Chalky White Substance
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Set Design and Construction
Forum Discription: Post your questions or suggestions about designing or building a set here.
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4797
Printed Date: 5/19/24 at 12:42pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Chalky White Substance
Posted By: tristanrobin
Subject: Chalky White Substance
Date Posted: 9/06/10 at 12:35pm
Has anybody done (or seen) a production of Tennessee Williams' "A Chalky White Substance?"
How did you deal with the chalky white substance in the air? I've though of using a lighting effect - but I do NOT want it to look like a disco ball reflection LOL.
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http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com
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Replies:
Posted By: Mr. Lowell
Date Posted: 9/20/10 at 11:04pm
I haven't done the show, but I would probably use my bag of artificial snowflakes. This stuff was apparently made by grinding up plastic bags...so most of the flakes are about the size of Corn Flakes cereal...only white and very lightweight.
But I think the key to making this stuff appear to be falling ash from a nuclear Winter would be to have flakes fall individually over a wide area of the stage throughout the entire one-act. This would be very tricky to get it to look like "ash" not "snow".
And of course, this technique would depend on whether you are in a stage or black box that had a grid accessible to crew or not. Because it seems like the only way to release the flakes extremely slowly and intermittently would be to have a half-dozen hidden stagehands do it manually.
Thanks for the intriguing question. That would be a cool scenario to design one day....
-Dana
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Mr. Lowell,
Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director,
for the Linda Sloan Theatre,
in the Davison Center for the Arts,
at Greensboro Day School
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Posted By: bmiller025
Date Posted: 9/21/10 at 10:19am
I think using a hazer in a space with very low air circulation, releasing the haze (as high as possible) above the stage, lighting it from above, and making it stand out against a relatively dark set, would give you a good start. I also think Dana's idea of individually falling flakes would also add to the drama of the effect. A word of caution though- falling snowflakes will look exactly like falling snowflakes if there are too many of them. You need to be careful to not let the effect upstage the action onstage. Make the effect as subtle as you can.
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http://www.brianmiller.biz/BrianDesign.htm
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Posted By: Mr. Lowell
Date Posted: 9/22/10 at 8:26am
Yes, I might use my hazer for a show like this too. However in my theatre and black box there are very sensitive smoke alarms that will go off when I use a hazer or smoke machine. Maybe Tristan's theatre doesn't have that problem.
By the way, there was a crappy volcano movie with Tommy Lee Jones where they used wind machines to blow tons of powdered mashed potato flakes all over the town to mimic volcano ash. You could try this...but to paraphrase Gremlins..."Don't get it wet!"
Tristan, please let us know what you ultimately come up with....
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Mr. Lowell,
Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director,
for the Linda Sloan Theatre,
in the Davison Center for the Arts,
at Greensboro Day School
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