Throw Down Smoke Puff

[Tom]

Does anybody know of any form of "throw down" smoke puff.

Something you can hold in your hand and throw onto the floor to create a puff of smoke. Like a snap-it but with smoke, not just a noise.

 

My director thinks they exists must I'm not so sure.

 

T

[Robin D]

The only one similar I'm aware of is here,. It might pay to contact them to see if they have something closer.

[Jivemaster]

I discussed this before with some skilled pyro chemists, we failed to find anything vaguely COSHH friendly. Most suggestions were based on either primary explosives, or air sensitive compounds that would have to be stored in glass vials -meaning that throwing one down would produce lots of smoke (toxic) and lots of broken glass -unfriendly.

[ImagineerTom]

The only one similar I'm aware of is here,. It might pay to contact them to see if they have something closer.

...except that's a device to produce a wisp of smoke in your hands (from a gadget that's hidden 2" up your sleeve) so not in any way comparable at all with the OP's request.

The effects industry have from time to time produced home-brew methods of doing this but as others have pointed out absolutely nothing that would come even close to passing even the most basic of H&S requirements or being anywhere near reliable enough for anything other than multi-take film shoot. It's quicker, cheaper, easier, safer, more practical (and frankly by any other measure I can think of better) to do it by pretending to throw something down and triggering an off-the-shelf pyro or smoke machine hidden under the stage.

[Tom]

Thanks. As I thought.

Unfortunately it's a touring show with only 3/4" of floor so not much scope for hiding things but we shall see.

 

T

[ImagineerTom]

You can "bounce" smoke from a smoke machine off the floor - having a machine behind a prop/scenic item a few feet behind the thrower that is pointed towards their feet will produce a good-enough-visual that people will think you have used some sort of smoke bomb without having to dig up the decking.

 

Failing that there are miniature smoke machines which are small enough they could be hidden under trousers and again the nozzel pointed to bounce smoke off the floor just in front of the thrower.

[Tom]

Again, not sure any of that will work in our scenario but good food for thought and further discussion.

Thanks all.

 

T