Willow Creek Church’s production of Imagine where several T1100 snow machines were used.

Making the case for special effects

“Special effects can be overused and underused,” says  Jeremy Chernick, design associate with Jauchem & Meeh  Special Effects. He says common mistakes include big  effects in tiny theatres and pathetic cheap effects done in nice  theatres. “It’s important to find the balance and stay in tune with  the show.”

 

Recently a small production wanted a lightning bolt on stage.  “A realistic one would have been incredibly expensive,” Chernick  explains. “But take a reflective bolt-shaped prop wrapped in something like tin foil behind a scrim and flash a light on it and you have  your lighting bolt.”

Again, he advocates for a good fit: “I’ve seen shows where there’s  a giant amount of fog and smoke but the show itself is small and  gets overwhelmed. Blood, too, can be overdone or worse — telegraphed. But you can avoid these problems when you start at the  beginning and everyone in the room knows exactly what it’s going  to look like.”

In addition to Chernick, several other FX professionals weighed  in on how community theatres can bring the magic of special  effects to their production — the right way.

Makeup
One area of SFX that every community theatre has access to is  makeup. For Shrek the Musical makeup company Mehron worked  with the creative team to develop heavily pigmented makeup for  Shrek and the other characters, as well as using new materials to  develop prosthetics for the great green ogre. But makeup effects are  just as possible for community theatre as Broadway productions. In  our Answer Box article on page 28 Dana Nye of Ben Nye Makeup  gives a step-by-step guide to creating a realistic black-eye .

Confetti
“Probably the biggest myth about confetti in general is that  it’s difficult to clean up,” says Ronee Holmes of Flutter Fetti. “Our  confetti, called Flutter Fetti, is 7/8” wide by 2” long and is easily  vacuumed up.”

Most recently several productions of Beauty and the Beast used  their Airless Launchers filled with metallic Fetti strips with great  success. “These are 18-inch long tubes filled at each end with 6-inch  metallic streamers so you get two shots per tube. With a ‘flick of  the wrist’ the streamers fly out of the tubes between 25 to 30 feet  high into the air and slowly float downward, giving a twinkling star  effect.”

Care does need to be taken to use the correct launches for the  area you want covered. Too much or too little can look bad, but all  that needs to be done to avoid this error is to discuss the desired  effect and area when renting a confetti launcher.

Fog
“A common misconception is that foggers will clog unless you  maintain them by running a cleaning solutions through them,  and even then they will sometimes clog,” says Look Solution’s  Nathan Kahn. “Our fog and haze machines, such as the Viper NT  Fogger and the Unique2 Hazer, do not clog and do not require  any type of cleaning or regular maintenance.”

Another fallacy is that fog is not safe to breathe, but today  there is now hard data to support its safety. “Twenty years ago  there was only anecdotal evidence, and that caused plenty of  confusion.”

A challenge for small theatres using an inexpensive fogger  is that those foggers tend to have a thermostat that cuts off the  pump while the fogger is heating or reheating. “So a machine  may have been plugged in and hot for hours, but right when the  cue comes the temperature of the heater could drop below that  certain level, and then the heater comes on and you can't fog,  missing your cue,” Kahn says. The better foggers don’t have this  drawback and can always fog on cue.

Marnie Styles, vice president of Le Maitre Special Effects says  theatres that adhere to the suggested regular maintenance of  foggers have the most success with the equipment. She has  another word of caution: “Many users think all fluids are created  equal and will use cheap fluid” which is a mistake.

For those on the fence about using a fogger, she has these  words: “Determine if the fogger is a want to have or a need to  have in order to enhance the production it is being used for.”  Needlessly using one for the sake of using one can detract from  the production.

Snow
When going for a snow effect, an evaporative snow machine  that leaves no residue and needs no clean up is ideal, says Roy  Batson of SnowMasters. “In order to visualize the snow better  most people tend to ‘front’ light the effect when it is best displayed by back lighting.”

Snow can be done with great affect without busting a theatre’s budget, he says. “We have had many theatre productions  where they utilize the curtain effect’ when using snow. They don’t  concern themselves with the whole audience experiencing a  snowfall. They put snow machines on either side of the stage and  shoot towards the middle so when the audience is looking at the  stage it appears to be snowing all over.”

SnowMasters’s international manager Mike Giles says that  placing the machines at a proper height is key. Otherwise, he  advices to avoiding placing the machines at the wrong height and  making the snowflakes too large. “Also practice timing the snowfall effect to happen at the appropriate time of the event.”

Pyro: Don’t Try This At Home?
The challenges for a community theatre using pyrotechnics is in a sense boiled down to merely hiring a  professional and letting him or her do their job. “When  a professional comes in, they bring the right insurance,  obtain the correct permits, and can jump through all the  hoops,” says Advanced Entertainment Services president  Matt Dillingham. “And it’s not dangerous if a professional is  handling and it’s done correctly.”

What can open up a hornet’s nest of other problems is  the professional ensuring the environment is up to code.  Soft goods, fire extinguishers, electrical systems, etc., are  looked at. “These are all things that should be up to code  whether special effects are done or not,” Dillingham says.

“Unfortunately, some community theatres let these things  go.” So the “expense” is being forced to do things the theatre should be on top of anyway.

He does add that schools, churches, or non-profit organizations should ask if there are discounts available.

Strictly FX’s Ted Maccabee takes a harder line: “They  shouldn’t do pyro in community theatres,” he says. “It’s  expensive to do right, and it needs to be done by professionals so that amateurs don’t screw up, and then it’s on  CNN as ‘pyro tech runs amuck.’ Just because you can look it  up on Google doesn’t mean you should do it.”

He adds that fireworks can be faked with the use of CO2  jets and up lights with audio effects added. “Silk Flames are  an excellent and cheap way to fake propane effects.” 

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