cedd Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 You'll also spot mum and dad's slightly quirky planting arrangements in the bottom left hand corner. They're both professional brass musicians and teachers. Dad does a spot of instrument repair as well. He's started planting instruments that are beyond economic repair in his garden, sprayed in bright colours and with plants in their bells. I guess it's similar to the Bose 802 plant pot holder that I once saw! I'm toying with bringing Robbie in to work - just to see what our bird control team would make of it. I suspect their answer (as with most things) would be to just shoot it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Very, very nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/skn Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Got an enquiry last November to hire some bits for a show next week, then never heard back after agreeing a deposit. Got an email earlier this week - they want the props! Payment arrived Friday morning, so I'm struggling to turn this... Into this... and I've currently got this far.... If I never see a chandelier 'crystal' for the rest of my life I'll be happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w/robe Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 If you give up and want to hire one I'm sure I watched our props department struggle with exactly the same 'kit' earlier this year.Very cheep over the internet but you think you are getting an easy to assemble chandelier where as you end up with lots of individual crystals and some wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IJWesley Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Here's some photos of the Magic Cabinet we (actually my magician friend) built for Through The Looking Glass. It's a variation on the classic magician's cabinet where the assistant appears and disappears. The guy in the photo is the builder. The illusion works by hiding the actor under the throne. When the doors are closed, the actor opens the hidden panel, tips the seat back, stands up, drops the seat back in place and finally sits on the seat - all while the cabinet is being rotated. The whole illusion took about 10 seconds, and can be run in reverse (ie make someone disappear). The illusion is as much about hiding the hidden compartment from the audience. The gold horizontal pieces at the base achieve this by distracting the eye so that it doesn't see the depth of the compartment. Outside of the CabinetCabinet with doors openSitting in the cabinetSitting in the hidden compartment Link for those without a google account The Ted E. Bear is my token - "he" features somewhere in every show that I direct! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Google requires me to log in, so no photos seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IJWesley Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Google requires me to log in, so no photos seen. Link updated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Still asking for a login.EDIT - ah ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IJWesley Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Here's some photos of the Magic Cabinet we (actually my magician friend) built for Through The Looking Glass. It's a variation on the classic magician's cabinet where the assistant appears and disappears. The guy in the photo is the builder. The illusion works by hiding the actor under the throne. When the doors are closed, the actor opens the hidden panel, tips the seat back, stands up, drops the seat back in place and finally sits on the seat - all while the cabinet is being rotated. The whole illusion took about 10 seconds, and can be run in reverse (ie make someone disappear). The illusion is as much about hiding the hidden compartment from the audience. The gold horizontal pieces at the base achieve this by distracting the eye so that it doesn't see the depth of the compartment. The Ted E. Bear is my token - "he" features somewhere in every show that I direct! New links Magic Mirror Magic Cabinet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 So I've just agreed to be special effects and illusions designer for a big budget amateur production of Addams Family. Lots and lots of effects to build! I've already finished one half of the crossbow effect for "Crazier than you" - think William Tell shooting an apple off of somebody's head, but done safely! I'll share photos of that some other time. Tonight though I wanted to share my latest animatronic - Grandma's pet rat. It's one of 2 identical looking rats I'm building. The other one will be motorised and able to drive around the floor. This little fella though has an animated head and tail, and is the one grandma holds on her arm. It started out life as a Props 4 Shows rat, and after lots of hacking of polystyrene and fiddling with servos, has become this;http://vid513.photobucket.com/albums/t335/ceddison/Web%20images/BFDBC4BA-BF06-4A0D-95CD-5A57C522DD57_zpssats1son.mp4 It's not as noisy in real life as it appears in the video. Great for anybody doing Dick Whittington too!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Very, very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 This one I'm really proud of;Panto this year is Sleeping Beauty, so we of course needed a spinning wheel. I couldn't just build any old spinning wheel though, so I built mine! http://i513.photobucket.com/albums/t335/ceddison/Web%20images/15586260-2983-4290-A42D-62AA4B68D53F_zpscactbzjv.jpg It's motorised so it can spin on its' own, and has 32 RGB LED's set in its' surface. Each LED is individually controllable. The wheel is wireless DMX controlled. This has to be the most time-hungry thing I've built to date. The wheel is a laminate of 3 sheets of ply - the central sheet having slots routed out of it to allow the wires to the LED's to pass through. There's a rotating joint in the centre to allow the DC and data line through to the LED's, and the uprights that hold up the wheel have slots in cut in them to allow the wires up from the control box. These slots are filled and sanded once the wires are in place. The wheel is driven by a long chain that sits in a groove in the outer circumference of the wheel (the middle laminate of ply is 5mm smaller than the outer 2 to create the groove) and the motor sits in the box that can be seen sa on top of the baseboard under the wheel. Final finish is gold first coat, masked to leave the inlay lines, and then a top coat of brown. The LED's are 0.3W each, so they do pack a punch, especially on open white. The idea is that the wheel will start with them dimly lit so they appear like gemstones in the surface. Then as the magic starts to happen and she pricks her finger, they can begin to flicker and then go to open white or bright red - I'll let the LD decide which! The wheel stays on stage for the opening of act 2, which has an upbeat play in. It'll be in disco mode for that bit! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Love it. I can tell you enjoy your work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 That is a gorgeous piece. Any chance of a video? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 Go on then!Spinning Wheel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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