Blizzard

[paradoxism]

Can anyone save me a great deal of experimentation time? I need to create a forceful blizzard on a proscenium stage for a production in the new year, and I was wondering if anyone has achieved a similar effect in the past and could help me out.

 

The stage management team are dead set against any sort of practical effect (so snow / blizzard machines are out) but I have considered the following options so far:

 

1) Fans mounted in the ceiling all pointing across the stage and then introducing smoke into the airstream

2) Mirrorball mounted FOH with a reasonably fast rotational speed and a 1k/2k profile focused on it to get streaking spots/lines across the stage

3) Animation discs - can anyone suggest good combos of static gobo / disc / speed to get a good result?

4) May possibly have a video projector across the whole of the stage in which case adding an animation of sleet/blizzard might be an option

 

Suggestions / comments anyone?

 

The set for the production is kind of 2D comic book / popup book looking affair and so anything in that kind of style would be fine to consider too.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Paul

[tivoliproduction]

I have seen a strobe used on a mirrorball a few times before which semed to work really well (make sure you still put signs uo for h&s of the audience!!) ;)

[mac.calder]

Fan and smoke + a breakup/animation gobo. I would just bang a hole in some tin - the worlds most versatile (and cheap) gobo, or just a rotating breakup. I agree that strobing would add to the effect, but I think a relatively slow strobe of a normal lantern would be fine - just make sure you warm it up well before 'strobing' it€ - or flicker it.