Pippin Fire Box

[jungle16jim]

I'm trying to build the fire box for Pippin. If you don't know the show, a dummy gets put in a box with a glass front and incinerated. In the context of the show, it can't look hokey at all--our hero is next in. In the venue, I can't use fire at all, so my mind went to the smoke alternative, but keep in mind--it's got to look scary. And it's got to be done on the cheap of course.

My current plan is to have someone in a trap underneath the plexiglass box. The dummy gets thrown in and the top shut. The operator underneath releases a C02 fire extinguisher which runs through a hole in the floor near the glass. Red lights in the corners light the smoke up red to give the illusion of fire. At the same time a second trap releases to cover the original dummy with a burned version.

I thought of the usual red silks along the bottom, but am afraid it would not look realistic/intimidating for this effect. Any other options or safety precautions I should consider? The operator will have an opening to prevent breathing problems and the CO2 will be entirely contained in the box. Thanks in advance.

 

[Les]

A few thoughts--

Why use a fire extinguisher in lieu of a fog machine?

Red silks are not as effective as white silks with red/blue/orange mr-16 (or similar) lights pointed up at them.

First thought that came to my mind was a silk "wall of flame" just behind the plexiglass front. Maybe a stronger fan (or several small muffin fans strategically placed) will give a good, aggressive ripple to the silk. Keep the red/blue/orange lights on ~50% constant, but individually bump them to full to get a more dramatic flicker effect.

I know that to many, $199 isn't "on the cheap", but there is this:

http://www.sldlighting.com/shopexd.asp?id=4492

This was without much shopping. Maybe you could find one cheaper. I've found that even the cheap flame effects look pretty decent from a distance. YMMV.

You could also just fog the box up and flicker colored lights from the bottom, but be careful or it'll end up looking like a Def Leppard concert .



Hope this helps.

 

[jglodeklights]

For this effect I used two small fog machines fired at the same time, along with two 3 circuit R40 strips on each side and a strobe light to illuminate the fog. Variations of this with changes to where the light is coming from can be combined with a major shift in lighting on the rest of the stage to make it "scary".

Keep in mind, however, that this moment isn't necessarily meant to be frightening, but absolute. Pippin is being enticed, and bullied, into committing suicide. A violent, quick, glorious and painless end to the path of gore and depravity he's just gone down. If you were to take the other ending, where he doesn't throw himself in, then making it violent and quick, but anticlimactic, works.