Flying Tarzan

[venuetech]

I suspect that the over the audience track is a winch operated effect.

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That effect is at roughly 2:30

We just finished a production of Tarzan with ZFX , the base package was 1 track 2 pendulum points +harnesses.
I think we added 2 vines. So the over the house track might be part of a larger package.

 

[DRU]

It looks like the over the audience track was automated. That may be out of their price range.

 

[josh88]

It looks like the over the audience track was automated. That may be out of their price range.

I'm not as sure, I saw a show the Christmas that used a set up very similar to that also through zfx and it was winch controlled. It took a person cranking on it to make them travel. Though the up and down portion was a motorized winch to lift.

 

[NeverAnonymous]

It looks like the over the audience track was automated. That may be out of their price range.

I'm not as sure, I saw a show the Christmas that used a set up very similar to that also through zfx and it was winch controlled. It took a person cranking on it to make them travel. Though the up and down portion was a motorized winch to lift.

So ZFX has a range of options. They have full motorized systems, then they have winch control. Then they have combo ones. This could have been any of them. They all look basically the same of the two guys on the winch are decent

 

[NickVon]

2:18, i think is the effect we are looking for, that the director is correctly identifying.

 

[NeverAnonymous]

2:18, i think is the effect we are looking for, that the director is correctly identifying.

I think everyone agrees that you should contact a company like ZFX and see what the can do

 

[DRU]

UPDATE: ZFX has been contacted, a site survey was done, a contract was signed, dates have been scheduled, and things are moving forward. Thanks everyone for your help.

I have also discovered the source of the "zip line" idea. In the director's booklet from MTI/Disney, there is a page titled "Flying". The second paragraph says:

"Regardless of your approach, make adult Tarzan's entrance in 'Son of Man' your biggest 'flying' moment. For a simple solution, dead-hang a rope just off stage and have Tarzan swing on and release in mid-air like he's jumping from a swinging vine. A fancier option might be utilizing a backyard zip line on which adult Tarzan can enter from the back of the house. After that, you can keep the flying simpler, more representative. Not mater how your Tarzan flies, remember that the key to any 'wow factor' is not to overuse a device." (emphasis mine)

I mentioned this to our ZFX site survey representative, and he just shook his head.

Does anyone else think this is stupid and a possible liability?

 

[Terrence MacArthur]

How long ago was that manual written? Lots of things that were OK 40 odd years ago are now seen as too dangerous. Not because they're any more or less dangerous, but because safer and reasonably affordable options have come on line.

As for it being stupid and a possible liability, I'll admit that if I was the guy on the line I'd think it was fine. But if I was the guy in charge and someone else was going to be on the line, I wouldn't allow it to happen.

 

[josh88]

The musical was first done in 2006 so this particular guide would have been written in the last 10 years for sure. That seems like a pretty big oversight.

 

[venuetech]

http://www.mtishows.com/ftp/TarzanProductionHandbook.pdf
page 26

DisneyTheatricalLicensing.com
not sure just who should get informed, likeley someone on the MIT staff.
http://www.mtishows.com/content.asp?id=1_1_0#StaffDirectory

 

[venuetech]

I sent a nice note to Drew Cohen.
The production guide is a good resource and did provide a number of discussion starting points for our recent production. But I think I just passed over that line as we had an effects company lined up.

 

[StradivariusBone]

That is a very dangerous oversight. The next paragraph is more representative of a safer way to do the gag:

During “Strangers Like Me,” Tarzan teaches Jane to “fly” by sweeping her up into the jungle canopy. You can accomplish this feat without rigging either actor. Construct a one-level platform that can easily roll on and off stage and paint umbrellas to represent jungle leaves and flowers. With Tarzan and Jane atop the platform, have the ensemble surround the pair with open, undulating umbrellas and move across the stage, varying levels.

A lot of the Jr/Kids shows will list technical ideas geared towards the non-technical, but that description basically gives stage dads carte blance to dig out the come-a-longs and go nuts. Obvious safety aside, what are you going to do with all the gak for the zipline sitting on stage and over the crowd for the other 97% of the musical?

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I won't disagree with the general wisdom and advice, but I am perplexed as to why the zip line is thought so unsafe. Two anchors and a trolley. Compared to winches, much less to go wrong. Besides my extreme reticence to step off a little platform 30' in the air, I found it very simple at Philmont.

I agree that it seems contrary to the Tarzan images of swinging, but a separate issue from safety.

I wonder if the performer flying companies find it so simple that not interested.

 

[DRU]

I won't disagree with the general wisdom and advice, but I am perplexed as to why the zip line is thought so unsafe. Two anchors and a trolley. Compared to winches, much less to go wrong. Besides my extreme reticence to step off a little platform 30' in the air, I found it very simple at Philmont.

I agree that it seems contrary to the Tarzan images of swinging, but a separate issue from safety.

I wonder if the performer flying companies find it so simple that not interested.

Every representative from the Big Three, when asked about zip lines, said pretty much the same thing: a zip line can't be controlled like a flying rig, and therefore they didn't want to put it up. That doesn't mean it hasn't been done before. In my research, I talked to the TD of The Muny in St. Louis, and they did a zip line across the audience, and worked with ZFX, but The Muny put up the cable, made the anchor points, got the trolley and lift cable, and ZFX provided the harness. What it came down to in my situation was this: I wasn't going to put up a zip line, the Big Three weren't going to put up a zip line, the church wasn't going to put up a zip line, so there wasn't going to be a zip line. I spent hours trying to convince the director to not use a zip line, and MTI/Disney suggesting it was the catalyst that started it (it appears), which could be a big liability for them when The Amateur Theatre Company hires Bob's Pretty Good Zip Line Company to do this effect based on this suggestion.

 

[What Rigger?]

UPDATE: ZFX has been contacted, a site survey was done, a contract was signed, dates have been scheduled, and things are moving forward. Thanks everyone for your help.

I have also discovered the source of the "zip line" idea. In the director's booklet from MTI/Disney, there is a page titled "Flying". The second paragraph says:

"Regardless of your approach, make adult Tarzan's entrance in 'Son of Man' your biggest 'flying' moment. For a simple solution, dead-hang a rope just off stage and have Tarzan swing on and release in mid-air like he's jumping from a swinging vine. A fancier option might be utilizing a backyard zip line on which adult Tarzan can enter from the back of the house. After that, you can keep the flying simpler, more representative. Not mater how your Tarzan flies, remember that the key to any 'wow factor' is not to overuse a device." (emphasis mine)

I mentioned this to our ZFX site survey representative, and he just shook his head.

Does anyone else think this is stupid and a possible liability?

Oh. My. F. Lorde. I have to go drink now.