The Odyssey Water Effects

[carsonld]

For our schools straight play in March we are doing The Odyssey a large part of the show is set "in water" on a boat. For this the stage will have a giant boat center stage. my thought (being the light and set designer) is to have the stage covered in fog with the stage washed in blue and on stage left and stage right where the boat is not placed (set layout below) I was going to place a Chauvet Abyss LED 3.0, These are supposed to create a water flowing effect. I was hoping with those 2 lights on both sides of the boat with the stage being washed in blue and the fog moving around, it would create a effect of the moving on stage. Our school is on a tight tight budget so I need some help.

​

1. I dont really know how fog and DMX work. If I install a DMX fog machine to our system will I be able to program it into a cue and make the fog come on at this cue? How do I know that the fog wont be warming up when I need it to come on?
2. What fog machine should I get? Where should I place this fog machine so it will cover the stage? the stage is 50 feet by width I do not know how deep it is, I would guess 20-30 feet. I figured with the stage being this big I am going to need to buy two and put them by the wings. Covering the back of the stage is not as big of a priority as covering the front is.
3. Has anyone ever used the Chauvet Abyss LED 3.0? Does it work good? does it create an okay water effect? Or does it just look cheesy?
   [*=center]Instead of getting two Chauvet Abyss LED 3.0, could I used 4-5 water gobos like this one here:
   

Would this still create the water effect on top of the fog? I know of course I am going to have to work with the gobos if I do this.

I was also going to put down on the purchase list two LED Par64; I dont know what brand these are and they are fairly cheap... I dont know if they would throw the light from 20 feet away (maybe a little higher)

Please please please someone help! I know I have a lot of questions but I have always gotten answers on here, Thank you!!

 

[jonliles]

Not sure I would go with an off the self effect here - I don't see a need to spend the money. Why spend the money on the LEDs? The low cost ones will not give you the brightness you need on stage. The right lighting some fog (use a student, push a button) and people "Star Trek" acting (Thanks to the folks at the Globe Theatre for that term) and the audience will understand they are on the water.

On the Fog, how much do you want & the size of the space will dictate how many machines you need.

On the Blue Wash - Variety - use several different blues on different channels. You can change the mood of each scene with the variety. Dark and stormy. Flat seas. It's all in how it is perceived and not necessarily what the actual ligh on the ocean is.

Gobos, Gobos, more Gobos - Add texture.

Just some thoughts on an excellent learning opportunity.

 

[RonHebbard]

Hello!

Another thought to consider.
Chilled fog hangs comparatively low but costs more.
Warm, normal, fog wafts higher.
Smoke detectors 'attract' fog.
Fire alarms attract firemen and fire marshals.
Firemen rarely have a positive effect on productions, at least not the sort of effect you were striving for.

Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[carsonld]

On the Blue Wash - Variety - use several different blues on different channels. You can change the mood of each scene with the variety. Dark and stormy. Flat seas. It's all in how it is perceived and not necessarily what the actual ligh on the ocean is.

Gobos, Gobos, more Gobos - Add texture.

Just some thoughts on an excellent learning opportunity.

We have many different shades of blue of gels, this is a great idea, I would not have though of this! With this show there will be alot of gobos!

Not sure I would go with an off the self effect here - I don't see a need to spend the money. Why spend the money on the LEDs? The low cost ones will not give you the brightness you need on stage. The right lighting some fog (use a student, push a button) and people "Star Trek" acting (Thanks to the folks at the Globe Theatre for that term) and the audience will understand they are on the water.

On the Fog, how much do you want & the size of the space will dictate how many machines you need.

Well I just want it to cover the stage for the most part.

Hello!

Another thought to consider.
Chilled fog hangs comparatively low but costs more.
Warm, normal, fog wafts higher.
Smoke detectors 'attract' fog.
Fire alarms attract firemen and fire marshals.
Firemen rarely have a positive effect on productions, at least not the sort of effect you were striving for.

Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

Yes we have had our fair shares of the fire marshals coming... I have looked into low lying fog machines.

