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alekei Loyal user Dubai/Lisboa 245 Posts |
Hello again!
I need to make a curtain drop after an instant appearance. I have a platform onstage, a curtain on the floor that is linked to the rigging system. The curtain raises up and when it is completely open (stood) I want to make it fall to reveal myself. But I want that curtain to fall completely by itself. How can I accomplish this? Regards, Alejandro. |
NFox Inner circle I Do Mentalism Now?! 1101 Posts |
You could use a solenoid or two (activated by a small foot switch?) to drop the curtain. From your question that is one of the simpler solutions I can think of.
I have two questions to help me get a better grasp on the situation, though: 1) What are you using to raise the curtain? 2) You said it was linked to the "rigging system," does that refer to the stage rigging, or something else? Nick Fox |
Paul Arthur Regular user 196 Posts |
You might try an electromagnet. Through the application of controlled DC electrical current, electromagnets have the ability to hold and release material on command. We used this setup with a full stage curtain, so there were 4 magnets running across the batten (pipe) that were controlled by the same power supply. Their respective magnet partners were sewn into the lining of the curtain. One flip of a switch, and the whole thing dropped to the ground.
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Kevin Ridgeway V.I.P. Indianapolis, IN & Phoenix, AZ 1832 Posts |
Both posts are great answers...they are refering to kabuki drops...do a search for them and you can see pretty detailed examples and designs. They can be expensive when having a production company make them for you, but they can be easily and inexpensively made yourself.
Let us know how it turns out. Kevin
Living Illusions
Ridgeway & Johnson Entertainment Inc Kevin Ridgeway & Kristen Johnson aka Lady Houdini The World's Premier Female Escape Artist www.LadyHoudini.com www.livingillusions.com |
alekei Loyal user Dubai/Lisboa 245 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-01-13 15:13, NFox wrote: 1)2 Fish lines attached to the cables of the rigging system. 2)Yes, it is the Stage Rigging. |
alekei Loyal user Dubai/Lisboa 245 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-01-13 16:37, Paul Arthur wrote: What a wonderful Idea! Where Can I get some cheap electromagents? I would need 2 for this system. A friend of mine recommended me to use the same system that cars use to lock the door. It is a servomechanism, I think. Controlled by RC |
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
An ancient method for doing this is the "pin through eye hooks" system.
In its simplest form, you have two small eye hooks attached to the bottom side of the standing part (say a horizontal board). The part that's going to drop has an eye hook on the top. You bring the bottom hook up between the two top hooks and put a small "pin" through them to hold the bottom part in place. The pin has a string tied to one end. The string goes thru another hook on the side which acts as a pulley to change the direction of the string from horizontal to vertical. When you pull the string, the pin releases and the bottom part drops. This system has been used with large flags, curtains, and lots of other stuff on stage. It takes a little working to rig it, especially if you use multiple pins tied off to one operating line, but it's darn near foolproof.
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
freefallillusion1 Elite user Cincinnati, OH 446 Posts |
I did a variation on the "pin thru eyehooks" method. My curtain had 5 attachment points equally spread out, because I liked the way it hung using only 5 points. Of course, this means there's now more weight on each of those points, so my release was based on the system on my skydiving rig, which is used to cut away a malfunctioning parachute. Envision a large ring sewn to the top of the curtain. Now picture a smaller ring suspended from the ceiling. The small ring is threaded through the big one, a loop holds the small ring in place, and a pin holds the loop. This is done at all 5 attachment points, and all 5 pins are attached to a single release line which stretches across the top of the setup. Using this ring system makes for a very easy pull to drop the curtain. We used this 3 to 5 times per night, 17 nights in a row, and never had it fail. PM me for a better description. Hope this helps!
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mvmagic Inner circle Has written 1322 Posts |
Freefallillusion is right, that's a good system. I have used it in special effects and I actually "discovered" it in my parachute as well! Here is a small quick pic that should get the idea clear:
http://www.parachute.nl/uploads/RTEmagicC_f7f40b118a.gif.gif
Sent from my Typewriter
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
As Kevin has highlighted, a kabuki drop is a preferred method used to accomplish this. Kabuki drops have been used for hundreds of years.
Your curtain has brass eyes on the top edge, each of these eyes fits over a pin on a pipe, and those pins face upstage, and are angled slightly upwards. There are usually 40 or so pins for a curtain stretching across a 40' opening, you can do less depending on the width of your curtain. A line attaches to the pipe at the SR or SL end, that line is on a 10 inch or so lever that faces upstage, and is attached to the end of the pipe. Pulling on the line will pull down the lever, which will tilt the entire pipe downwards, spilling the curtain off of its pins, at which time the curtain will fall completely evenly to the stage. A traditional finish for this is for a stagehand to then pull one end of the curtain off of the stage, into the wings. A kabuki drop, done well is simply beautiful. When that kabuki drop is a translucent silk, backlit, with the silhouette of the artist seen just before the drop, stage technology junkies have been known to weep openly! |
Chris Stolz Inner circle Mississauga, Ontario 1958 Posts |
If it's raised up on strings, why not just cut these?
Chris Stolz
BLACK ART BOOK: Hiding In The Shadows. |
silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
I guess you could cut them, but.........
Generally, when rigging an item in a venue, you don't release or play the item you're rigging by cutting the lines holding it up. Rigging should be designed to be repeatable, and cutting lines implies that you would have to replace them in their entirety before their next use, which may be only hours later. There are many ways, all of which have been around for decades, if not centuries, to accomplish lifting, releasing, dropping, moving, etc of fabric onstage that don't involve cutting the lines holding them up. |
mvmagic Inner circle Has written 1322 Posts |
If you want to invest a bit in equipment, you could get a system that uses electromagnets to drop the cloth. Very reliable, just flick the switch and down it goes.
Sent from my Typewriter
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raycrowe New user Australia 15 Posts |
I believe Living Illusions & Silver King are correct about using a Kabuki Method for your cloth drop.
It is an international theatre standard method (although designs vary), especially if you are to perform in a theatre. Here in Australia theatres are very big on what is acceptable to be hung on stage, safety and unions first. I guess it would be much the same all over. Raymond Crowe
"More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness." Chaplin
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
The problem with electromagnets is that you've got to run voltage, and wiring through your fabric.
With a kabuki, you just have a normal fabric drop, it's resets instantly, and nobody on the stage crew is going to argue about whether it's carpentry or electrics...or the worst case scenario, both at once! |
mvmagic Inner circle Has written 1322 Posts |
The units I have used have no wiring thru the fabric...its more or less a box with a clamp (and the clamp is insulated) that clamps the fabric. The boxes are connected to each other and all clamps release when you flick a switch. Perfectly fine and safe system. Check it out:
http://www.show-systems.de/e/2funktion.htm Its actually quite handy as it can be used on stages of varying sizes and the curtain doesn't have to be straight. There are of course electromechanical drop systems, like these: http://josephchansen.com/kabuki.html http://www.gofragoso.com/kabuki.html
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alekei Loyal user Dubai/Lisboa 245 Posts |
Thank you very much for the links, mvmagic.
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Jared Sherlock Loyal user Indiana 245 Posts |
Raycrowe,
I know this is a bit off topic, but are you the Raymond Crowe that performed the Billiard Manipulation act to the tengo music on Worlds Greatest Magic? If so your performance was excellent and a lot of fun to watch! Welcome to the Café! Jared |
raycrowe New user Australia 15 Posts |
Jared, yep that was me.
Cheers, Raymond Crowe
"More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness." Chaplin
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