Jump to content

Feather burlesque fans to borrow


SamDram

Recommended Posts

Bashing my head against the wall with this one.

The production is Chicago...which I'm sure many of you will have done. The art.dir. wants large feather fans...but I can only find small rubbish looking ones for hire. And to buy, they are between £200-£600 each!!! http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif

Any suggestions on hire? Because so far, my searches have revealed sweet nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you manufacture something similar yourself? Depends on the ingenuity of your prop department, I guess.

 

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif I wish I had a props department! I'm LX, Sound, Props and admin at the moment! School production you see http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif

 

Thanks for your suggestions. Looks like I'll be bodging something together that vaguely resembles a fan!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm ... I see your problem.

 

Well, if you were to cut a shape from paper that resembled an ostrich feather, like a sort of elongated snowflake, and attached it to some florist's wire for support, then dragged the "fronds" over a ruler to make the paper curl, you might then have a passable approximation to an ostrich feather. Repeat until enough fans are made?

 

Edit: Then flambar them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Baring in mind the cost & fragility of fans, you'd find it almost impossible to find anyone who would be prepared to let another performer borrow them, much less a school production!

You can buy marabou / small feather fans on eBay quite cheaply, you can also buy loose ostrich feathers quite cheaply, if it really does have to be a feather fan then you could make a reasonable approximation with these and a hot glue gun. Be prepared for a lot of shedding and surprise out how "thin" they look though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We made some for a kids show (Stagecoach) based on cheap paper fans and stuck cheap (not even ostrich) Fabricland.co.uk sourced feathers on and they gave the right impression on stage. However as mentioned by ImagineerTom they shed something rotten. They also cling to hair and costume, plus if any child is asthmatic, it's out of the question as the feather bits will stay airborne for ages!

 

If the director really wants them, perhaps they need to task themselves with sourcing them or raising the cash! Either that or use 'suspension of disbelief' to convince the audience that what they are seeing is the real thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think laterally, the head dresses worn by the dancers in The Big Lebowski dream sequence were just that plastic material that estate agent signs are made out of. Google "Correx".

 

You won't get a proper, thick, ostrich feather, burlesque fan for less than a few hundred so make a representation of one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.