Building a Hill

[TheatreRy]

I need some advice on building a Hill for our production of Lord of the Flies. It needs to be able to handle a few bodies on it and have a rounded look with a flat top, much like a cliff. I'm trying to figure out how I can build it up so that it has a lumpy look to it, but is function for people to climb on it and fall down it without getting hurt. I was thinking about building a frame with trusses and plywood then building it up with sand bags or bean bags then covering with with green turf.... Does this sound doable? has anybody build a hill in their as part of their set and have any advice?

[Van]

Last time I had to do this effect was for a production of A walk in the woods. The designer had the whole side of a hill on stage. We started by identifying areas of equal height, just like on a topo map. we then built platfoming to those levels. then we began connecting the levels with chunks, pieces really, of 3/4" ply. if larger areas needed to be spanned we'd place ribs of ply. Don't get me wrong this was a total PITA to build ! After establishing all the squared up areas with all the sharp angles we came back and eased all the seams with disc grinders. once the edges were rounded we laid erosion cloth and then a layer of "grass" over the top of that. in the end the effect was stunning and you could walk anywhere you wanted. You could probably use the same basic techniques but simplify the amount grade changes, I've found that using layers of Homasote is a great trick for carving walkable floor surfaces as well. After carving you can coat it with a thick coating of Scenic dope with a little extra drywall compound mixed in. it will harden and wear nicely.

[TheatreRy]

Last time I had to do this effect was for a production of A walk in the woods. The designer had the whole side of a hill on stage. We started by identifying areas of equal height, just like on a topo map. we then built platfoming to those levels. then we began connecting the levels with chunks, pieces really, of 3/4" ply. if larger areas needed to be spanned we'd place ribs of ply. Don't get me wrong this was a total PITA to build ! After establishing all the squared up areas with all the sharp angles we came back and eased all the seams with disc grinders. once the edges were rounded we laid erosion cloth and then a layer of "grass" over the top of that. in the end the effect was stunning and you could walk anywhere you wanted. You could probably use the same basic techniques but simplify the amount grade changes, I've found that using layers of Homasote is a great trick for carving walkable floor surfaces as well. After carving you can coat it with a thick coating of Scenic dope with a little extra drywall compound mixed in. it will harden and wear nicely.

Was it a big hill? I'm thinking a little smaller scale say half a hill on the corner of the stage, maybe an area of about 10ft. I like the drywall compound idea.

[Van]

Oh it was a 35' wide 16' tall hill.

Yeah, not just drywall, but scenic dope, click on this link < If it parses right> VSSSD .

[BrianWolfe]

Me too. I worked on the 1988 A Walk in the Woods with Robert Prosky and Sam Waterston.

It was a very big hilly ground. The platforms were built with lumber and we coated it with spray foam, carved the ground, coated with white glue then covered with artificial turf and dirt. It was labor intensive and the astroturf was very expensive.