Dracula Flying Bat?

[chrispo86]

The high school I do some consulting work for is doing Dracula as their fall drama performance. As the special effects go-to guy, the director was going over a list of things we need to figure out for the show. One of the things he is looking for is a bat that (and I quote) "...has to fly in through the open French doors around the stage and back out again. It also has to fly down from the sound/spot booth over the audience to the stage..."

He suggested getting one of those small remote control helicopters that places like Brookstone at the mall have and dressing it up as a bat. I have my reservations about that idea for numerous reasons, not to mention it's going to be an odd looking bat with a rotor sticking out the top.

Anybody have any ideas on what I could do here? Getting the thing to fly in is simple enough. Getting it to fly out I see as doable. It's the whole, in, fly around, and go back out that's a different story...

 

[derekleffew]

Perhaps one of the ideas from this thread? http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-f-x/10929-flying-dove-cinderella.html

I vote for dressing a dove up in a bat costume.

Playable Joker Influencing PS3 Preorders Everyday PlayStation

 

[Van]

Flying down from the Balcony is not a major trick that's simply rigging with Spider wire safe and easy. Flying in and out of the window is going to be tricky. I agree with you about the helicopter, I would never buy it as a bat and they are too noisy. Pre-rigging the bat so it's outside the window goes in the room flys around then exits the window could be accomplished with the wires on the onstage side of the window, let the natural tension pull the bat on stage, then get up enough speed on the exit that the bats momentum carries it out through the window once the wire hits the flat above the window. The Upper rigging part is going to be like any flying arrangement. and would be best operated by a minimum of 2 people one for up/down stage, one for left right and altitude.
Or maybe one lone marionette operator......

 

[FatherMurphy]

We did homing pigeons in a version of 'Three Musketeers' once, and discovered that as soon as the birds left the stage, they were no longer lit until we added some side lights crossing over the audience's heads. You might use that darkness a bit, and have one bat on a zipline fly out, and a few moments later, have another bat fly in on a different zipline. Let the audience think it's the same bat, and they just lost sight of it....