 

[gafftaper]

First off for fog to roll across the stage like water it needs to be dry ice or liquid nitrogen fog. It takes a LOT of dry ice to fog a stage that large. You would probably need two or three machines for each five minutes of show... and you have to be careful of audience safety with that much gas in the room. I suggest one quick burst from one machine to establish the effect at the start of the scene and then forget it. You simply can't maintain that much low lying fog for an entire show on a small budget. If you need continuous fog you would need to get liquid nitrogen. That's how the big boys do it, but I doubt you can afford it. Call your local rental shop and rent one or two "Peasoupers" (or similar) load with dry ice and go.

As for the water effect a couple of double gobo rotators is a much more economical way to go. It's the traditional way. Put a fire gobo in the static gobo slot positioned horizontal (to look like waves sideways not flames going up), put some sort of a blobby breakup in one of the rotator slots, and a crushed glass blue/green gobo in the other rotator slot. Finally drop a little light blue gel (to tweak the look) in the front color frame. A couple of them from different angles and you'll have an awesome water effect. Rent the rotators, buy the gobos, you are talking about around $100-$150 per fixture, per week, depending on your local rates.

 

[Lsly]

For our schools straight play in March we are doing The Odyssey a large part of the show is set "in water" on a boat. For this the stage will have a giant boat center stage. my thought (being the light and set designer) is to have the stage covered in fog with the stage washed in blue and on stage left and stage right where the boat is not placed (set layout below) I was going to place a Chauvet Abyss LED 3.0, These are supposed to create a water flowing effect. I was hoping with those 2 lights on both sides of the boat with the stage being washed in blue and the fog moving around, it would create a effect of the moving on stage. Our school is on a tight tight budget so I need some help.

1. I dont really know how fog and DMX work. If I install a DMX fog machine to our system will I be able to program it into a cue and make the fog come on at this cue? How do I know that the fog wont be warming up when I need it to come on?
2. What fog machine should I get? Where should I place this fog machine so it will cover the stage? the stage is 50 feet by width I do not know how deep it is, I would guess 20-30 feet. I figured with the stage being this big I am going to need to buy two and put them by the wings. Covering the back of the stage is not as big of a priority as covering the front is.
3. Has anyone ever used the Chauvet Abyss LED 3.0? Does it work good? does it create an okay water effect? Or does it just look cheesy?
   [*=center]Instead of getting two Chauvet Abyss LED 3.0, could I used 4-5 water gobos like this one here:
   

Would this still create the water effect on top of the fog? I know of course I am going to have to work with the gobos if I do this.

I was also going to put down on the purchase list two LED Par64; I dont know what brand these are and they are fairly cheap... I dont know if they would throw the light from 20 feet away (maybe a little higher)

Please please please someone help! I know I have a lot of questions but I have always gotten answers on here, Thank you!!

2 Aqua Foggers, one SL and one SR would work well. These are dry ice machines. They have 2 heating elements and a pump and fan. You would need to have the elements on constant circuits for preheating and reheating as the effect is running. The pump and fan can be twofer'd into one circuit (you can separate them and it gives you added control but not really necessary for what you describe) and run through a relay mod in your rack. This eliminates the need for DMX control at the fogger. I would place them mid stage or 3/4 of the way US of the plaster line. With the hoses attached you can move the fog from DS to US.

Question is the effect start in scene? Or can you build the fog up behind a curtain first? If you start with the curtain down then you can fill the stage and then have the fogger running during the scene to keep it full. If you have to start in scene then it will be difficult to fill the entire stage and you should consider limiting the area of "Water". IF you need the effect for the whole show you will need multiple drops of dry ice to keep it running.

As far as lighting...Gobo rotators are the way to go. Twin spins are good but using a glass gobo and a metal one works very well. Something like wavy lines, for the glass, works great, and a standard breakup for the metal one. I would gel these blue or blue green and hang them as a high side. This will light the water effect well and give the appearance of water relections on your actors.

Hope this helps.

Lorin Sly
Head Elect. Keller Aud.
PCPA Portland OR
ETCP CEE # 624