Seek advice: Stopper a set without touching it!?

[sp010123]

I am doing a production about a gay man's life and death of his innocence. In the last scene, the gay man's lover will push a bed with rope lights inside to the stage from the rear, and the gay man and his lover would leap onto it and have sex.

The problem here is, the bed is on wheels so it's not stable but the director want neither ASMs or the lover who push the bed out to lock the stoppers at the back of the bed, as the rope lights will be on and people will see the action...can anyone please advise on how to make the bed stand firm automatically after the lover push it to the stage?

P.S. To turn on the rope lights, there're cables extending from the back of the bed.

Thanks in advance!

[n1ist]

What about the pneumatics Footer used in http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/s...make-tree.html ?

[Chris15]

You might be able to do it with sprung castors, so that when weight is applied, the springs compress and the bed sits on feet. You might however run into issues with getting the bed to lock as they leap onto it, it might slide as they leap...

Footer's version would be better, but more pricey...

[cprted]

I'm a big fan pneumatic appliances.

[Footer]

Whats the budget.... Under a hundred? More then a thousand?

[sp010123]

Thanks guys...I am sorry to say Footer's option is a bit out of our budget..we only have like approx $50 for it...but we have connections so we might try borrowing sprung castors from our fellow techies.

[seanandkate]

Could you lose the wheels on the end of the bed (or jam them somehow so they don't move) so the bed has two legs that role and two legs that are rock solid. Then the actor could lift the end of the bed to push it on, and when he sets it down it shouldn't move. Unless it's a great flying leap that he's taking when he jumps on it. I know my wife discourages that sort of thing . . .

[Footer]

Depending on your deck, furniture sliders might work. You would be amazed what a good piece of Teflon will do.

[Van]

It seems odd that if the guy is there, pushing the bed on, anyway that he can't take a second to drop a pin. You could add a levered caster plate under the bed so all the guy had to do was kick the lever out of it's retainer to drop the bed off it's wheels.He could do that in the time it took to turn around.

[BrianWolfe]

Can you attach two lengths of aircraft cable to the upstage side of the bed which are anchored upstage with only enough purchase to stop the bed when it reaches its spike?