Another Sweeney Issue

[bobgaggle]

Interior box set. 3 walls 20' high. 3" PVC pipe, 1 continuous run around all 3 walls, 2' below top of the walls. At some point in the show (I'm guessing the end), the pipe starts bleeding and dripping down the walls. Anyone done an effect like this? Very similar to your standard rain effect, with holes in the top of the pipe, but in our case we would orient the holes on the side closest to the walls so the blood doesn't drip over the on stage side of the pipe. Also there's a lot of reservation about filling most of a 3" pipe with blood, so higher ups want to run some sort of smaller diameter hose inside the pipe and pump the blood through that. I'm thinking soaker hose or irrigation pipe, something like that. Anyone done something like this before?

 

[RonHebbard]

Interior box set. 3 walls 20' high. 3" PVC pipe, 1 continuous run around all 3 walls, 2' below top of the walls. At some point in the show (I'm guessing the end), the pipe starts bleeding and dripping down the walls. Anyone done an effect like this? Very similar to your standard rain effect, with holes in the top of the pipe, but in our case we would orient the holes on the side closest to the walls so the blood doesn't drip over the on stage side of the pipe. Also there's a lot of reservation about filling most of a 3" pipe with blood, so higher ups want to run some sort of smaller diameter hose inside the pipe and pump the blood through that. I'm thinking soaker hose or irrigation pipe, something like that. Anyone done something like this before?

@bobgaggle Whatever smaller pipe you'd use within your 3" PVC, how much liquid would you need to pump, and for how much lead time, before it filled your 3" pipe to the level of the holes and found its way out??
To answer your query: No, I've never done this.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[bobgaggle]

@bobgaggle Whatever smaller pipe you'd use within your 3" PVC, how much liquid would you need to pump, and for how much lead time, before it filled your 3" pipe to the level of the holes and found its way out??

Kind of unclear in the OP, we'd cut a slot the full length of the PVC and the smaller hose would live inside the slot and directly leak onto the wall. So we don't fill the 3" pipe with blood at all...

 

[coldnorth57]

the idea of walls leaking blood is very cool, but what a mess to clean up for the next show. How about some good paint effects and some moving gobos with the right color gel to make the same effect and not mess. under normal light the blood looks black under another color the blood can be seen

 

[RonHebbard]

Kind of unclear in the OP, we'd cut a slot the full length of the PVC and the smaller hose would live inside the slot and directly leak onto the wall. So we don't fill the 3" pipe with blood at all...

@bobgaggle Do you have patrons seated in balconies to worry about? If not, and at 18' up a 20' flat, could you not lay your soaker hose in the natural void between your 3" PVC and the immediately adjacent supporting flat and save the labor of slotting the 3" PVC and fishing the soaker hose through the larger tube? Presumably your 20' flats are built in sections around the set. Is your 3" PVC installed after the flats are erected? Either way, soaker hose is fairly light and flexible. I'm thinking it could be laid in place as a continuous length from a scissor lift, zoom-boom or rolling scaffold with garden hose style snap together hose fittings if deemed convenient or necessary. The fittings I've in mind are available self-sealing when disassembled for less mess when handling.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[RonHebbard]

the idea of walls leaking blood is very cool, but what a mess to clean up for the next show. How about some good paint effects and some moving gobos with the right color gel to make the same effect and not mess. under normal light the blood looks black under another color the blood can be seen

@coldnorth57 and @bobgaggle Possibly this is an application for "Wild Fire", UV and a motion wheel or two??
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[geoffrey hugh]

Interior box set. 3 walls 20' high. 3" PVC pipe, 1 continuous run around all 3 walls, 2' below top of the walls. At some point in the show (I'm guessing the end), the pipe starts bleeding and dripping down the walls. Anyone done an effect like this? Very similar to your standard rain effect, with holes in the top of the pipe, but in our case we would orient the holes on the side closest to the walls so the blood doesn't drip over the on stage side of the pipe. Also there's a lot of reservation about filling most of a 3" pipe with blood, so higher ups want to run some sort of smaller diameter hose inside the pipe and pump the blood through that. I'm thinking soaker hose or irrigation pipe, something like that. Anyone done something like this before?

