Flying in high school

[Jessie]

I am producing "Peter Pan and Wendy" this fall. I don't HAVE to fly my actors, but I want to. I have almost 20 years of experience in educational theatre. As you can imagine, that experience does NOT mean I know about quality rigging and tech work! I want to learn all I can from real techies.

My question is this:

What is the best and safest way to achieve the flying effect in a high school theatre production?

I can spend up to $1,000 (or maybe a bit more) IF it will be a useful addition beyond the life of the show. I'm open to any and all ideas for achieving the effect- not limited to rigging.

Before you answer, let me assure you that safety is my first priority.

 

[shiben]

I am producing "Peter Pan and Wendy" this fall. I don't HAVE to fly my actors, but I want to. I have almost 20 years of experience in educational theatre. As you can imagine, that experience does NOT mean I know about quality rigging and tech work! I want to learn all I can from real techies.

My question is this:

What is the best and safest way to achieve the flying effect in a high school theatre production?

I can spend up to $1,000 (or maybe a bit more) IF it will be a useful addition beyond the life of the show. I'm open to any and all ideas for achieving the effect- not limited to rigging.

Before you answer, let me assure you that safety is my first priority.

Glad to hear safety comes first. The only way to do this safely is going to be call a flying professional. Foy, ZFX, D2 come to mind, I feel like Delbert on the site does things like this. There are probably a few more companies that do theatrical flying, but its the only way to do it. Its stupid and dangerous to do this type of thing yourself, as it can kill people (or malfunction in a very darkly funny way, as in this video of Peter Pan being done with on the cheap flying: ‪Peter Pan Stage Crash Fail‬‏ - YouTube)

If you cant spend more than 1k, and that only if people are going to have something for you to keep, I doubt flight is in the option, although people here have done it and It gets done in schools all the time so I cant imagine its THAT expensive...

 

[Beans45601]

as in this video of Peter Pan being done with on the cheap flying: ‪Peter Pan Stage Crash Fail‬‏ - YouTube)

Oh awkward theater moments.

 

[Chris15]

I think you'll find some valuable information in CB's wiki entry Flying Effects

 

[venuetech]

contact Foy, or ZFX their cost is very reasonable and you will not regret working with them

ZFX Flying Effects - Theatrical Flying Effects and Flying Automation
Flying by Foy - Best flying effects for stage, theatre, film, ice,church angels, TV, for those wanting the best in Theatrical Flight

there may well be other companys to work with.

scheduling may be your biggest problem. so the sooner the better.

 

[Chris15]

contact Foy, or ZFX their cost is very reasonable and you will not regret working with them
...
there may well be other companys to work with.

Both Foy and ZFX, as well as the other reputable firms for this particular niche are listed in the wiki article I've already linked to.

Please can we not try reinventing the wheel here...

 

[Jessie]

That video is EXACTLY what I wish to avoid. UGH!!! I'd rather do fog and scarves than that.

Thanks so much for the leads. I will contact them. I'm in a small rural town, though. Will they still work with me?

 

[Footer]

That video is EXACTLY what I wish to avoid. UGH!!! I'd rather do fog and scarves than that.

Thanks so much for the leads. I will contact them. I'm in a small rural town, though. Will they still work with me?

They will work wherever the money is. Hall is based in Chicago, Foy is in Vegas, and ZFX is in Kentucky. Hall might come in a bit cheaper just due to shipping. However, ALL of these companys are going to be at least 3k plus room and board for the on-site person. Even at that, your not going to be able to keep anything. The will come in, install the gear, and then take it down when you are done. You might have to rent some truss and stuff like that as well. My rule of thumb is it costs at least 5k to get someones feet to leave the ground. There are other ways to achieve the effect. This is just as start, there are more out there: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-effects/23043-what-some-non-flying-options-wizard.html

 

[shiben]

That video is EXACTLY what I wish to avoid. UGH!!! I'd rather do fog and scarves than that.

Thanks so much for the leads. I will contact them. I'm in a small rural town, though. Will they still work with me?

Sure. What rural Central Michigan town?

