URGENT ADIVCE NEEDED!!! The Phantom Tollbooth - Need advice on massive fly piece

[JessC]

I am the set designer and construction chief for a non-profit children's theatre. We are doing "The Phantom Tollbooth" and I build in an uneven parking lot/sidewalk area then transport everything to a very nice local theatre for the show. We don't usually have many fly pieces because we are charged about $400 per point and we are on a VERY tight budget.

All of our stock scenery was lost in a plumbing incident...

That being said, this year the director is springing for a stage wide profile fly! I'm super excited, but nervous about getting it structurally sound to fly as I'm not a rigger and have never attempted such a huge piece. My only job is to build it so that it can fly - the theatre has a pro rigger who will rig it, but it has to be sound or he will just nix it without even blinking =/

My first idea was of course to build many stock flats and use some added styro or luaun cutouts for the profile, but considering our sets get handled VERY rough by our parent volunteers no matter how much you remind them and they have to be moved in and out to work on them and then transported, I'm leaning more toward hard flats so they will last longer.

I'm planning on using 4' x 8' hard flats battened together, 9 of these will give me the 36' width I need. Then I will add some profile pieces to made of jigged luaun. I'm going to use 1" x 3" on their FACE with cornerblocks, keystones and luaun cover -I've used soft flats, hollywood flats and uncategorized flats, but found at my company (a travelling show with volunteer staff) the hybrid flat (a standard soft flat frame and hard cover) hold up best and aren't too heavy. There are going to be a lot of seams here that I won't have time to dutch, but this piece sits way upstage in a large theatre, so as long as my paint job is good, I'm not worried about it.

My questions:
Are there any, more suitable, flat building methods I should consider since I'm building from scratch?
Should I build a hog trough and what should I make it from to use as a batten here -how to attach?
Any other things to consider?

I appreciate all advice in advance

 

[JLNorthGA]

What's wrong with regular muslin backdrops? They are reusable, lightweight and with a good painter can look almost three dimensional. Cost is not that bad. We recently purchased a 40' x 17' backdrop for ~$500. You can buy 1" pipe to put in the pipe pocket to weight it down - and you usually use the theater's batten. If you want to go cheaper - I've seen people get canvas tarps from a building supply place and connect them together (stitch, tape, whatever) and then paint those. Drops or tarps can last for years. If you roll them carefully, the paint won't crack (carpet cores work well).

As far as a hog trough, I make mine out of 1 x 4. I have 2 x 4 blocks at the joints between the 1 x 4 so I can put screws in both sides of the joint - these go inside the trough. I usually arrange the 1 x 4s so that the seams are not in the same place.

 

[josh88]

It may also be worth talking to the rigger to see what he/she is looking for. You can say hey will this be ok by you if I build it Ike this or will you have concerns that way you won't run into bringing it in and having them veto it when it's too late to change anything.


Via tapatalk

 

[techieman33]

It may also be worth talking to the rigger to see what he/she is looking for. You can say hey will this be ok by you if I build it Ike this or will you have concerns that way you won't run into bringing it in and having them veto it when it's too late to change anything.


Via tapatalk

That's a must. Just because one rigger think it's fine doesn't mean another one will. Especially since no one here knows all of the details involved.

 

[lwinters630]

I would suggest the Hollywood style, through bolt between section will make it able to disassemble for transport. Then strongback or hog, whaler. Run rigging cables through the middle of the Hollywood and through eye bolt and turnbuckle at bottom with spacing as needed for load.

I agree that you should draw it up and have the rigger sign off before you build.

 

[JessC]

A backdrop is a good idea. However, the director is sold on having this piece be a profile piece and it will have a door. Also, I do not have the floor space or paint frame to easily paint a 40' x 15' drop. I could if I needed to.

As for hog troughs, the last time I made/rigged one, I used 1 x 4 x 10' and staggered them so the seams weren't in the same place then screwed the face of one into the edge of the other to create a 'L" that was the same length of the flats (30').

Then I laid the flats out face down and put the trough at the bottom of the flats so that when the piece was raised, the trough looked like a capital L sitting upstage of the flats. I this the right way to use a trough or are the flats supposed to sit on the L, in the trough? Then I bolted the trough from the face of the flat through the trough.