Flashdance water effect

[Junior8]

If I was doing it all (and with amateurs in someone else's space I'd probably think twice and then not bother) I'd follow what Tom says especially about quantities. You could of course take the easy way out and simply have a stagehand in overalls come on and tip the water over her! Edited September 10, 2021 by Junior8

[sunray]

Just listen to Tom. He knows this world.

Indeed I agree.

 

Following on from Toms ideas to empty a bucket, I'm thinking here is no reason it (or something lower and long such as a flower trough or piece of gutter etc) cannot be mounted on a hinged platform and pulled over to dump its load.

 

[kerry davies]

Just a thought on a philosophical question; what makes theatre techs think that they can reproduce a fleeting image from a film, live onstage, when they have neither the budget nor the ability to shoot it 132 times? Why do they even try? Why not spend the pittance the boss-class give them as budget down the pub dreaming up a replacement effect?

 

Hey ho, must be Saturday.

[ImagineerTom]

Just a thought on a philosophical question; what makes theatre techs think that they can reproduce a fleeting image from a film, live onstage, when they have neither the budget nor the ability to shoot it 132 times? Why do they even try? Why not spend the pittance the boss-class give them as budget down the pub dreaming up a replacement effect?

 

Hey ho, must be Saturday.

 

Because when they book tickets to see the live stage version of a movie the punters expect to see faithful replications of the main scenes and generally aren't interested in reinterpretations. Case in point; Frozen. The original broadway production had a complete reimagining of the staging of "Let It Go" with AR projections and lots of theatre craft; it was a legitimate reinterpretation of the scene; all the audiences hated it and they tweaked it during the run to get it closer to the movie sequence. When remounting the show for London they went further by adding ice staircases and having the sequence be about her building an ice palace (as in the movie) and audiences love it.

 

Of course there are a few notable situations when the live stage show has been a radical reinterpretation of a movie but generally audiences want one of the two extremes - either EXACTLY what the movie was or completely reinvented in every scene; a mixture of the two just brings complaints from the people who are ultimately paying for it all.

[anydm]

OK everyone I’ve just trialled my water drop device using my daughter as a guinea pig and it pretty well worked perfectly. There are still a couple of minor bugs that need ironing out but I’m confident the desired effect will be achieved (it uses about a litre of water). I’m happy to share details privately if anyone wants them.

Andy

[IRW]

OK everyone I've just trialled my water drop device using my daughter as a guinea pig and it pretty well worked perfectly. There are still a couple of minor bugs that need ironing out but I'm confident the desired effect will be achieved (it uses about a litre of water). I'm happy to share details privately if anyone wants them.

Andy

 

Given all the advice you've received on here, why not just post your solution to help others in the future?!

[anydm]

On 9/11/2021 at 10:25 AM, ImagineerTom said:

 

Because when they book tickets to see the live stage version of a movie the punters expect to see faithful replications of the main scenes and generally aren't interested in reinterpretations. Case in point; Frozen. The original broadway production had a complete reimagining of the staging of "Let It Go" with AR projections and lots of theatre craft; it was a legitimate reinterpretation of the scene; all the audiences hated it and they tweaked it during the run to get it closer to the movie sequence. When remounting the show for London they went further by adding ice staircases and having the sequence be about her building an ice palace (as in the movie) and audiences love it.

 

Of course there are a few notable situations when the live stage show has been a radical reinterpretation of a movie but generally audiences want one of the two extremes - either EXACTLY what the movie was or completely reinvented in every scene; a mixture of the two just brings complaints from the people who are ultimately paying for it all.

