spamalot cow launch

I'm TDing a production of spamalot and we would love for the cow that the french catapult at Arthur and his knights to be visible the whole time.. (launched from behind a castle wall) Would anyone have any recommendations on how to make sure it launches and lands on spike every time?

Do s it have to be a prop? Or could you hang a panel of scrim and project a gobo of a cow falling?

pickles said:

I'm TDing a production of spamalot and we would love for the cow that the french catapult at Arthur and his knights to be visible the whole time.. (launched from behind a castle wall) Would anyone have any recommendations on how to make sure it launches and lands on spike every time?

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I just lit Spamalog at Muhlenberg. We used a soft fabric cow, stuffed and pretty big. A crew person just threw it over the castle wall. The important part is that it has to hit Patsy, which in reality Patsy has to run towards it when he sees it coming. I would think having an actual catapult fling it would require quite a lot of backstage space. Also, a lot of the humor in that scene stems from the audience not knowing what the French are doing next. It's a real surprise when the cow comes flying over the wall. It's a terrific show, good luck with it!

we are doing Spamalot, open in 4 days the cow is made from light wieght foam and is throwen which is simpler

Thanks all! It IS a great show. We have considered just tossing it over the wall as has been recommended. We're hoping for more of a high arching type of look. Our current plan is probably to use two cows. one behind the wall to be quickly brought up to the cats with some line and then a second cow dropped on patsy further DS.

dvsDave said:

Do s it have to be a prop? Or could you hang a panel of scrim and project a gobo of a cow falling?

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We're hoping for an actual cow.. but since we are doing projections already that's a good idea.. I'll see what people think.. thanks!

We used a catapult SFX, and a solenoid-released stuffed cow on a lineset. The actors "follow" the cow's flight to sell it.

I'm having problems finding cow fabric. Did you all make the cow 4 foot high by 6 foot long?

SanibelJune said:

I'm having problems finding cow fabric. Did you all make the cow 4 foot high by 6 foot long?

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Literally google cow fabric

SanibelJune said:

I'm having problems finding cow fabric. Did you all make the cow 4 foot high by 6 foot long?

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Or do what we did, layer felt to create your own cow fabric.

Or make the cow out of white muslin and paint it. It's cheap, quick, and if done right, can look quite realistic.

I wasn't sure that I could make the cow look real by painting the splotches onto the muslin but the felt sounds good...I will check Joann's fabrics. my local boca bargoons was too expensive even during the 1/2 price sale. Thanks.