Keeping the haze with the AC on during the summer.

[traviss]

I'm posting this here instead of in the special effects forums because to me it relates directly to lighting as that's why I'm using haze.

Like most shows, we run throughout the summer. And like most in the US and elsewhere, we're fighting a pretty strong heatwave right now which requires us to run the air conditioning and air exchange at all times, even on and above the stage.

This is creating an issue for our shows that use haze as the air exchange just sucks it straight up above the stage. I've pretty much had to keep the hazer running on full the entire show, but the effect isn't working out as it looks much more like smoke than haze since it's going straight up.

I'm sure other people have had to deal with this issue and was curious if anyone had any tips they might be able to pass along to help out in this situation.

Once it cools down outside we can turn the air over the stage off and that usually helps quite a bit, but that's just not an option right now with temps hitting 105+.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jglodeklights]

Unfortunately, there isn't a super a lot you can do when dealing with weird atmospheric issues like you are dealing with. Seeing as the problem isn't just volume of haze, but its direction of flow, adding another hazer won't do much. You could send it through an ice box, but that will only keep it hanging around a tiny bit longer. I totally feel you on this; we have major oddities with air flow as we are a barn converted into a theater with a full fly system. Haze goes straight up most days, but randomly will start dropping into the audience a day here and there.

Sent from my Dell Streak 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[traviss]

Our situations are actually very similar. Our theater is a barn as well. It was built for performances to replace an old theater that is a barn converted into a theater. So while it was made for shows, it does present it's own unique set of challenges.

We don't have a fly rig, but there is an air exchange unit directly overhead on stage. As you can imagine, the acts aren't too happy when I want to turn that off in the summer to make the haze stick around.

When I run our hazer on full, I can get enough on stage to make the lights look pretty good. But the real problem is when haze is being sucked directly upwards, it looks like the stage is smoking and doesn't have the haze effect.

Thanks for the reply

 

[sk8rsdad]

As you can imagine, the acts aren't too happy when I want to turn that off in the summer to make the haze stick around.

Don't ASHRAE standards require a minimum amount of air exchange that would preclude turning of the ventilation system when a room is occupied, or does the barn leak enough air to meet the minimum without mechanical ventilation?

 

[derekleffew]

... I'm sure other people have had to deal with this issue and was curious if anyone had any tips they might be able to pass along to help out in this situation. ...

There's a great deal of voodoo, experimentation, and trial and error involved in using haze in any venue. Try locating the hazer(s) near a conditioned air supply (as opposed to a return). You're always going to be fighting the HVAC system which has the exact opposite goal as you.

From another thread:

...I guess one of the important things I didn't mention is I'm not looking to fill the entire house. I don't mind hazing the entire house with a DF-50 because it produces such fine haze that it's not an issue. But really I just need to haze the stage area. ...

Sadly, most efforts to convince haze to respect the boundary of "the fourth wall" are unsuccessful.

 

[traviss]

Due the way our stage is built there is always ventilation around the performers. When I say turn off the system I'm speaking more in terms of preventing the system directly over the stage from sucking up all of the air constantly. I'm actually fine with the AC running as it blows downward which is much better than the exchange system just constantly circulating the air.

Also, our stage is over covered from mid to up. So once you get downstage you're in the open air of the theater and the haze doesn't stand a chance anyway.

 

[BLPisani]

A theatre I worked at in WI had a "home built" haze system. (20' x 20' squarish theatre-in-the-round) It was basically large diameter PVC pipe with some holes drilled in the top and hung not far from the ceiling. The hazer unit was a good twenty pipe feet from the first hole, but it distributed the effect well. Now, I know I said it was hung from the ceiling... You could plumb in some pipes so that the haze is emitted somewhere else.

If that doesn't seem like it would work, see if you can make, or have someone make, a kind of baffle that changes where the exchanger intake takes from. Like maybe something made from lauan and dryer hose...