OK... Finally I can come back on this following the postponement of the show due to COVID. I do appreciate all the advice that I received on this subject and am happy to share my solution, just not sure what the forum policy is on what I can/can't attach. The show finally went ahead last week and I followed all Tom's earlier advice on raised catch tank, quantities of water, timings, rehearsals etc. Where out thoughts did differ was on the actual deployment of the effect. As it was visible to the audience, the water reservoir was constructed using various drainage parts fabricated to look look like a replica stage lantern. Because the venue does not have flies, a dummy pull chain had to be tracked in at the appropriate time (end of Act 1) for the actress to 'pull' but the actual effect was deployed from a second pull chain/plastic-coated wire rope assembly from the wings. The wire rope was attached to a large 50+ mm rubber bung in the reservoir via a 10mm corrugated plastic conduit tie wrapped to the underside of the lighting bar. Each end of the conduit was reinforced using 10mm copper micro-bore central heating pipe with the necessary fittings and bracketry to orient the wire in the 'right direction'. The amount of water used was 1.5litres, but it looked a lot lot more when the effect was deployed. The effect lasted about 2.5 seconds from initiation. From trialllng the design in my garage using my daughter as the guinea pig (she was also a singer in the show) to actual installation and tech runs followed by dress rehearsal and a run of six shows, the effect was deployed a total of about twenty times without a failure or misfire. It was both accurate and repeatable and never missed the target! The director, cast and audiences were all blown away with it and I can honestly say it was one of my proudest achievements in over 50 years of amateur theatre. I've attached a sketch (not to scale) of the chamber and a parts list of the principal items. I've also attached a series of photos (not sure if this is allowed?) and I can also share some video of the effect (normal time and slo-mo) if you want to contact me privately.

Andy

Flashdance Water Drop.pdf

[sunray]

2 hours ago, anydm said:

OK... Finally I can come back on this following the postponement of the show due to COVID. I do appreciate all the advice that I received on this subject and am happy to share my solution, just not sure what the forum policy is on what I can/can't attach. The show finally went ahead last week and I followed all Tom's earlier advice on raised catch tank, quantities of water, timings, rehearsals etc. Where out thoughts did differ was on the actual deployment of the effect. As it was visible to the audience, the water reservoir was constructed using various drainage parts fabricated to look look like a replica stage lantern. Because the venue does not have flies, a dummy pull chain had to be tracked in at the appropriate time (end of Act 1) for the actress to 'pull' but the actual effect was deployed from a second pull chain/plastic-coated wire rope assembly from the wings. The wire rope was attached to a large 50+ mm rubber bung in the reservoir via a 10mm corrugated plastic conduit tie wrapped to the underside of the lighting bar. Each end of the conduit was reinforced using 10mm copper micro-bore central heating pipe with the necessary fittings and bracketry to orient the wire in the 'right direction'. The amount of water used was 1.5litres, but it looked a lot lot more when the effect was deployed. The effect lasted about 2.5 seconds from initiation. From trialllng the design in my garage using my daughter as the guinea pig (she was also a singer in the show) to actual installation and tech runs followed by dress rehearsal and a run of six shows, the effect was deployed a total of about twenty times without a failure or misfire. It was both accurate and repeatable and never missed the target! The director, cast and audiences were all blown away with it and I can honestly say it was one of my proudest achievements in over 50 years of amateur theatre. I've attached a sketch (not to scale) of the chamber and a parts list of the principal items. I've also attached a series of photos (not sure if this is allowed?) and I can also share some video of the effect (normal time and slo-mo) if you want to contact me privately.

Andy

Well all I can say to that is bloody well done. If I'd had anything to do with it I'd be strutting around like a big ol' peacock in full plummage.

[DrV]

Been watching this topic with interest - never likely to do Flashdance but years back our Cinderella transformation was a joy to behold and had mystified punters asking for ages how we'd done it. We used a somewhat similar method to  dispense glitter chaff as a distraction. The pictures of your effect are really stunning though. Perfect lighting too and a photographer with his/her finger on the button at just the right moment. Well done. (Flushdance anyone? Or has that already been done!)

[Superpants]

Well done- that looks like a really good effect!

 

[ImagineerTom]

Really good work. Well done!