 

[gafftaper]

Welcome to CB Jessie! Get to know the search function as this topic has been covered exhaustively here in the past. I did Pan a couple years ago at my kids' school. It cost us around $5,000 to fly, but the gear and flight director had to travel a long way to be here. So your location helps. Foy is the father of flight effects. ZFX is the new hot shot older brother who gets all the press. Hall is sort of the little brother who doesn't get as much publicity but is still very talented. As a result, in my experience, Hall was eager to work with me and help me get my show done under unusual technical conditions at the theater. Foy and ZFX were not interested in my production. So I'm a big Hall fan these days.

 

[Les]

Great advice here so far. Get quotes from every company, and inquire about other packages they may have available. For example, Foy did a cheaper package for a Wizard of Oz production I was involved in years ago by shipping the equipment, flying down a rigger, training the crew, and then flying the rigger out before opening night. The stipulation was that the flight rig had to be operated by competent adults (though students could fly). I would rather have the rigger onsite the whole time, but this worked for us and I think they saved a good amount of money. Of course, we had to remove and ship out the rig after strike, but the Foy rigger trained us on that before he left.

I mention Foy because it is the company I have experience with (also did Peter Pan in high school, where the Foy guy stayed the entire time). Foy is great, but I definitely agree to go with whichever company is cheapest and most flexible. Really, you can't go wrong with any of them. Nothing wrong with going with the "lowest bidder" if you're dealing with either of the companies mentioned in this thread!

 

[MPowers]

Though someone earlier mentioned D2 Flying, no one has posted contact info, so:

Delbert Hall
Business Office: D2 Flying Effects, LLC
12 Spring Knoll Court
Johnson City, TN 37601
Production Office: D2 Flying Effects, LLC
PO Box 143
Hanover, MD 21076
E-Mail: [email protected]
Toll Free Phone and Fax: (877) 750-1001

BTW, Delbert Founded Hall FX. Tracy is an excellent rigger but Delbert (voice of James Earl Jones) "Is the Master, Tracy is the Student"

 

[gafftaper]

Yeah I should have included D2 in my list. My understanding is that Delbert started Hall, sold it to Tracy, then a few years later decided to get back in the game and started D2. My guess is that, like Hall, D2 would be more eager to cut you a deal and work with you than Foy and ZFX.

Again, nothing at all wrong with Foy or ZFX, they are the two most popular flying effects companies in the industry. However, they were not interested in working with me. I was working in a difficult to rig theater, had a small budget, and restricted time schedule in the space. In the end we determined there was nothing in the theater that could be safely used to hang the flying gear from. I had to install two 16" free standing box trusses, interlocked together and secured to the building for stability. My impression of the situation was that working with this difficult setup for so little money, was not worth the hassle to Foy and ZFX. Hall on the other hand never blinked and helped me through every step of the way so that when their flight director arrived I had everything set and ready to go.

My $5,000 bill included: flying the flight director in, installing the rig, 3 days of rehearsal training the actors and parent crew, then leaving me in charge of supervising the run and packing it all up and shipping it back.

 

[Jessie]

Sure. What rural Central Michigan town?

Perry. It's about 20 minutes outside Lansing, near Owosso. Heh-- not that those towns are very well known, either.

Sorry if I repeated questions that have been handled already. I tried the search, but I wasn't very thorough about it. I'll go back and do it again.

I REALLY appreciate all your advice and information. I'm committed to building a strong tech program for my students. Any other suggestions you may have for me to read, study, or think about would be greatly appreciated.

 

[erosing]

"Flying Individuals in Entertainment & Educational Perf. Arts Productions - Excellent overview of the risks of stage flight written by Dr. Randall Davidson of Risk Assessment International. This article was written for the Community Insurance Corporation [PDF]"

Foy used to have a working link to this article, haven't read it, but someone here might know if it's covered in his book, which is supposed to be excellent, don't have it yet though (always been a Monona Rossol fan myself).

His book can be found here: http://www.theatresafetybook.com/index.cfm

Also, all 4 major flying effect companies have great FAQs on their websites that tell you a lot of the processes involved and what you need to know and provide, good reads if you haven't already done so.