Arizona Actor Accidentally Stabbed
- Thread starterStradivariusBone
- Start date
What Rigger?
I'm so fly....I Neverland.
What Rigger?
I'm so fly....I Neverland.
So grind the knife dull! Ugh. Taped? Seriously?
Les
Well-Known Member
techieman33
Well-Known Member
"But that's my good knife, I won't be able to use it on my next hunting trip if you grind the edge off."
It's a prop now. Kiss it goodbye.
Ok, but let me get the prop master to put more tape on before you do. Safety first!
TechGeek
Active Member
I see taping it, but then why not just use a prop knife at that point?
I think a show called PSYCH had an episode in a theater where they used a kitchen block with real knifes and one of them was the prop knife. Turns out one night doing the show the actress pulls what she thinks was the prop knife and stabs the other actor.
I think a show called PSYCH had an episode in a theater where they used a kitchen block with real knifes and one of them was the prop knife. Turns out one night doing the show the actress pulls what she thinks was the prop knife and stabs the other actor.
So does blood lol
So for those reading this asking, what could they have done to make this safe. There are two options I go with. Others, Please add your ideas for how to safely have a knife on stage below.
One: The safest and prefered option. Use a prop rubber knife. There are many options for rubber knifes all over the Internet. Amazon has multiple options starting about $5. You can paint them to look more realistic. Depending on how far away the audience is from the stage, a rubber knife may not look realistic, however if you are doing any sort of actual assult (stabbing, slashing, etc) then a rubber knife should really be your only option.
Two: If no one is going to be stabbed or slashed with the knife, and if the audience is close enough to tell your prop knife is rubber, then a real knife may be needed. However you should NEVER put a sharpened real knife on stage. As far as I'm concerned taping the blade is not acceptable either. I head to the local thrift store and buy the knife I want for dirt cheap. Then I take the knife to the shop and grind it down. Dull the entire blade, nice an blunt, removing the entire edge. Do not leave a pointed tip either, round it off. Grind it down until you can safely slice it back and forth across your hand. Even with a carefully dulled down blade, you should NEVER use this knife to do any sort of a physical attack on an actor. Safety first, the look of the show second.
One: The safest and prefered option. Use a prop rubber knife. There are many options for rubber knifes all over the Internet. Amazon has multiple options starting about $5. You can paint them to look more realistic. Depending on how far away the audience is from the stage, a rubber knife may not look realistic, however if you are doing any sort of actual assult (stabbing, slashing, etc) then a rubber knife should really be your only option.
Two: If no one is going to be stabbed or slashed with the knife, and if the audience is close enough to tell your prop knife is rubber, then a real knife may be needed. However you should NEVER put a sharpened real knife on stage. As far as I'm concerned taping the blade is not acceptable either. I head to the local thrift store and buy the knife I want for dirt cheap. Then I take the knife to the shop and grind it down. Dull the entire blade, nice an blunt, removing the entire edge. Do not leave a pointed tip either, round it off. Grind it down until you can safely slice it back and forth across your hand. Even with a carefully dulled down blade, you should NEVER use this knife to do any sort of a physical attack on an actor. Safety first, the look of the show second.
We did "The Game's Afoot" two years ago and used plastic knives that had a springloaded blade. So when you stabbed someone, the blade would retract into the handle and when you pulled it back out the blade would redeploy. Combined with appropriate lighting and quick blackouts it was very effective. I treat stuff like this with the "my kid rule" the same as with rigging. If I wouldn't trust my 3-year-old with a real knife, I'm not trusting an actor on stage with a real knife.
Just have to say that some people (including me) do not believe in retractable knives. That can and have jammed and malfunctioned and people have been stabbed for real.
You'd be hard pressed to break skin with these. They are very blunt, light plastic things. Possibly bruise, but I'd think that'd be possible with bad choreography and a rubber knife alone.
