JessC
Member
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
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