Lever and fulcrum. The fulcrum is on a high post, the lever extends past the sight lines and is long enough so you have mechanical advantage over it and can make it dance on
stage just by lifting and swinging it about.
Swing it on
stage as needed
etc. Something like a swivel
caster at the top of the fulcrum so it will pivot and hinge as needed - but with the wheel removed and the lever placed into it's
bolt or axis
point for support. The
leg trips around the
stage as if a marionette or kind of fly fishing bate.
Perhaps a second person with a thin second rod or pole lightly attached to the fulcrum stand or indipendant of it that is running a second lever to make it kick as needed from a lower contact
point. I'm thinking
stage braces with their hook for the main lever for a start, and perhaps something like a 3/8" grounding rod for the second lever. Can't
beat a 1x1 oak
stage brace for strength especially if painted black to disappear as needed. Than the grounding rod, copper with a steel core, nothing stronger or more
bend resistant given the size.
On the
stage brace and when in the lower part of the hook it's secure and as long as it does not touch the floor too hard which would lift the ring for the
leg out of the hook. In normal idea use, it can do what you want with swinging and
tripping it's way around the
stage. When you twist the ring on the
leg by way of hook in the pole - given the
caster pivot allows you to pivot the
stage brace so that the
leg becomes unattached from the
stage brace/lever than it lacks support and falls.
Perhaps the second person pushes it on
stage and into the desired falling position. Such a
stage brace given the chance of touching the floor too hard and coming loose at an inopportune moment would be unsafe to use, but some form of lock and
release be it rope with spring latch or selenoid latch can be come up with I'm sure. This is the general idea brain storming desgn
phase.
The first step is the idea on how to do it, the next step is what details are required after the idea in general. You worry about details and physical things too early in design at too early a
stage and your design suffers. What in the grand scheme of design does it matter if you
stock 4x8 flats, but design for the 4'-9" wide flats on a
platform already than decide or let the TD worry about if a extension is absolutely necessary, but only after the artistic statement of the 4'-9" stuff is part of the concept. Yea 4'-9 " platforms might be unrealistic to
build for the show but who cares until you get it all down on paper and at a later
point you decide if that odd size of
platform is absolutely necessary for design integrety in concept or not. Same with this. Figure on something in general to do the work, than worry about the details. Design the thing already, dont' worry about the tech of it yet.
The designer comes up with the wacky ideas, and perhaps part of the simple how to, it's the job next of a good TD to figure out how to put it on
stage safely. In your case in doing both, first just design the thing, than worry about the details.
I have some famous designer for the next Kidd Rock tour that decided that he wanted ray lights or some sort of bulk type very narrow spot beam lights to shine down during the show be it
ACL, VNSP or what ever. He wanted something brighter than could otherwise be achieved with a ray light or before used, but in a quanity that was echonomical as a non-moving light and was for the most part
stock in not costing a huge amount to achieve the look. Can't exactually come up with a few tens of dozens in beam projectors anymore though they are popular again for rays of light. The Ray light for rock and
roll fits the bill but inspite of it's
dichroic fileter, it's still not bright enough for this requested and designed use.
This designer asked me as a tech person or TD as it were in solving tech issues and one that knows lamps what would be most powerful for the application only after his wacky idea was on paper. That's the proper way to do it. I knew of a new to the market 800w as opposed to 600w Ray light lamp, but would not have had a use for it until he had the
vision for something brighter as a multitude of beams of light in a show. That's how it works. Idea or concept first, than you figure out how to do it, or scale down if not possible yet. He put 60+ of the new lamp into the show - at $10.00 per lamp, they and the 130 plus silver rock and
roll par cans we need to buy for the project that will be arriving some time in the next few weeks that I have to
wire fulfill the design concept. (Yea, the rock
PAR 64
fixture is dead now that
ETC fixtures are on the market, go ahead and sell off all the 1,000+ used cans we used to
stock - we don't need them anymore, as it were in thinking without a tech person's planning.)
Anyway, the designer had a concept, wanted something brighter than normally avalilable for a beam of light in mind - be it from any lamp in a
PAR 64
fixture or what ever, and designed in part the show around it such a
image. Imagine 60 Raylights on one
stage that are almost as intense as a follow spot. Great idea, now let's do it. Once the idea was out there it was just a question of finding what lamp or tech solution for the problem was appropriate for the concept. That's the way art works and why we as tech people are in the business be it either wacky designs or in figuring out how to make them work. Figure out first you need a
leg, than what it needs to do, than as a designer what general way is physically possible to accomplish it for what it needs to do. After all that, trust in the TD or world of solutions out there as to the details in getting it done. If not, you tried your best concept and will come up with a substitute. At least you did not begin by scaling art back to reality. Oh' my
grid won't support a
leg bouncing around on it, - get over it, next step is what? Where would we all be if we liven in reality? Design the show than worry about how to make the art a reality.
Lever and fulcrum,
block and fall, horizontal fly
system or what ever, it's the design at this
stage that counts. Next comes the details on what latch
system to use and what method of rigging will accomplish it given limitations. 9-1" ceiling height, now how do you think I made it so the
drapes were able to raise vertically not
track out of the way? In theater, form does not follow function, function follows form. You invision it, than figure out how to get it done.
Given the
grid won't support such a thing as a giant's
leg bouncing about the
stage, my initial thought is that the floor will suppport it, but you need to have a pivot
point well above the
stage thus the fulcrum. The hinge part of a
caster - wheel removed will work for that frames' lever support, now just a question of what details are needed to make it kick instead of just
bounce, plus let the thing
drop.
Read the
play, not once but three times than determine what's needed to be done, who is going to be around that you should avoid in controlled falling upon and other
blocking or design concept issues with it. Given an idea otherwise posted or two or three plus mine, than think about
blocking on this
leg and what's needed for it to fall not to mention where it's needed to fall. Will the lever and fulcrum idea even work? After that refine than worry about details like how is it going to
release. Design the thing than worry about engineering it in the end.