Who says only God can make a tree?

[Footer]

So, we are closing tonight a show with probably one of the more difficult pieces I have worked on in awhile. Its the tree for Camelot... heres what it had to do...

-Roll on an off stage
-When onstage, it had to be completely solid with zero movement.
-Had to be climbable, including 4' out on each limb.
-pack in a truck
-twinkle with points of light
-and... look like a tree...

We decided to with with pneumatic actuating casters for this one. We bolted casters to UHMW (essentially cutting board material). Attachted to the UHMW we bolted an actuator that had 1" of travel and could lift around 200# at 100psi. We installed a tank that would hold around 120psi of air, enough to lift and drop the piece 6 times. The piece was plumbed so that air pressure both pushed the casters down and pulled them up.

More pictures are at the following places...
http://vansandtdesigns.com/portfolio/?page_id=275
http://vansandt.smugmug.com/gallery/...71527105_NTsN3











Oh... and it was a trussed elipse.. that was fun...

The trunk section bolted to the base and the limbs bolted to the trunk. The entire thing was covered in plywood. We then foamed the entire piece and carved it. After carving, electrics (MrsFooter) came in and installed about 150 strands of fiberoptics. Paints then covered the entire thing with this plastic like epoxy that is designed for zoo enclosures. The stuff dries like a rock and takes texture really well. Add some paint.. and its good to go.










Fiber optics


So, all in all we had four departments working on it, with about 20 people in total. It took a week and a half to build, totally 3 days for the base, 3 days to foam, a day to carve, day of texture, half day of fibering, and a day of paint.

[gafftapegreenia]

That, sir, is epic.

[NevilleLighting]

Kyle,
Kudos to you and everyone that made that tree such a memorable set piece. All of the various departments worked out a great timetable to make it turn out. I think it is one of the nicest pieces MTW has turned out in years. It was sure a pleasure to light and I made sure that every inch of it was seen in every scene where it was onstage.

David

[gafftaper]

Beautiful work Kyle.


I'm thinking that we need a Collaborative article on the use of foam in scenery.

Types of foam. Where to get it. How to attach it to other structures. How to carve it. What tools to use. How to protect the foam from chipping in performance. How to paint it.

[NevilleLighting]

For the lighting we used .75 mm fiber optics. We ran the strands above the carved styrofoam and below the final texture treatment. The fibers had tape flags on the ends to keep them clean. All fibers had about 3" of slack and were trimmed down once the tree was painted. Upon trimming the surface of each fiber optic was sanded to improve the viewing angle. The tree is actually made of 4 parts that break for shipping purposes, base, trunk and 2 branches. The base has no optics and the other three pieces are fed by PAR-16's for each piece. All of the different crews did a great job working with a complex piece to ensure delivery by tech rehearsal.

Kudos to all for a great tree that is gorgeous and moves well.

[MrsFooter]

I went home that night, after spending the day running those fiber optics, and discovered foam in my socks. And in my underpants. And in my dreams.
That tree made me cry.

[cdub260]

Originally Posted by MrsFooter

I went home that night, after spending the day running those fiber optics, and discovered foam in my socks. And in my underpants. And in my dreams.
That tree made me cry.

If you think foam is bad, you should try mylar confetti. We're still finding that stuff from the 2007 Pageant of the Masters.

[gafftapegreenia]

Confetti is only close in absolute evil to glitter.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by gafftapegreenia

Confetti is only close in absolute evil to glitter.

I agree, the day I crawled out from under the stage covered in glitter was terrible.

[NevilleLighting]

Steph... and Kyle,...
That tree was a truly awesome piece of scenery, and will comtinue to be as long as we can rent it out. Your blood, sweat, tears and occasional foam irritation are well noted and appreciated. Be proud of the beautiful scenery that crossed that stage.