I’ve been involved with an effect such as you describe, 'blood' dripping down a white full stage width drop.

I was the lighting designer and not directly involved.

I have little advice to offer, but I do have a warning.

In our case the effect was built, installed, tried and it wasn’t quite right so it turned into a two day installation. Overnight the liquid leaked and wound up on the stage floor where it remained until next morning. By then, the warping had begun.

The stage floor was a beautiful dark stained hardwood and the warping damaged the upstage 15 feet beyond repair. It needed replacing. The effect was never completed.

As a result of the damage, the technical director was let go.

It could be a terrific effect, if you can control the rate of bleeding, as was intended.

Just be really careful, and try to preempt the various possible outcomes.

Our show was Blood Wedding (Garcia Lorca) at the Banff Centre, long ago.

 

[TheaterEd]

Skylight Music Theater in Milwaukee made their walls bleed for Sweeny last year. Might try calling them up?

 

[TimMc]

I like the idea of UV & projection and/or motion gobos over liquids, particularly liquids that stain. Alternately, a clear liquid that fluoresces deep red?

Or gas - a dry ice fog that falls from the 3" tube, illuminated red from above or below? Or a chilled chemical fog/haze that fluoresces red?

I'm trying to avoid gallons of red dye #2, water and cornstarch....

Extra credit if you can make the auditorium walls bleed, too.

 

[dvsDave]

@erichart had a magic flag prop that might work.
https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/magically-appearing-flags.33830/#post-294574
He might also have a suggestion for how to pull it off and make it only *look* messy!

 

[dvsDave]

Also, WildFire has an invisible UV paint in red that could work. *You will need true 365nm UV lights, like wildfire or Apollo makes. I would strongly look into renting good UV lights for this effect if you can.

 

[bobgaggle]

We're just a shop, building the set. Client wants real bleeding walls, so not my jurisdiction when it comes to clean up and all the other considerations. I like Ron's idea of just laying the hose in the nook between pipe and wall. Makes it easier to install and service later.

 

[Chase P.]

I once saw a Japanese calligraphy practice board. It was a dark surface with a silk cloth overlay, you would brush plain water on the silk, and it would turn transparent showing the darker surface behind. I wonder if you could swing that with red walls and a scenic painted fabric surface. Plain old water would then reveal the backing. Much less messy than fake blood.

Let us know how you achieve it, and how it turns out!

 

[bobgaggle]

Let us know how you achieve it, and how it turns out!

I think I might actually get to see this show during final dress. I'll try to get a picture. I agree with all y'all about not actually having gallons of blood onstage, but in this case, I'm excited to do it. We're building the set and effect, and shipping it off... "Not my mess, not my problem" in the most literal sense haha. Client understands the necessary clean up

 

[bobgaggle]

update: it was 3 minutes of blood, now its 10................ this will be interesting

 

[sk8rsdad]

Time for a collection tray and a recirculating pump. Blood Fountain!

 

[coldnorth57]

The blood must flow!!!!

 

[bobgaggle]

Time for a collection tray and a recirculating pump. Blood Fountain!

Collection is just now being discussed. Can't cut a trough into the floor so now they're gonna design some kind of tray that fits the world. No circulation

 

[TimMc]

Collection is just now being discussed. Can't cut a trough into the floor so now they're gonna design some kind of tray that fits the world. No circulation

"Arte" is what is made when a director's *vision* becomes line-billable items on an invoice.

 

[tdtastic]

Gross! I love this. What is the blood made of, do you know? I think viscosity of whatever the blood solution is will determine much about pipe and hole sizes. Also what is the wall finish? I've had issues with many different blood recopies that stained whatever surface or fabric they touched. They ones you can find that are "stainless" seem to not be the best looking fake blood though.