flying with limited space advice needed!

[Emma_P]

Hi there,

for a forthcoming show it is required that the show cloth flys out but we do not have much height available. the majority of cloths used in the show just track on and off. last year a member of the stage crew set this up for us using a clever rope and pulley system so the cloth sort of folded up or something when the rope was pulled and I can't for the life of me remember how he did it or get my head round how it worked, any suggestions welcome,

cheers

[pritch]

It might help if you defined "Not much space", and gave an idea of what sort of size cloths you're looking to fly out.

[rossmck]

You might be looking for something like an oleo / olio drop (sometimes called an olio roll) where the cloth is rolled up onto the ceiling.

 

I've been planning on building one of these in the small (3.6m high) space I regularly work with... not gotten around to it yet, but there's plenty of advice available on here from others who have :)

[Jeremy MLS]

Is it possible to make it into a large Roman Blind? - so that it folds as it's raised up

[LeeStoddart]

Emma,

 

It sounds like generally you wipe the cloths - meaning they are moved sideways on a wipe track, rather than flying them vertically.

 

Is your question

a) how did we achieve a wipe that folds the cloth up into the wings?

or

b) how do we fold a cloth so that it can be flown in a height which is less than it's full height?

 

Obviously - two different problems with quite different solutions.

[Emma_P]

Emma,

 

It sounds like generally you wipe the cloths - meaning they are moved sideways on a wipe track, rather than flying them vertically.

 

Is your question

a) how did we achieve a wipe that folds the cloth up into the wings?

or

b) how do we fold a cloth so that it can be flown in a height which is less than it's full height?

 

Obviously - two different problems with quite different solutions.

 

Hiya its question B, how do we fold a cloth so that it can be flown in a height which is less than it's full height. we do mostly wipe the cloths but for the show cloth which is a gauze that is used for a bleed through effect the director particuarly wants it to be flown in and out so it doesn't spoil the effect. I'm not sure of the exact heights right now its still being finalised I think but I will check with my boss tomorrow to see what the difference is between the truss and the portal and the full height of the cloth

[smalljoshua]

I have a system doing exactly this being used next week.

 

You need to lift the bottom of the cloth to meet the top. By doing this, you only need half the height of the cloth above the stage and not the entire height above the stage. I am using a 2nd set of lines tied onto the bar that is running through the bottom of the cloth. These are then fed through a 2nd set of pullys and are hauled by a 2nd flyman.

 

Josh

[Emma_P]

ok so the cloth is 6m and the space in which we have to fold it up into to hide it from the audience is 1.2m. the cloth won't actually be flying out just folding up to the truss on which it is tied on, it will have rings up the side to attach lines to to make it do this I just cant remember exactly how. would I just attach a line on the bottom ring of each side then thread it up through the other rings then have a pulley at the top of each line that then goes along the truss through another pulley and down to a line on the floor that can be pulled to fly it out? or is there a better way of doing that so it is smoother and folds up better? does the line have to be attached in some way to each ring up the side to make it fold up?

thanks

Emma

[GridGirl]

Would I just attach a line on the bottom ring of each side then thread it up through the other rings then have a pulley at the top of each line that then goes along the truss through another pulley and down to a line on the floor that can be pulled to fly it out?

 

That's the way to do it. We have absolutely no flying height at all and yet a couple of years ago had a 4m curtain which pulled up to less than 30cm by exactly this method. You may find you need some weight in the bottom of the cloth to make it fall properly - we used fishing sinkers. You may want to experiment with different numbers of rings to see what gives you the best effect.

[tbjhilton]

Attach the bottom of the cloth to a lightweight 48mm barrel which is 6in wider than the cloth at both sides. roll the barrel up the bottom couple of inches of the cloth, as if you were going to roll it up like tin foil. Attach a rope/wire to each end of the barrel, but wind enough excess to equal the height of the drop around the barrel the opposite way to the cloth (so if the cloth rises at the downstage side of the barrel the rope rises on the upstage side). Feed the rope up and through a pulley on the truss. now when both ropes are pulled together (this may be the tricky bit!) the rope unwinds, turning the barrel, and the cloth is wound round the barrel as the barrel is lifted up to the top.

[Alec T]

Hi All

The roller blind system works for our Am/dram productions in the village hall. The roller is 100mm plastic pipe counter wound cord at each end through sash pulleys screwed into the ceiling and out to the wings the drop is about 3M and it rolls up into 300mm. Homemade but works.

 

Alec