Removable flooring

[Melonpool]

I've been toying with the idea of making a new puppet movie (Those of you unfamiliar with my old puppet movie, click here).

Anyway, unlike my previous endeavor, I'd like to build a puppet-friendly elevated set. I've seen in various documentaries stage hands on puppet shoots easily removing and replacing flooring, leaving a sturdy, yet seamless floor to work from.

Does anyone have any tips/plans on a good system for this type of flooring? I'm still pretty far away from ever producing this thing, but my mind's starting to wander down this path.

Steve

 

[Ryan]

I'm sorry I can't help you, but I just wanna say I LOVE your puppets. I've seen them before and they're absoultely beautiful. What did you use for the eyes for the puppet in your avatar?

That link for your video doesn't work, sadly

 

[Melonpool]

You know those plastic globes they use for outdoor lighting (sort of like the light part of the "Sesame Street" sign)? I used one of those and cut out the shape with a Dremel.

It comes in milky white, but I painted a flat white on the reverse side so that the pink fleece didn't show through. I cleaned up the edges by sticking a 1/8 inch wide strip of black stick on felt all around the outside edge. I glued it in place with contact cement.

On other puppets, I've used plastic transparent Christmas ornaments (3 inch diameter) painted in the same way and Black plastic easter eggs (you can get them at Halloween time.

More puppets can be seen here

 

[practicecactus]

Hey there,
I'm thinking something like Scafolding..(kinda hard to explain, but I'll give it a shot)
Made to your desired height
Maybe sets of the same size. So you can move them around to where you please, for your shots.Instead of making one big stage area, Which , of course you could also do.You'd just have to maybe make little hatches/trap doors.
Which would just be a matter of making a sturdy frame around the openning, and having a recessed lip the same depth as the width of the flooring (strong board) and then you could just place or remove the peice and nobody would be the wiser.
Hope that made sense.

 

[Jinx]

In think that "easily removing and replacing flooring" is a relative thing. Very often in can take hours to change out flooring sections, not only because of the set, but because of the lighting as well.

I would recommend a study of theatrical scene construction. I particularly like Bill Raoul's book entitled Stock Scenery Construction Handbook (ISBN 0-911747-23-0) as its all about building scenery to be used over and over. What might be of particular help would be a study of film sets (sadly I have no written resources). Very often movie sets are made in "pie wedges" so that a section can be removed for shots at one angle, then reassembled and reconfigured to shoot the other way. A friend of mine's father was director of photography on Star Trek V and he showed me a lot of pics of the bridge set of the Enterprise, and it was made this way.

I have the DVD of Law & Order's 14th season and Jerry Orbach (who is very much missed) gives a "backstage tour". Its great because their walls are built to "fly" out of the way for multiple set-ups.

But fundamentally you can learn all you need to know about elevated platforms from the above-mentioned book.

Best of luck!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Hi Steve,

I'm in the early stages of designing a massive scaled city block set for Bear Town complete with sidewalks, a road etc. all of which have to be "wild" so they can be moved in and out really quickly and grappling with some of the same challenges.

The better sets I've been on were designed with "trenches" for the puppeteers to work in with scenery pieces in between to help mask the puppeteers (I have no idea what these are actually called but I've referred to them as raised barriers). You can build covers for the trenches that can be removed and replaced as needed.

The key to doing this effectively I find is lots of planning. You have to really have your script storyboarded out and know more or less what shots are needed so the set can be planned accordingly. It also helps to have a small swing crew that can move set pieces in and out quickly. I also like everything built on wheels (that can be locked) to make moving and transporting sets quick and easy.

 

[Iokitek]

I really love the eyes on your puppets They inspire me to do something different too. Thanks for sharing the pics of those other puppets aswell. But I still like the melonpool puppet in your avatar the most.