Eastor Lighting/Special Effects

[adamw]

We are doing a life of Christ Easter performance it is A Choral performance with multiple songs starting with Birth to Death and at the death scence we would like to have Jesus assecnd into heaven the autorium we are useing does not per say have any fly space basically what i would like to have is some ideas on lighting and raising Jesus into heaven

[Steve Vanciel]

Originally Posted by adamw

... we would like to have Jesus assecnd into heaven... the autorium we are useing does not per say have any fly space...
some ideas on raising Jesus into heaven

To lift any living person in the air it is essential, imperative, absolutly non-negotiable to have a fully qualified theatrical flying expert involved from the beginning to the end. The evaluation of rigging points, the selection of appropriate hardware and the training of all concerned is not a D.Y.I. project.
Flying by Foy, D2 Flying, ZFX Flying, and Hall Associates are nationally recognized experts. Google "performer flying" for links.

Delbert Hall of D2 Flying is in Tennesee and works with many churches and schools.

Otherwise, there are other theatrical tricks that might substitue for flying a living person. Smoke and mirrors sorts of things that would let you raise an inanimate standin for the live person to convey the idea without the risk.

SteveV
Orlando, FL

[waynehoskins]

No question, the companies Steve named are The Ones (though in my memory I think there's a fifth company, but no clue who) -- they do Peter Pan flying, etc. If you must fly a person, they are the only ones who can do it safely. They also cost money, and for a single Easter effect that's not a lot of bang for the buck.

An alternative that comes to mind, taking Steve's idea, would be to abstract it even more. Rather than a dummy, could you have a prop that's metaphorical -- say a styrofoam cross -- that flies out, or even something smaller? With a couple of moving lights like Trackspots and some haze, you could do a pretty good job. Or even going simplistic, just a fogger and ground-mounted Tracks, no prop or actor? Give the fogger a decent hit, do a flyup with the Tracks, and then fade out when they get high. Simple, safe, and reasonably easy to do.

[adamw]

Any good ideas on colors/looks to use

I Was thinking Cyc light with some leckos it worked for our last show(Once on this island) RAB look any other looks ideas i have pics from the last show
Just want some ideas i have access to a good size light rig but i want this to be good not a overload

[Esoteric]

Do you have access to a trap area? We did it once by lowering the person and using fog and moving lights flying out to create the effect.

Mike

[adamw]

We have one we used for dracula and a trap door on the front of the stage any ideas how to do it w/o movers we have a par fres lecko rig ETC Express Console

[snlgraham]

I have done something like this with a scanner, a trap door and a fogger. The effect will be more abstract than actually flying someone buts still very effective and can be quite moving. If you can spare 8 channels of dmx then a single scanner would be perfect. Scanners are more cost effective, more discrete than regular movers and your local light rental shop should have them. The last one I used was an AccuScan 250 and cost about $40 a week. Make sure to use a high capacity pro level stage fogger so you can put out alot of fog at once and with highspeed.

[Esoteric]

You could do it with 4 pars mounted in the trap pointing up with the fog.

Mike

[adamw]

Originally Posted by snlgraham

I have done something like this with a scanner, a trap door and a fogger. The effect will be more abstract than actually flying someone buts still very effective and can be quite moving. If you can spare 8 channels of dmx then a single scanner would be perfect. Scanners are more cost effective, more discrete than regular movers and your local light rental shop should have them. The last one I used was an AccuScan 250 and cost about $40 a week. Make sure to use a high capacity pro level stage fogger so you can put out alot of fog at once and with highspeed.

How exacatly woud you do this

[snlgraham]

Mostly it takes lots of experimentation to find what will fit with your situation, but here is what I did.
The scanner was on a light stand that was just behind an 8ft flat. This flat was just behind and upstage of the trap door. The scanner was rigged so that it's mirror was poking out directly above the flat. Then the fogger was on the floor and 6ft to the side of the trap door and aimed right at it. The tardoor opened upward and the fogger was on the hinge side of the trapdoor so that when it was opened the fog stream would hit it and be deflected upward.
Then I chose a setting on the scanner that was a color wheel spin with a gobo shake and programed that under a single memory channel. I also programed a setting that was a gobo spin with a shutter strobe on another memory channel. Then I would toggle between the bump buttons of the two memory channels. It took some rehearsing with the actor and timming with the music to get the effect right.
I could see how having the light come from inside the trapdoor would also be very effective. However, if you want to use the light in any other way it needs to be on the top side of the door.

Shawn