Trap Door Question

may i ask y u need to know all this??

1. no idea
2. google it
3. ummm y? and i would imagine it would be difficult because there has to be an area under them to go to
4. some do i'm sure
5. well in all the stage trapdoors i've been through there's either a ladder in a room with stairs that go to backstage, an elevator that u stand on, also with the stairs to backstage, or a pit of foam squares to land in, with a small tunell at the bottom to crawl through, to backstage

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Hey pants, the word is why, not y.

It's a message board, not AIM.

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you did nothing wrong . . . i personally don't know too much about trapdoors so I can't help you out, but good luck finding the info.!

Thank you.

Thanks - yes that helps. I am looking for information on an elevator type trap door, however. I should have been more specific in my original post. Sorry.

I've used a mechanical trap door. It was a bitch to build and thankfully I only tested it, I didn't have to operate it.

It worked very much life fly railes - with a countewrweight system.

The drawback is getting it to move at a constant speed.

yes, much like onstage flying, trap doors and the like should only be constructed and operated by a trained prefoessional.

Elevator type traps in professional productions are always custom designed and custom made for the specific production with numerous safety elements built in to ensure the actor's safety. They are extremely dangerous and many accidents have occured even with the safety precautions in place.

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Thespinoy - Usually accidents with onstage elevators happen when there is either a blackout or it is dark. Onstage elevators go very slowly and are safe for the most part. For example, Idina fell because she could not see that the trap door had already gone down partially. It was dark behind the curtain. If it had been light, she probably wouldn't have fallen. However, sometimes costume pieces can get stuck in the trap door, causing someone to fall.

I'm sure my friend will take any safety precautions neccesary to make sure the actors are safe (if he actually builds one). I'm surprised he's willing to invest in one. They're very expensive.

Does anyone know of the price range of an elevator trap door? I'm curious. I think he's considering using a lift table, but I'm not sure.

I've always wondered about this same question, so I've really enjoyed reading this thread. The Blue room link lead to a link of a flash animation explanation of the National Theater's drum revolve. FASCINATING. I had read a description of it in regards to His Dark Materials, but I never really understood how it worked. Actually, after watching the flash animation explanation of it, I'm only more curious as to the ins and outs of it.

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http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=8052

Click where it says, "The complex workings of the drum are clearly explained in this flash animation of the drum revolve.
[Macromedia Flash Player is required to view this (96k) file.]"

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