Best Method For Rain Effect

[thommyboy]

I am going to need to make it look like rain for a dance show coming up next month. Any opinions on the methods. So far I am bouncing between these:

A 2200 lumen data projector using a stock rain background

(very poor man's DL.1)

S4 w/ Gam Film F/X Rain Pattern

S4 w/ effects wheel

Mac 700 Spot ($ might be possible here, might not)

[Sony]

I've personally always loved using projectors for dance shows because they can always be used for cool effects. Rain would be easy with a projector, however I don't know how well a 2200 lumen projector would be able to punch an image through the powerful stage lights. We use a 4500 lumen projector at the theatre where I design and it works really well. This however of course depends on how bright the lights on stage are, you could just dim the stage lights when it's time for the rain to start so it can be seen more easily.

[philhaney]

I would use a scene projector, 'course I'm probably talking old school here.....

[bdkdesigns]

Originally Posted by philhaney

I would use a scene projector, 'course I'm probably talking old school here.....

Is that another name for a Linnebach Projector?

[Grog12]

Want it to look like rain? Talk to your choreographer and get them to keep the piece upstage of the first panel of marley. On your two furthest DS available linesets hang a 4 inch capped pvc the width of the opening of the stage. Drill small small holes' (1/32" maybe) into it. Fill it with water and run it like a snow drop. Put this particular piece (if its a concert) at the end of an act so you can mop up before the next piece.

Or if this a full length piece...ignore everything I've said.

[Van]

When we did House and Garden Last year I was disapointed when they decided to cut the "real" rain effect and elected to go with video. In the end the thing that worked best was a S4 with a metal film reel, I can't remember if it was GAM or Apollo, forgive me Keylite.
Anyway, it worked Very Well!. we kept the video but we simply pointed it at the floor so it looked like splashing rain drops whereas the metal film and s4 made a convincing look of rain on the rest of the set.

[gafftaper]

I'm facing a similar problem with the storm in Night of the Iguana. I've got a 5,000 lumen projector to play with. Where would I get some "rain" video to experiment with?

[philhaney]

Originally Posted by philhaney

I would use a scene projector, 'course I'm probably talking old school here.....

Originally Posted by bdkdesigns

Is that another name for a Linnebach Projector?

Never seen one, but from the definition in our glossary, no.

Here's the scene projector (or Scene Machine) that GAM sells now:



Here's the blurb from their web page on their rain loops:



This is what the inside of the film loop section on the machine I used looks like:



I used one of these in the late 1980's to float clouds across the cyc while the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night, it looked old then. I didn't know anyone still made them which is why I said I was probably old school.

However, they DO make a 2K version, and they also make rain wheels for the same machine (just insert the wheel attachment in place of the film loop attachment.....)

[Van]

www.bluepony.com I have a DVD that a guy from Apollo gave me.
He didn't give me any gum though.

[jerekb]

Originally Posted by Grog12

Want it to look like rain? Talk to your choreographer and get them to keep the piece upstage of the first panel of marley. On your two furthest DS available linesets hang a 4 inch capped pvc the width of the opening of the stage. Drill small small holes' (1/32" maybe) into it. Fill it with water and run it like a snow drop. Put this particular piece (if its a concert) at the end of an act so you can mop up before the next piece.

Or if this a full length piece...ignore everything I've said.

Never done this before but what if you did it upstage of the dancers and laid downed black plastic beneath the pipe with two pieces of PVC raising the edges so the water stays on the plastic you could even put some kind of absorbent down and just fold up the plastic to keep from getting water all over the stage. ??