Frankenstein the musical

[lightingtek]

I am the technical director for a private school in Oklahoma city about to do our fall musical production "Frankenstein the musical". Of the handful of scenic elements that I need to build, the one that is befuddling me a bit would be the gallows for the condemned man and Justine to be hanged on. If you are not familiar with the story, all you need know is this: there are two separate instances where someone is hung on stage. The set design includes platforming that is 54" tall built up above our normal stage floor. Located in the upstage center platform is where I envision installing a quick release trap door that we would put padding under to allow the actor to safely fall.

Obviously there will be safety measures in place to make sure the actor is no actually hung (noose around neck not attached to rope that is suspended, or rope not being attached to anything above and allowing rope to fall freely through the trap with the actor, or something along those lines)

The platform itself will be a 10' x 3' platform with access from upstage for the actor to secretly exit and allow for crew to position themselves to operate the trap mechanism. The trap itself will be approximately 30" square.

Concerns that I have are as follows:

How do I keep the trap from swinging back and hitting the actor on their downward path?

If the platforms are built with standard 2x4 construction, and the trap is merely a small platform at fits into a hole cut in the platform, would using 4" hinges on one side, and 2 2x4s on edge that are built to slide out from under the trap door a sufficient mechanism for both supporting the weight of actors and allowing the trap to swing open?

If there is a safer alternative, a company that makes the mechanism I'm looking for, etc, I am not above throwing some money at this as opposed to building it myself. I have been reading posts on this forum for the better part of the last 3 hours and I see a lot of moderators and other members suggesting that if you have to ask, don't do it yourself. I have also advised the director that if we can not find a safe way of doing this effect that we should consider some slight of hand method (lights and sound but no actual hanging). I would appreciate any insight or advise the sage minds of my fellow control boothers might have.

Steven Gillmore
Director of technical theatre
Heritage Hall
Oklahoma City

 

[seanandkate]

Here and here are previous threads that might be helpful (unless those are the ones you read in the last three hours), but the bottom line is always hire a professional. Do NOT attempt by yourself--the stakes are just way too high. There are ways to do it with lights, sound, and the audience's imagination that are just as effective, cost WAY less, and are much more conducive to having a full cast for the show the following night.

 

[lightingtek]

Here and here are previous threads that might be helpful.

Thank you, I had read the "duct tape the platforms together" thread (shudder at the thought) but had not seen the other. I an effort to prevent this thread from being prematurely closed, I need to clarify.

I am not looking for a way to safely execute the "hanging" aspect of the effect, I will hire a rigger for that if we decide to actually show the actor suspended. I have used harnesses and a licensed rigger before to hang actors in JesusChristSuperstar and Harold and Maude (not at Hereritage Hall).

My question is more surrounding the trap door itself.

 

[Van]

Well, if it was me I'd secure a rope to the underside of the trap <rope for dressing purposes so it appears to match the construction> then attach a bungee, spring or gas cylinder to the end of the rope. The trap door would not only be opening from the weight of the actor but it would be being pulled out of the way by the spring. When the trap went to swing towards closed again it's travel would be limited by the tension on the spring.
As far as Hinges go... for safety reasons I always prefer to bolt-through for attachment of 'mission-critical' hinges. Even if you used a a large gate or strap hing that you could bend around the 2x4's so the last screw hole could actually be secured via a carriage bolt it would be preferable to just relying on screws or lags alone.
Thanks for the attention to detail on the hanging harness. that's always a tricky trick, one of the oldest in the book but people still die from it every year.

 

[chausman]

Concerns that I have are as follows:

How do I keep the trap from swinging back and hitting the actor on their downward path?

If there is a safer alternative, a company that makes the mechanism I'm looking for, etc, I am not above throwing some money at this as opposed to building it myself. I have been reading posts on this forum for the better part of the last 3 hours and I see a lot of moderators and other members suggesting that if you have to ask, don't do it yourself. I have also advised the director that if we can not find a safe way of doing this effect that we should consider some slight of hand method (lights and sound but no actual hanging). I would appreciate any insight or advise the sage minds of my fellow control boothers might have.

Spare crew member, assuming the bottom of the trap door will be out of sight of the audience.

If you can't find/make something that you are willing to do yourself then you can't expect an actor to do it. If you decided to go the route of not hanging for safety reasons, or the actor isn't comfortable with it, you could try pre-recording it where you could be very safe and then projecting onto a scrim. Having the actors who will be hung walk behind the scrim, change the lighting so the actor is hidden and then project the recording. Then if anything, repeatability isn't as big of a problem.

And, if you wouldn't want to go through the trapdoor or the actor doesn't feel comfortable, it's probably not worth it.

 

[lightingtek]

I have never built a set piece or rigged a special effect that I would not test myself before allowing and actor to use, especially given that I am a high school technical director.

Van, thank you! The bungie cord idea is brilliant. I've already drawn this out in scketchup and tested all of the angles, and think this is going to work very nicely.

Next time I'm back to my computer, i will try to post some PDFs of the set with some closeups on the trap mechanism.

 

[lightingtek]

i should clarify, I wasn't at my computer for most of the posts I have been doing on this thread, I was using my iPad, and didn't have my computer with me. That's what I love about Control Booth, I can research where ever I am.

As promised, here are 4 PDF's I created from the sketchup drawing, the first two just show the set, the second two are closeups on the trap mechanism.View attachment Frankenstein view 1.pdfView attachment Frankenstein view 2.pdfView attachment Frankenstein view 3 closeup on trap closed.pdfView attachment Frankenstein view 4 closeup on trap open.pdf

 

[toopen]

Be it that i am not only a student of Mr. Gillmore's but also an overcomplicating electrical engineer, I suggested solenoid locks for the trap door for a "Push of the Button" approach. Would something like that be possible or would it just be overcomplicating things to the extreme?

-Thomas Evans

 

[mstaylor]

It is possible but it is adding a layer of complexity and expense.

 

[chausman]

Be it that i am not only a student of Mr. Gillmore's but also an overcomplicating electrical engineer, I suggested solenoid locks for the trap door for a "Push of the Button" approach. Would something like that be possible or would it just be overcomplicating things to the extreme?

-Thomas Evans

Push of a button during showtime, but a pain and probably a lot of troubleshooting to get it right before hand. Not that it wouldn't be possible though.


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- Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Van]

Be it that i am not only a student of Mr. Gillmore's but also an overcomplicating electrical engineer, I suggested solenoid locks for the trap door for a "Push of the Button" approach. Would something like that be possible or would it just be overcomplicating things to the extreme?

-Thomas Evans

I LOVE solenoids and remotely actuating devices. However, getting a solenoid large enough to operate a trap door, especially one with a person standing on it would bee extrremely expensive.