pdrage Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 I went to the Royal Exchange last night to see "Sherlock Holmes in Trouble". As you will know it's a theatre in the round, and as such has it's own set of problems with smoke effects, since everything is very close to the audience. However, they managed to create a really excellent, low level dry ice effect that lasted a long time(several minutes, I think), but then cleared very quickly. I think that because of the proximity to the audience, and the duration, It was unlikely to be C02. I've been looking on the web, and found several references to Liquid Air that seems to give C02 like qualities, without the risk of asfixiation. One clue may be the large (1 meter high) stainless steel vacuum flask stored next to the "module". Is there anyone that can tell me what they were actually using, and how they delivered the smoke in the right place? Paul Drage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 There used to be a chiller unit which fitted on the front of a conventional smoke machine. It was basically a bucket of dry ice that the smoke was pumped through, to chill it and make it lie low to the ground. I think it was available from a company called Cinequip, somewhere in Soho. This was about 18 years ago though, so I'm not sure if the unit (or even the company) is still in existence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 What are your reasons for thinking its not a CO2 effect - I used one on a show in February and they are pretty much silent running and as long as the risk assessment shows they're not going to suffocate the audience, there shouldn't be a problem. At the end of the day, CO2 is a natural biproduct of respiration and so it could be argued that unless the effect is being run continuously throughout the show at a high level, it is unlikely to cause any adverse effects to the audience. We went for CO2 over dry ice due to the safety factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin24 Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 ""We went for CO2 over dry ice due to the safety factors."" Dry Ice is Co2! Its just frozen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 Is there anyone that can tell me what they were actually using, and how they delivered the smoke in the right place?Paul,Call the stage door, ask to speak to the chief or his deputy (or anyone else technical for that matter) and ask themI'm sure they'll be only to pleased to tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 ""We went for CO2 over dry ice due to the safety factors."" Dry Ice is Co2! Its just frozen!thats not really true, its not frozen so much as it is released from a preasurised gas form into a compartment that causes it to become solid. if anything its the solid form of CO2 not the frozen form. also sorry to be perdantic but its CO2 not Co2 that would be 2 x cobalt and not carbon + 2 x oxygen EDIT: to make sense (oops) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 7, 2003 Share Posted August 7, 2003 also sorry to be perdantic but its CO2 not Co2 that would be 2 x cobalt and not copper + 2 x oxygen Ben - What kind of CO2 are you smoking mate - round here we try the Carbon and Oxygen variety - you should try it some time, all those heavy metals in your loungs are realy going to make you ill ojne of these days... James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin24 Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 ""We went for CO2 over dry ice due to the safety factors."" Dry Ice is Co2! Its just frozen!thats not really true, its not frozen so much as it is released from a preasurised gas form into a compartment that causes it to become solid. if anything its the solid form of CO2 not the frozen form. EDIT: to make sense (oops) Quote from Dry Ice Info Web page: "Dry Ice is frozen carbon dioxide, a normal part of our earth's atmosphere. It is the gas that we exhale during breathing and the gas that plants use in photosynthesis. It is also the same gas commonly added to water to make soda water. Dry Ice is particularly useful for freezing, and keeping things frozen because of its very cold temperature: -109.3°F or -78.5°C. Dry Ice is widely used because it is simple to freeze and easy to handle using insulated gloves. Dry Ice changes directly from a solid to a gas -sublimation- in normal atmospheric conditions without going through a wet liquid stage. Therefore it gets the name "dry ice."" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 I stand corrected... was just doing what I was told (there are other safety issues such as handling and storage of dry ice, which is dangerous when compared to connecting one hose to the top of a cylindar of CO2, especially in a school where they are eqipped to deal with gas but not dry ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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