controlled confetti drop

[Ninja Jim]

Hi everyone.

 

We are in the creation process of a dance piece and we have been asked if it would be possible to have a path of petals down the centre of the stage (so 8.5m by 1.5m). They also may want a dancer to be concealed in the confetti this could mean camouflaged or covered at the moment we are not sure.

we have thought about maybe having a roll of dance floor with petals already stuck to it and then just cover the dancer in petals before the curtain goes up

 

so my questions are:

 

what would be the best way to control where the confetti drops? (confining it to the path)

and how would you conceal the dancer?

 

I’m sure we will figure it all out but any help, ideas or advice would be appreciated

 

Thanks

 

 

[Brian]

what would be the best way to control where the confetti drops?

You can't.

[Wingwalker]

I agree, this is not something that you can have any real control over. yes the majority of the confetti will fall in a general ish area that you want it to be in but you will still get a fair bit of stragglers going off in their own direction. To cover an entire dancer on the floor is going to require SEVERAL bags of confetti and will be blatently obvious that someone is there.

 

David.

[the kid]

you could craft a tube of loose gauze and have a gobo or such on it then do a reveal to some confetti dropping down the tube. I don't think it would work THAT well but it is an idea.

[ImagineerTom]

You also need to consider the confetti on the ground - if you want something that will "flutter" down nicely it'll have to be a lightweight tissue paper but once on the ground that will get blown around simply by the movement of the dancers elsewhere on the stage. A heavier weight paper will be less prone to this movement problem but will look terrible whilst it's falling down.

[Brian]

...will look terrible whilst it's falling down.

Or to quote Python "...they do not so much fly as... plummet."

[J Pearce]

A snow drum device thing may be ideal for the path of falling confetti.

[Ninja Jim]

Thanks for the help guys, I know how impossible a task it would be but I thought I’d ask on the off chance someone had any ideas. thanks

 

[Stuart Basson]

Is there a lighting effect that would do this, in the manner of a snow wheel? Obviously, the confetti would be "representational," but then so would the dance.

[matt_beal]

I don't know if this would work with the piece, but sticking to the lighting effect idea, how about just clever use of focusing? A series of tightly focused profiles toplighting the dancer and path mounted right next to the confetti drop, with very low levels of ambient lighting.

 

You would have to make sure the audience can't see the rest of the stage, and can only see the desired confetti. Done correctly and with the right levels, it would give the illusion of a tightly focussed confetti drop.

 

Just another idea for the pot...!