and sadly when I saw them in situ they did look rather small.

 

Thanks,

 

Thomas

[Ynot]

Regarding the Abbey Theatre, the main concern is audience numbers. I wasn't around when we did Widow, but from speaking to previous members I believe we never quite got the publicity campaign right for Nuneaton. I've just had another look at your email and the price certainly looks reasonable if we could pull in an audience of 100-150. Thanks for the reminder!

That's really about the size of it.

A bit off topic, but worth mentioning.

This is the BIG mistake that a lot of touring companies make when they don't have enough experience in promotion.

Basically, we (as a volunteer run venue) just don't have the capacity to properly promote and push an incoming tour show, be it a one night tribute band or a multi-night production. I always make it clear to any enquirers (and we have LOADS ask for details) that the majority of the responsibility for selling tickets is theirs.

 

We do well with those groups with a 'tame/captive' audience, but not so with those from outside.

 

Self promotion is perhaps the most important thing to get right outside your own locale, and notoriously difficult.

[Just Some Bloke]

Basically, we (as a volunteer run venue) just don't have the capacity to properly promote and push an incoming tour show

 

To be fair, Tony, this is in fact exactly the same at most professional venues. Hiring the venue gets you the theatre, the bar and the dressing rooms and that's where it ends. We use our meagre marketing budget to publicise our own promotions and there's nothing left for advertising the hirers' shows as well. If you hire ANY venue, volunteer or fully professional, the onus of selling tickets falls on you, not the venue. Amorya seems to have grasped this fact well in saying

I wasn't around when we did Widow, but from speaking to previous members I believe we never quite got the publicity campaign right for Nuneaton.

That's exactly right.