Cyclorama, no fly system

morganmac

Member
I am asking this while fully aware that it is probably an impossibility, but...

The university where I work is using their multipurpose concert hall as the theatre venue until they build a proper theatrical space (the program is about 5 years old). The venue is gorgeous...for a concert hall.

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No drapes, no proscenium so zero masked wingspace, three overhead electrics that are ungodly high, enough instruments in the FOH ceiling to do a wash and that's about it. Can't screw into the floor, because heaven forbid we mar all the blonde wood. And finally, there are SIX acoustic towers that are roughly 8'w x 3'd x 15'h. These are moveable, but we cannot get them off the stage.

With this in mind, I'm looking into a way we can set up a cyc or something similar for some of our future productions. I am hesitant to add any weight to the electric battens because they're ELECTRICS, and I don't know what the max weight is for them. It cannot be a permanent installation, because the hall is used by other groups for other purposes. We've used pipe and drape for masking purposes before. Is there something that works on a similar principle that wouldn't look overwhelmed by the space?

One of my coworkers suggested lining up the acoustic towers and draping them with fabric somehow...not sure if that would work, and I don't want to be the one to topple one of those monsters. Even if it's just a plain muslin drop, that's a lot of weight.

Or, I could just wait until we have our new space sometime before the next millenium. :)
 
I would just find the max load capacity of the electrics, use some chain to hang another pipe below it, and hang your cyc from that.
 
You can get 20+ foot tall pipe and drape. I wouldn't imagine it would be that hard to find it in Atlanta. Most production companies that do a lot of corporate work should have it, or know where to get it. They may only have one or two colors options though. You may be able to just rent the poles and bases from them and attach your own drapes to get whatever color you want. Those systems are usually pretty strong and could probably hold some painted drops as well.
It's pretty hard to judge things from one small picture and make suggestions. What I would suggest is calling a couple of the production companies in town, maybe an etcp certified rigger, and invite them over to have a look at the space and give you some options of what they could do, and the costs involved.
 
Best, easiest bet may be using pipe and drape hardware to hang a cyc or backdrop or whatever you need. It'll work, but you'll never get to to hang perfectly. To go a bit farther, you could use something like this from Grosh:

http://www.grosh.com/lift.php

Or you could rent truss and crank-up stands from a local AV company.
 
Hanging a pipe isn't too big of a deal, but I don't think I'd bother calling in other technicians, riggers, etc. They can only help you so much (especially if they have no contractor's license or liability insurance). What you need is a competent design/build company to come in and run a quote.
 

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