thick black smoke

[Guy Tec]

Hi People I have been asked the following question?

 

"I am going to be directing a play next year and would like to be able to get "thick black smoke" (trying to start a BBQ with wet paper) that won't set off the smoke alarm or choke the audience.

Any ideas? - Light grey would do! "

 

I have used lighting to colour smoke or coloured smoke cartridges but never had black smoke has anybody done it before

 

Guy

[slipstream]

Only ever seen it as an outdoor effect - TPL call it Oil Smoke - anything with that particulate level is not going to be nice indoors

 

Sam

[Ynot]

Most coloured smoke effects tend to be VERY bad in the way of staining anything it comes into contact with, so take care...

[Jivemaster]

Dark grey and black smokes are available BUT by definition they ARE smoke and will be automatically detected by alarm systems. First you must sort out the detection system, with the full approval of your licence holder and licensing authority.

 

When you have the formal permissions then you can look at manufacturers and products etc. Black smoke is usually particulate rather than dye basedm but it WILL be MESSY.

[Guy Tec]

Dark grey and black smokes are available BUT by definition they ARE smoke and will be automatically detected by alarm systems. First you must sort out the detection system, with the full approval of your licence holder and licensing authority.

 

When you have the formal permissions then you can look at manufacturers and products etc. Black smoke is usually particulate rather than dye basedm but it WILL be MESSY.

 

Thats great ,should of said this is a professional studio theatre as part of a main house theatre (PalaceTheatre Westcliff) so smoke alarm should not be an issue unless the smoke is more problematic that the normal waterbased ones

 

cheers Guy

[ImagineerTom]

The problems and complications you're going to encounter with black/grey/coloured smoke are vastly disproportionate to the effect when compared with just using a (good quality) normal smoke machine with a dense fog fluid. You won't get anyone in the audience complaining that the smoke is the wrong colour I promise you.

 

t

[Ynot]

I would agree wholeheartedly - use the K.I.S.S. principle and stick with a regular fogger and you'll be fine.

 

Besides, I don't recall wet paper burning black necessarily anyway, and barbie smoke tends to be grey, anyway.

Or at least I think so - it's been SO long since the UK had any decent Barbie weather at the weekend I can't recall.... :unsure:

[LX-Dave]

Slightly aside... anyone know what is used in Woman In Black in the west end?

 

I seem to remember that including large amounts of dark grey smoke..

 

Lx Dave

[Seano]

"thick black smoke" (trying to start a BBQ with wet paper)

 

Are you sure you're not thinking of trying to start a BBQ with old truck tyres and diesel? :unsure:

[dbuckley]

Le Maitre used to make (or may still do) a thing called a Napalm burst which chucks out thick black smoke.

 

Unfortunately, these are outdoor use only. And probably far too big for your application.

 

But they do give off very black smoke...

[kerry davies]

Oooh, someone who actually wants to do a COSHH risk assessment. That's a first.

 

In a studio theatre an audience and thick black smoke just do not mix. Seano is right in that someone is thinking benzine and tyres rather than a bit of suspension of disbelief. The mess and dispersal is a minor hazard if you have even one asthmatic in the room not to mention people with sensitive eyes. If children are in the audience then quadruple the likelihood of major complants from hyper-sensitive parents etc etc.

 

Since when did directors get the idea that if it says "train crash" in a script they have to locate a spare Eurostar?

[Seano]

Seano is right in that someone is thinking benzine and tyres rather than a bit of suspension of disbelief.

That wasn't really what I was getting at. My point wasn't so much that trying to recreate thick black smoke on the stage would be a mistake (though it prolly would be) - rather that it wouldn't be realistic anyway. Soggy newspaper doesn't produce black smoke. As luck would have it the smoke it produces is rather more like bog-standard theatrical smoke machine smoke.. :)

[Guy Tec]

Thanks for all the replys I will let the director know he needs to rethink

 

Cheeers Guy

[Andrew Edwards]

The answer is in the question. Lighting a BBQ with wet paper would not give off very much, if any, smoke at all. It's hard enough using dry paper.

 

If you actually could light wet paper (as opposed to dumping it on an already well going fire) and it did give off dark smoke, it would be somewhat diluted by the copious amounts of steam!!!

 

I would say that large quantities of standard fog from a just lit BBQ suggests something is awry. On the whole , BBQs give off very little in the way of [visible] smoke. Firelighters do initially give off a dark smoke, especially the cheap ones or the new Zip ones with a plastic wrapper. After that it's the meat fat that produces the smoke. Charcoal is an efficient burn.

 

Reality tends to be much more mundane than many imaginations.

 

Script: Jonny gingerly offered the match to the BBQ and it erupted in a gargantuan tower of flames and thick black smoke. It had rained since he had tried to burn the secret file earlier that afternoon. The remains had now formed into into a soggy clump.

 

Reality: Even after removing the paper and half a bottle of BBQ fluid the damn thing still wasn't lit. "Shall we just phone for a pizza" said Mary.

 

;)