Make a desk pop up from the stage floor?

[gregog]

Hi All,

Just wondered if anyone has any suggestions to help me?

 

Got a production of 'Daisy Pulls It Off' coming up and I'd like to create a way of having some desks "pop up" from floor level. Unfortunately I don't have the means to have them automated, nor do I have the budget to for this show.

I am quite happy to raise the floor and have a fake floor, which could house the desks.

 

The ideal, would be to have the desk tops flat into the stage, but then they could be lifted and held in place by a Lid Stay or something like this. Its only to give the illusion of a desk, so will not hold any weight and wouldn't need to look like a proper 1920's desk.

 

The ideal would be to use a lid stay, only I don't think I'm going to find one that would lift to approx 600mm.

 

If anyone has any clever suggestions of how I could make a flat table top "rise" from the stage floor without me having to spend thousands or raise the stage floor by much then I would be most grateful.

 

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions and hope that this topic is relatively clear.

 

At the moment this is just an idea, hense why it is so brief, just looking for some creative ideas.

 

Many thanks,

gregog

[ImagineerTom]

You're over thinking this - you should be looking to pop-up books. Having something that rises from the floor to create a 3D desk shape (hint, get the right rough shape then use art techniques to make it look more desk-like) is a very very basic technique in popup books.

[gregog]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for getting back to me with your suggestion.

 

I had considered painting, but I would much rather have a physical structure and not just a painted effect. Whilst the table doesn't need to support any weight, I do want to have actors sat at them (I intend to have across the pros). As such a painted effect wouldn't give me the desired effect on this occasion.

 

Thanks for the input though!

 

gregog

[ImagineerTom]

I have no idea what you're talking about......

 

The painting tip was in relation to getting a pop-up shape that was roughly right then using paint effects to make it /look/ like a desk with all the texture and 3D details a desk would have; ie make a pop-up cube but paint shadows etc on it to create the illusion it has a top that's bigger than the base, etc

 

Paint is entirely cosmetic.

Creating an actual, physical 3D shape that's roughly the size and shape of a desk is easy, combining this with paint effects will give you the effect you want; within the constraints you want. Trying to make something that is inherently desk like or which uses the sort of mechanisms you've described so far is going to be complicated

[Brian]

Whilst the table doesn't need to support any weight, I do want to have actors sat at them...

 

So do they need to support weight or don't they?

 

(I suppose your actors could breathe Helium for a while before they go on stage.)

[alistermorton]

"At" rather than "on" - you could sit at a folded card replica, but you couldn't sit on it.

[Brian]

But if they lean on them, which they will....

[gregog]

They won't be leaning on them. They are to sit behind - which is why I said "at" and not "on"!!

 

I want them to look realistic and not a floppy bit of painted cardboard.

 

I'll keep thinking...

[ImagineerTom]

No one is talking about cardboard!

 

PLEASE go look at a couple of pop-up books. It's fairly common pop-up trick to create an actual 3D box shape.

 

Now copy this exactly but do it in wood and scale it so it's roughly the size of an actual desk; it still won't look like a desk though (as desks aren't actually perfectly square/smooth shapes) so using scenic art techniques paint the smooth pop-up boxy thing with shadow details to make it look like a desk.

 

Voila - you've got a desk that's good and strong, doesn't use the lid stay's you're talking about (which wouldn't possibly do what you're wanting them to do) and which pops up in an aesthetically pleasing way and uses effectively zero sub-stage space. The whole thing will cost you nothing more than some wood, hinges, tin of paint and 5mins of thinking.

[alistermorton]

No one is talking about cardboard!

 

No, indeed - I was using cardboard as an extreme example of a materiel you wouldn't sit on but could sit at. Sorry, I thought that was obvious.

 

 

 

[Owain]

No idea how much it would cost, but could you make the desk frames out of woodgrain effect pvc fabric with a lightweight rigid top (eg foamex board) and inflate/deflate them as required?

[gregog]

... and again the claws are out on Blue Room. I appreciate your input, so thank you. Didn't appreciate the "thought that was obvious" comment - a tad unnecessary. I was stating cardboard as an example and literal extreme too...

 

Tom, again thanks for your input. I've looked at some pop up books and it doesn't offer the kind of effect that I am looking for, nor will it work with how I am hoping to lay the stage.

 

The lid stays could work if I used two of them to create a double hinge. I was just hoping for some more suggestions as a way or creating a desk.

 

Not to worry, back to the drawing board.

 

The idea of inflating them is an interesting one, might look into some pneumatic rams that could possibly drive the board up and simply recharge a tank with the compressor. Food for thought...

 

Thanks all

gregog

[DrummerJonny]

Legs hinged at top, centre and bottom so the desk folds flat to the floor, with some kind of pin / latch on the centre hinges of the legs to keep it intact? Fabric (or even a thin board folded underneath the tabletop) could then be used to create the front of the desk.

 

What would the setup / takedown max time be? If this sounds suitable I'll try and sketch something up when I finish work tonight.

[kerry davies]

And just to throw yet another spaniard in the BR works, what's wrong with cardboard?

When I lived in Monmouth we made all our am-dram sets out of D S Smith's Tri-wall and they became so interested we did an advert for them where we ran an artic and trailer over a stage made of cardboard boxes. One of their stacking cardboard crates has a half tonne capacity and stands up better than pine to a blow-torch.

 

As for the original query I would go with something akin to Tom's pop up suggestion in plywood with sides and lid that folded out from a central plate where the front of the desk would end up.

 

Maybe the OP should work backwards, starting from what he wants and trying to think of how to make it collapse flat? That's how I would work.

[musht]

There is a bit more mileage to pop ups and cardboard, tri wall is more akin to easy to cut plywood.

 

http://www.toxel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/office01.jpg

 

http://www.toxel.com/tech/2011/01/30/pop-up-office/

 

Vic Duppa Whyte is name remember but his book fly fish..,er, Paper Engineering seems to be out of print, term `Paper Engineering` brings back quite a few hits though.