Hey, I thought we could share pictures of our shows...

@Colin Did you have a tiny speaker secreted within the Victrola's horn and play music cues from within the actual horn?

I just hid a speaker behind the column right next to it. Good enough for me at that distance. The music in the play fades in and out of the reality of the room, across time and memory and so on, so its source could and should be hard to pin down at times anyway. I underscored the whole play with various renditions of the old standard "A Bird in a Gilded Cage", choosing from recordings in period for Dad's record collection where appropriate, and from later recordings that follow Tom through time as he relates his memory. Since there's always a Victrola in a season of theatre, I've kept for years a collection of needle noises and now a Victrola-ish EQ saved on our M32. Nothing exposes the artifice of a carefully hidden effect speaker like a "now brilliantly remastered in stunning HD audio!" track supposedly coming from a well-used phonograph.

Were the candles in the candelabra real or electronic??

The candle effect was real, designed in cooperation with our fire marshal. This one is a little more complex than some given blocking, proximity to flowing costumes and the newspaper called for "to catch the drippings". Happy to share an example of a successful hazard assessment and safety plan if anyone wants to know how to impress their AHJ so they can have nice things. Beeswax has a good burn rate and color, and smells wonderful.

Did you use a 90 volt source alternating at 25 Hertz to make the phones sound correct when rang??? ( Compared to how incorrect phones sound if / when rang by a 60 Hz. source. )
Inquiring minds (and nosy old geezers from Canada) want to know.

The calls in this show are all outgoing, so no need, but I've never built the circuit before because I've always had access to a Tele-Q with variable frequency 12-60Hz. Check your notes - I think 20Hz would put us in St Louis, whereas 25Hz would give it a British accent. In this show (for which I was not prop master) the phone had no cord and just floated around on that table - a pet peeve of mine but fine in the spirit of the particular play - nobody cares to call on them, and the cord's cut anyway. Amanda definitely talks to herself and hears voices talking back.

Having a director who's attuned to various angles of lighting is a joy, if / when you're fortunate enough to work with one.

Well, my usual directors are good at listening when I ask to tweak blocking to be less a blockage, but when appropriate I also tend to focus side light at not-quite-side angles so it can squeeze around L/R blockages. Booms often pan upstage 5-15 degrees, high sides often pan downstage sometimes as far as being a diagonal back angle more than side. Especially in anything Tennessee Williams, those slashing angles are useful for talking about conflict and distance and longing and all that.
 
I just hid a speaker behind the column right next to it. Good enough for me at that distance. The music in the play fades in and out of the reality of the room, across time and memory and so on, so its source could and should be hard to pin down at times anyway. I underscored the whole play with various renditions of the old standard "A Bird in a Gilded Cage", choosing from recordings in period for Dad's record collection where appropriate, and from later recordings that follow Tom through time as he relates his memory. Since there's always a Victrola in a season of theatre, I've kept for years a collection of needle noises and now a Victrola-ish EQ saved on our M32. Nothing exposes the artifice of a carefully hidden effect speaker like a "now brilliantly remastered in stunning HD audio!" track supposedly coming from a well-used phonograph.
@Colin Pristine and sans all clicks, pops 'n scratches; or an apparently 78.26 RPM vinyl disc with a 33 1/3 RPM scratch artificially overlaid upon it. Thanks for your reply.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Made this beast for the last show I just closed.

8' Tall, about 20' long. Over 10,000 watts
 

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Made this beast for the last show I just closed.

8' Tall, about 20' long. Over 10,000 watts
@rsmentele How many circuits, dimmers or non-dims, does it chase or light sequentially, or perform any other "tricks". Does it support the production or steal focus for itself?
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
It was spread across 8 20A circuits. The system was recently changed to all LED, so shoebox dimmers were used for control. Each letter was two channels of control for chase and flash functionality. if you notice, the lines of bulbs line up horizontally, so each line alternated control channel.

upload_2019-7-31_16-29-30.png


I also had 12 universes of pixel tape in the stairs. Control provided by E.L.M. software as the last time is ran LED tape on my console, it bogged down when processing effects. First time using it and I was IMPRESSED! The best part is, it's super affordable
https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/53...rol-and-playback-software-16-universe-licensehttps://www.fullcompass.com/prod/53...rol-and-playback-software-16-universe-license
 
It was spread across 8 20A circuits. The system was recently changed to all LED, so shoebox dimmers were used for control. Each letter was two channels of control for chase and flash functionality. if you notice, the lines of bulbs line up horizontally, so each line alternated control channel.

View attachment 18269

I also had 12 universes of pixel tape in the stairs. Control provided by E.L.M. software as the last time is ran LED tape on my console, it bogged down when processing effects. First time using it and I was IMPRESSED! The best part is, it's super affordable
https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/53...rol-and-playback-software-16-universe-licensehttps://www.fullcompass.com/prod/53...rol-and-playback-software-16-universe-license
@rsmentele NEAT! Thus you could have lit it sequentially as well. Thanks for your reply. Neither LED's nor LED tape existed in my days shortly past the creative wicking of whale oil.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
20190817_101054.jpg
Here is the look of Aladdin Jr we are in tech for. I built this along with 2 others. The magic carpet moves and goes up and down. This was the cast unveiling today. I now move from set builder to lighting tech.
 
Festermoon.jpg
Uncle Fester (Benjamin Wells) professes his love of the moon as the ancestors look on in The Addams Family at The Central New York Playhouse. Photo courtesy AB photography.
 
Detroit '67 set. It's still Tech Week in this, so the floor gets a little more "concretey" and a couple posters are added to the walls. Looks pretty simple, but all those blocks are individual, the stairs will support 700 pounds ( a couple big actors carry a woman down them)
IMG_0942.JPG
, and the sink works. Projections are added during scene changes showing the Detroit riot. Go to the Blackfriars Theatre Facebook page for more pictures.
 
Detroit '67 set. It's still Tech Week in this, so the floor gets a little more "concretey" and a couple posters are added to the walls. Looks pretty simple, but all those blocks are individual, the stairs will support 700 pounds ( a couple big actors carry a woman down them)View attachment 18608 , and the sink works. Projections are added during scene changes showing the Detroit riot. Go to the Blackfriars Theatre Facebook page for more pictures.
@dbaxter Will handrails be added to the stairs, or perhaps I'm not seeing them?
Is there / will there be a projection screen or is the set your projection surface??
Gravity fed sink or supplied from a backstage source???
How do you handle drainage from the sink's drain????
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
The stairs are 40" wide and people are comfortable going up and down without a handrail. The "Detroit '67" in the picture is a projection and the others go in the same place. It's just eggshell black on the back wall. There is, indeed, some falloff in brightness as you sit off axis (buy your tickets sooner). The sink water comes from a hose to the backstage washtub with a siphon connector and just drains into a plastic tub backstage. They really only use it to rinse out some bar rags.
As a side note, there are 60 light cues and 241 sound cues (layers of music, crowd noise, tanks, sirens) and our Stage Manager sits and runs them all.
 
Detroit '67 set. It's still Tech Week in this, so the floor gets a little more "concretey" and a couple posters are added to the walls. Looks pretty simple, but all those blocks are individual, the stairs will support 700 pounds ( a couple big actors carry a woman down them)View attachment 18608 , and the sink works. Projections are added during scene changes showing the Detroit riot. Go to the Blackfriars Theatre Facebook page for more pictures.
LOVE that CMU wall!
 
Something a little different, Impact wrestling at St. Clair college:



...and a new (rented) toy
 

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