Giant Book set design

Fri, 6 Aug 2010, 09:02 am

flangelap12 posts in thread

Hi. My name is Jason Bancroft and i am a Drama Teacher in Western Australia. For our next production, i would like to make the set a giant book measuring 3m tall with pages 4m wide. Each page could then be turned (on casters) to set the next scene providing a total of 4 scenes comprising of 3 pages and a front and back cover. Visually, i can see what i want but our maintainence team at the school are having difficulties coming up with a construction solution. We are able to bolt the spine of the book to a brick wall but are unsure how to create braced pages that are light enough to move. Anyone who could offer any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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flangelapFri, 6 Aug 2010, 09:02 am

SkybeFri, 6 Aug 2010, 09:17 am

thoughts...

I think one of the groups in the hills recently put on Into The Woods. I remember reading that the set was amazing. Possibly do a search and see who it was that put the show on. Its a start...

Walter PlingeFri, 6 Aug 2010, 10:05 am

It was Roleystone.

LogosFri, 6 Aug 2010, 11:54 am

Did this once

I had one page 3.6 metres tall and 4.8 metres long. We built it out of 4 individual flats. Each flat had 2 castors on the bottom and a long piece of timber was screwed the full length of the page, the bottom piece was 42ml square and the top length was 42 x 19. It was moved by one person only and worked quite well. I've been looking to see if I could find any photo's but drew a blank. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au

Paul TreasureFri, 6 Aug 2010, 03:26 pm

Individual books

Into the Woods was Roleystone We had large books plural, not one huge book singular. Was involved in a production of Robinson Crusoe (panto version) that did use the book idea As Logos suggested, use flats. Canvas covered are better as they are lighter Although you could easily enough build a framework and just cover with the canvas Remember the ligther the better Each page would neeed to have a certain thickness, but the audience will forgive that because it is a speccy effect Another tip, don't just put a caster on the end of the page, put one or two down the length as well so that one caster isn't supporting the whole weight Learnt that one the hard way! :-)

Walter PlingeFri, 6 Aug 2010, 04:54 pm

book sets

Curtin university Hayman theatre panto end of 2009 did three different books which transformed into several different sets. They may still have them. Worth making contact.

David AshtonFri, 6 Aug 2010, 05:36 pm

I made one for St Marks,

I made one for St Marks, many years ago, the mechanism is a round plate which rotates and spigots around the plate which the flats sit on, so the flats rotate on the spigots and the whole disc rotates to cater for the "pages" going from one side to the other.It's easier with flats made of steel tube.

JoeMcSat, 7 Aug 2010, 10:17 am

As suggested broadway

As suggested broadway [soft] flats are the way to go & skinned on both sides, using unbleached calico rather than canvas, as it's cheaper & lighter.

http://theatre.sjsu.edu/~culley/PartsFlat.html Or just use 2 flats back to back, which may be easier & more stable.

If you have a flush smooth stage deck rather than use castors, because of the 4m wide you could use strips of old pyle carpet, fixed to the underside of the flats bottom rail with the carpet pyle face down onto the deck. You will find this is a more stable method of paging the flats.

Also utalise a 'ledger' timber on the flats, as suggested by Logos,especialy if each page is made up of more than one flat, also use a 'dutchman' masking to cover the flats jionts & in view edges of the page flats. This can be strips of calico painted on with the base colour paint, rather than masking sticky tape which will crinckle with any movement.
You could think about using Cortec Scenery which may help with you being a school, cardboard could be a good option for skinning the booked pages.

JoeMcWed, 11 Aug 2010, 10:18 am

Davids rotating spigot

Davids rotating spigot plate would work well, with the booked pages. But I would suggest on the booked spine using these type of hindges ;- http://www.doughty-engineering.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_T61700

You can produce them easily yourselves utalising ordinary butt hidges, grinding off thier hindge pin & bending up a suitable rod.

flangelapFri, 13 Aug 2010, 09:05 am

SOLUTION: Giant Book Set Design

Thanks to all those who made comments. We have considered many of the possible solutions but have decided on using the corrugated cardboard. This has opened my eyes up to so many more possibilities - what else can i make from this cardboard? Mmmm .... i can't wait to start trying. Thanks again for your help.

David AshtonFri, 13 Aug 2010, 12:27 pm

Is your corrugated

Is your corrugated cardboard fire retarted?, it needs to be to comply with regulations in public buildings.

JoeMcSat, 14 Aug 2010, 08:36 am

Good piont Savid!In WA

Good piont david!
In WA schools I believe it still is the policy of the Education Department not to install fire extinguishers in class rooms, as they prefer that teachers do not atempt to become fire fighters & only supervise fire evactuations.
Application of Fire retardants is covered by George Pettit within section 3 of his free download on his Cortec site. Also he did make reference, on another site, to testing fire retardant cardboard against that of flame retardent Luan covered flats & the cortec stood up better to direct contact with open flame.
But in all cases it would be advisable to check with your local Fire Authority first.

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