I have just learned that the children's theatre camp I build set for every summer will be performing peter pan in a couple of months and I think we all know what that means: I have to make someone fly. I know human flight can be a touchy subject around here (as well it should be) due to the inherent danger, so I want to start by being very clear on what I am and am not trying to do here. I do NOT plan to lift anyone more than a couple feet (for the sake of argument let's say less than 3') off of the ground. I do NOT plan on suspending anyone from the fly system. I do NOT plan on doing any crazy flown fight sequences etc. What I am looking for is a simple, cheap, and most importantly safe way of creating a fun flying type effect for a group of middle school students performing for their parents. That said, I have had a couple of ideas that I want to bounce off of you guys and too see if you have any that I'm missing. One idea would be a parallelogram lever with a small platform to stand on, it could be hidden behind a closed traveler with just the end the actor stands on sticking through the gap and an adult technician operating it behind. another would be to move set pieces down instead of moving the actors up, especially when they're in the bedroom maybe the windows could be flown set pieces and they would move down behind a raised platform as the actors "go up". As a replacement for, or coupled with either of the previous ideas, perhaps a pre-recorded video of them flying off into the distance in silhouette which could be projected onto the cyc coupled with a little bit of lighting and blocking magic that makes the switch between actors and projections as seamless as possible.
As I'm sure you guys can see, this isn't anything too high tech going on. Thanks for any feedback that you can give.
As I'm sure you guys can see, this isn't anything too high tech going on. Thanks for any feedback that you can give.