magic booth

[soundman]

Well I got the task of designing a booth where a person walks in a wimp and walks out big and strong. I was thinking a spining wheel a strobe light and fog but I think I could do more with it plus Im looking for a sound effect (I know exactly what it sounds like in my head) This booth was made by the goverment so I think I will have some DOD numbers and a flag on it. Does any one have any other ideas or pictures? Sorry for the mest up post but I am giddy with excitment.

[ship]

Spinning wheels are feminin. Can we see into the booth like a telephone booth, or is it more of a transucent type thing?

Had a thought about a red (red is power, anger and manly) 4' fluorescent lamp on a track that goes up and down and dims on the upstroke at the same time as a amber gelled strobe light flashes on a building but slow upstroke pulse from inside.
After that some coves above and below the booth with a lot of colored rope light lighting on an upfading dimmer - especially at the bottom to make it seem as if the booth begins to float the stronger the person gets. Put the lights in coves so instead of the individual lamps spaced every inch, all you see is the glow from them as reflected off the box. Perhaps a light house or mars (cop) light effect above it all, or at least a pulsing colored lamp in bell jar.

perhaps house lights lighting the booth could have tight focuses on the booth - say dividing it into three and chase between top, middle and bottom at a different rate from the interior lighting. If you have the ability to linger or make the chase progressively longer the higher up on the booth you get, the more it will seem as if the booth is growing if not physically also growing. Tallness equals strength. In between growing chase lights perhaps a momentary flash of a gobo breakup pattern with a really intense light on the whole booth.

Perhaps even the side walls, if not panels all over the booth that baloon out with the pulses as if the booth is breathing and that breathing keeps getting more and more deep.

[soundman]

I like the tube idea but I think it will be too much( fun for me but not good for the TD) I like the idea of diveding up the booth by lights so nice bold colors I think a green yellow red fading/mixing going up or acrosed I like hte bell jar idea so maybe I will make the top out of plexi then put some gel on it and have a strobe on the top and when it fires it will light the gel and shine it on the back wall. man if you could so the drawings in my head/paper.

The cop/light house light would look good but I think it would too much like a cop light from rat shack and that would take away from it

[The_Terg]

If I were doing it, I would try to make it look as immensely complex as possible. Rather than just a plain looking booth, put rectangles extruding from the surface, wires dangling, pipes coming out every which way, all sorts of odd things.

And I like the red light idea...

[soundman]

Ill draw some stuff up during my classes tommarow with my 1337 art skills, pipes and wires now ill have a reason to use our brand new welder

[ship]

Think Tim Allen while composing it's construction - more power.

As for your reply to me, I have almost no idea of what you said in the latter part. Communications skills in describing what you design goes a long way later in teling the director your intent. No offense meant, just something to work on between typos and language used in the future quick reply or not.

Hope so far our thoughts gave you some ideas. The BBC TV Series Doctor Who and his Tartus was my starting concept but that's only typical. Something you weld and make up in a free form should be so much better.

If you have scrap metals, some thoughts on your own and time, I'm sure it will be really cool. Post a photo of it if you can, but at least keep a photo of it plus your sketches for your portfolieo.

Than to electrify it with what ever you can come up with. My idea was more in timing the chase and cues so they are complex rather than the standard - "oh, it's another strobe light." Normal strobes and their timings bore the heck out of me as un-imaginative.

[The_Terg]

Originally Posted by ship

Think Tim Allen while composing it's construction - more power.

YYaaaarrr!

Yep, I say as industrial as possible. Even better, think Tim Allen meets a model for a Star Wars republic cruiser.

[soundman]

I will start off by explaining the last sentence of my post. I like it when go to a show and spend the ride home wondering home they did some of the effects like in the producers and possible 42nd street they have signs light up out of no where and still I can not figure out how they did that. My best guess is el tape or something of that nature. But back to the cop light, if I just were to put it on the top and have it spin everyone would know what it is and where I got it spoiling the 'magic'.

Now rereading my post I should restate all that .That moving flourcent tube would look awesome but with the time and budget restraints I doubt my TD would let me do it

I think using lights to separate it into 3 parts then chase faster as the machine gets warmed up will look very good if I can find some nice colors to stand out from the set but not look gaudy.

As far as the top goes I hopefully will use a piece of plexi with a few different colorer squares of gel on it. Then as the machine gets going the strobe will flicker to project the colors on the back wall of the set.

I have a few rough drawing of what i want it to look like, but as far as pictures go I will bring my digital camera to builds but i hate to stop and take pictures when I only have two and a half real hours of work time. I will post finished pictures I think the show runs in March so it might be a couple of weeks before it starts to like like anything. Once I get home from work I will finish my drawings hopefully scan and post them.

Mike Rock-monster theater project leader

I now realize taking a little more time in writing yields much better results.

[ship]

I get it now. Thanks for explaining. As for photos, remember this is but one show. Taking a moment to take a picture is a few seconds out of it, but it will last forever and be proof of both you having built plus designed it and show how it was done. Wish I had shows I built and designed as photos, but more than that I wish I also took the build time out for a photo. Have some of a boat for a set once. As interesting as the finished product that did not turn out. Just a thought however to keep at the back of your head. Every once in a while you tend to step back and look at what's done. Perhaps one or two of them might be a good stopping point for a photo.

Anyway, the fluorescent would be quite a lot to engineer, plus the cop light I agree was not so good. Just brain storming, I'm glad you at that point are not going to attempt some sort of pneumatic bladders for the box so it breaths. Now that beyond the lighting would be difficult. Fun project, have fun with it.

[soundman]

I have some pics of the plant from little shop but only when it was under construction and I am kicking myself for that because in two weekends and some painting time we bult one rock man eating plant, then we sold it so I am SOL