need 2 build moveable tree - help!
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Topic: need 2 build moveable tree - help!
Posted By: Jim_L
Subject: need 2 build moveable tree - help!
Date Posted: 2/10/09 at 5:21pm
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My son's high school is doing South Pacific and the director wants a tree that one of the actors will be hanging upside down on a branch from. The tree needs to be on wheels. Anyone ever built something like this? I'm figuring something with a 4 foot base tapering upwards to about 15' feet tall with bare minimum of branches.
I need ideas please as i'll probably be the one building it. Money is an object as we'll need to be very stingy on cost but safety is of the utmost importance! Thanks, -Jim ------------- 
http://home.comcast.net/~castle.walls/tavern/ |
Replies:
Posted By: Kathy S
Date Posted: 2/12/09 at 1:09am
| I wonder if this could be faked by building a great looking tree and then placing it in front of a horizontal bar that the actor could hang from -- for example, the branch would be directly in front of the horizontal bar that is suspended from above maybe and the actor hangs from his knees? If the tree, the bar and the actor are positioned right it might look ok. Sounds dangerous, tho. |
Posted By: vickifrank
Date Posted: 2/12/09 at 10:15am
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Can there be multiple 'trees'. Perhaps the bar is a branch that heads out from one tree toward the other, all hidden by folliage. So what you are then building is a structure like a child's swing set but with the trunks of the trees hiding the uprights of the set. ------------- _____________ http://www.studio-productions-inc.com 1-800-359-2964 The theater scrim people |
Posted By: Jim_L
Date Posted: 2/12/09 at 3:58pm
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Well, with my brief meeting with the drama teacher, he said he wanted a large moveable tree that a kid will hang upside down from while directing a song. This is for South Pacific (which I haven't seen) so i'm not sure exactly what he has in mind but knowing him, he'll want a tree on wheels that can be moved and turned so as to 'create' a different 'tree' for different scenes. So my first thought is building a typical wood frame covered in chicken wire/expandable spray foam and scaping the bark into the foam and then paint. The only other thing I can think of is that the bse will have to be pretty wide so the tree won't fall over. The kid would have to be hanging pretty close to the trunk to keep the center of gravity stable.
It's also a small stage (pictures of it are on my website of the Tavern production) and there's no room to contain/hide a large object so again, the tree will be 'altered' by turning it and moving it around the stage for different scenes. -------------
http://home.comcast.net/~castle.walls/tavern/ |
Posted By: KEB54
Date Posted: 2/12/09 at 4:54pm
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That sounds like a bad accident waiting to happen -- a kid hanging from a tree on a movable platform? As the others suggested, it could be two trees where the branches cross to give it a good base, or it has to be anchored in some way.
How about something coming from offstage like a large branch (or several large branches) that he could hang from. Like the tree is off stage.
Anyway, when I think of South Pacific I think of palm tress -- no branches. If you had an angled palm he could sort of hang from i. It could be attached to the proscenium for support. Have it mirrored on the other side, and leave them in place during the entire show framing the stage.
Another though is that these are navy guys (it is probably during "There Ain't Nothing Like A Dame") goofing around on a beach/base. Instead of a tree it could be some kind of equipment. Maybe the frame of a tent, or a jack to pull the engine out of a truck, or a large sign, something mainly and military. Give it some thought. Then, unlike a tree, it could be wheeled around during the number.
------------- KEB |
Posted By: vickifrank
Date Posted: 2/12/09 at 5:02pm
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OK, have you seen the type of swingsets/playsets that look like a boxy fort in the center with the two by fours that extend out from the top to hold a swing or bar? If you did something like that you might be able to mount it to a wagon that you turn. The tree trunk would need to be thick to cover the fort structure--which is needed to keep the bar stable. You would also need to bolt it to the wagon.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to imagine for a second that the sides of your roughly square tree trunk are 2' x 6' platforms that you built, but you happen to use 6' -2x4s even on the 2' sides instead of 2'-2x4s These extra long pieces are going to overhang the platform and are going to be your bar ('branches') and also your anchor ('roots') to your moving wagon. You create two sides of your tree this way.
The other two sides of your tree trunk are plywood pieces cut 2'x6' with a notch cut out to accomodate the 2x4 'branches' that are going to jut through. You also need 2'-2x4 connectors on the top and bottom, to connect the front and back sides of the tree. Now you have a tower that is 2'x2'x6' with two 'branches' hanging out and two 'roots' on the floor. The plywood on four sides of this structure is important to make it very strong, and impossible to torque, so don't just make the structure, cover it in plywood!! Now anchor the 'roots' and the base of the tower by bolting it to the wagon.
Test carefully and err on the side of safety, before use to make sure that all is sturdy and not possible to topple. Also check the wood to make sure it won't split under load. If needed attach to a bigger wagon to counterweight the kid's movements. This should work, but it is a suggestion offered in good faith, not warranted--So make sure you would be comfortable with it because somebody's kid is hanging upsidedown. If at all possible make this yourself, don't let kids take over this construction. Also make sure that only softgoods decorate the area under the kid.
Now you can cover it with chicken wire, rug pieces etc.. and paint it to be tree like.
If the wheels of the wagon make it unstable, consider having the wagon platform on sliders or rug sections instead of wheels, or use lower wheels. ------------- _____________ http://www.studio-productions-inc.com 1-800-359-2964 The theater scrim people |
Posted By: KEB54
Date Posted: 2/12/09 at 5:11pm
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I just looked at your website. Nice. Are you one of the Girards? If you are, I bet you figure it out.
It looks like an auditorium situation, that is, no nailing into the floors, right?
After looking at it I'd consider the two palm trees acting as the proscenium. Anchor them right off stage and run a couple cables near the tops. Maybe there is a trapeze-like swing hanging from one of them that he can hang from.
Good luck! ------------- KEB |
Posted By: Jim_L
Date Posted: 2/14/09 at 8:47am
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No, I'm not a Girard, I was taking all the pics...;>)
I did help build the set though...
Auditorium yes, no drilling into the already much abused stage. I'm going to talk more with the drama teacher next week about the tree. It just might be a thought in his mind at this point - a hopeful whim, I don't know.
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http://home.comcast.net/~castle.walls/tavern/ |