Flying small objects?

[IanJ]

I'm tech director on a superhero show where we want to fly small objects, to provide a telekinesis effect -- things like foam-rubber dumbells, plastic prop knives, etc. I realize that this is skirting close to the "no flying discussions" taboo, but I thought I'd ask, since this is pretty far from the level of things that kill people. For context, this is in a very small theater with 12 foot ceilings and a miniscule budget (we can afford invisible thread!).

We had our first flying-objects rehearsal last night, and it didn't go as well as we might have hoped. None of us have the special effects/illusion experience necessary to pull off what we wanted to do, and we're probably going to end up doing vertical-only levitation using pre-set wires and magnets, and use willful suspension of disbelief to "show" the horizontal movement. What we really wanted to do was to have a character levitate something out of her hand, and then "telekinetically" throw it at another character (who would catch it, to avoid the inevitable swinging that comes from a two-wire system like we were using).

Are there any tricks besides the obvious two-wire systems that I should be considering? I'd appreciate feedback, but if the only answer is "hire a professional," I'll understand that as well. Thanks!

 

[MarshallPope]

To provide horizontal movement, could you hang a small curtain rod or something similar from the ceiling to use as a track, and then hang the object through a keychain or other small ring? That way, you could use the keychain as a pulley to lift the item. Someone could hold a wire on the other side of the stage to keep the ring in place. THen, when it is time for the horizontal movement, that person could release their wire and the ring would start to move in the direction of the puller? Not positive that it would work, and would only work for EXTREMELY light loads (ex: a rubber duck) but I think it would be effective.

 

[SHARYNF]

you also need to have a bit of weight in the object being flown so that you have some stability. If it is too light then the air resistance will tend to mess things up.

Basically you use a trick on a traveler where you can raise the object with a pully and then move the truck on the traveler

http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Mus...0E-B23F-4882-95F1-C8ADB782FAD0/0/drkp_tn5.pdf

Sharyn

 

[FatherMurphy]

You mentioned a low ceiling, but if there's room to get over the top of the back wall/curtain, some sort of fishing pole idea could be used, as sort of a marionette operator with a long reach. Obviously, keeping the technician sufficiently darkly lit that the audience ignores him would be a problem, as would any hanging obstructions the pole might hit as you swung props about the stage.

Or, if your production is tongue-in-cheek enough, perhaps a Japanese Noh theater kurogo stagehand (the guys in the black robes, working in plain view) could be the 'psychic power' to move the props. You'd just need to work them into the rest of the show so that the audience accepts them during the telekinesis bits.

 

[MarshallPope]

Another idea:

Lets say that the thrower is stage right and the catcher is stage left
Using two lines, terminating off both stage right and left, link together and with the object where the thrower is. Both lines would be pulled simultaneously to lift the object. When at the top, stage right hand would release his line, allowing it to swing from a point stage left of the catcher. This way, it would only get a partial downward swing and you would not notice a pendulum movement.

 

[DuckJordan]

how far is it away from the actor if it only needs to be a foot or so i would suggest the old magic floating card trick i used to use when performing magic, btw to those people who will instantly say oh hes an ex magician throwing his secrets out, this on is simple, depending on the weight of an object about the weight of 2 keys max you could do the tape a small black thread behind the ear, on the other end of the thread is a small dab of wax or sticky stuff... you then pick the object up with the hand that the small dab of wax is on your thumb, while you pick up the object at the same time place the dab of wax on the object then use the L shape of your hand (left or right, or to get a good effect pass it between your hands) this will give the "illusion" of floating away from your hands... if you need a video of this i could probably send you one its hard to explain in words.

 

[Van]

I really like the idea of rigging a sheave or small ring on the leading carrier of a "traveler" track or household curtain transom rod. You could attach an extremely small rare earth magnet to a piece of spiderwire and inbed a thumbtack in each item you wish to levitate. Vertical lift from the spider wire, then activate the horizontal movement by pulling the traveller cord.

 

[IanJ]

We're holding back on the bun raku guy-in-black, although that is among the last ditch choices. I like the curtain rod idea. We tried doing two wires, and the swinging was unacceptable.

We're definitely using the "levitation" trick with the invisible thread at a different point, but that's not suitable for the knife-throwing we need to do. We'll test out the track idea, with a control rope on the truck, either pulled by a stage hand, or possibly spring-powered (for smooth energy delivery) and released by the stage hand.

Thanks for all the suggestions!