Window Shade

Bob Wright

Member
I am trying to figure out how to build a window shade that will go up and down remotely. This is for a production of The 39 Steps. Any ideas? To make it more complicated, this production is at an outdoor theater.

Thanks for any ideas.
Bob
 
Not being familiar with "The 39 Steps"...
Would you care to specify what you mean by "remotely", is pulling the control string from backstage okay?
Is the window in the middle of the stage with open space all around it and has to open and close itself?
Would an electric window shade do the trick (is it in the budget), they can be battery, solar or hard wired and operated by wired or IR remote?
 
My gut is to try to go low-tech and just have a thin string running under the window and operated by a hidden stage hand. That said what is the rest of the set like. There are many options for this one.
 
Low tech with the fewest number of moving parts is always the best way, unless you've got the time to troubleshoot a complex system. (i rarely do) Run a length of spiderwire from the window offstage and voila, you've got a magic shade. I love spiderwire (available at walmart) and use it for just about every trick i do...
 
I agree with bobgaggle and TheatreEd, the best solution is generally the low tech one. A control line as I had said simply run to a stagehand out of sight.
However if this is impossible, the electric blinds I mentioned are VERY reliable and easy to come by from your local blinds dealer. I have installed them in "great rooms" where the only way to get at them afterwards is to pull out all the furniture and put up 20 or more feet of scaffold. They are still working fine years later. (really cool when on a smart universal remote, you press a button and the blinds go down, lights dim, and tv switches to DVD).
 
Since it is supposed to be a comedic effect, the motorized solutions need to be able to go faster than a typical residential solution is intended to operate. That said, an RC car motor and remote can be made to work.

The simplest solution is to do it with lighting cues and mime the shade going up and down.
 
Thank all of you for your rapid responses. The window is free standing in the middle of the stage. Nothing around it. The blind/shade needs to work for only one scene. I agree that the motorized version might be too slow. The spider wire idea is probably my best bet. Since the wind is used for other things without the blind, the effect will need to be set up for each performance.
I greatly appreciate your ideas and am open to any more. Thanks, thanks, thanks.
Bob
 

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