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  • 1.  Paint Persuasion

    Posted 04-12-2022 14:55
    I need to convince my school to let us paint the stage floor black. It is the most awful glossy honey wood from apron to back wall.

    So far my best argument is that black will keep light from bouncing into students eyes. Any technical arguments or articles would be greatly appreciated!

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    Sarah Warren
    Bayside Intermediate
    TX
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  • 2.  RE: Paint Persuasion

    Posted 04-13-2022 08:55
    Hey,

    I've been trying to convince my superintendent as well. Unfortunately mine won't agree to anything. However, I have some pretty good arguments.

    My biggest argument is that it can save you money and increase ticket sales. Most theaters have black floors because it makes set design simple and easy to clean up. Instead of covering the floors using flooring, wood, or carpet (which actors notoriously trip on), you can paint a set on. This also increases the amount of things you can do with your set and the shows you can produce.

    It makes the theatre program feel more professional and high end, both because that's what professional theaters do and because it looks cleaner, which can increase ticket sales because the shows are taken more seriously.

    You use layers of thinned paint, which is a lot cheaper than getting the floors refinished, and it's something that you and the kids could do yourselves. Overall, it's a small price to pay for a better look.

    I hope this helps!

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    Penny Cook
    Theatre Teacher
    Corinth High School
    MS
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Paint Persuasion

    Posted 04-13-2022 09:34
    In our old space (we just went through a HS renovation) - we installed a floating floor with 4x8 panels installed on top of the glossy stage floor, taped together, etc.  Because we covered the whole surface into the wings - it did not move at all.    But this allowed us to paint the floor for our production  - and after each show, we painted it back to black for the music dept concerts, etc.

    But when we did Oz, we could paint the yellow brick road right onto that surface.  For Little Shop, we painted a black and white checkerboard to look like floor tiles.   Beige for Aida. 

    If you admin balks at painting directly onto the glossy, this might be an option to consider.  It involves a bit more of an investment than gallons of paint, but it is a long-term solution that allows a lot of flexibility.





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  • 4.  RE: Paint Persuasion

    Posted 04-13-2022 10:32
    We raised this question years ago and finally got approval by raising the safety issue. At the time, our Technical Director was the head of the safety committee at our HS. They took it to the safety committee first. We talked about the finish making the surface a slipping, and therefore personal injury, issue for actors and dancers. A waxed or varnished finish will cause actors and dancers to slip. If there is a glare this is probably the case. Using rosin on each student's shoes is costly, has to be repeatedly re-applied and will ultimately damage the finish and does not guarantee a student will not slip. Mopping with a soda/water mix to make the stage sticky and keep actors from slipping will not work if the finish is water resistant.
    There may have been other safety issues raised, but the risk of personal injury was key.

    Jill Campbell
    ARTsmART Enrichment Arts/Gifted Support
    Director State High Thespian Troupe 5029
    PA Thespian Chapter Board
    jkc11@scasd.org
    814-231- 1011 ext. 4114




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  • 5.  RE: Paint Persuasion

    Posted 04-13-2022 15:15
    The idea of a dark floor is simple.  Human eyes are drawn to look at the brightest object in the field of vision.  If the floor is the bright object, then the audience will subconsciously be drawn to look towards the floor. Performer's and directors much prefer that the object of the audience's attention is the performer.  As an administrator presenting, do they  want the audience looking at their feet or their face?  This is also why there are typically black side masking and overhead border drapes -- to help keep the audience's attention on the show, not on the periphery of the stage.

    The problem with light colored shiny floors is that in order to put more light on the performer while NOT placing light on the floor to reflect back upon to the scenery, the light would have to come from dead-on in front of the performer.  This does not work well because this casts shadows of the performers onto the upstage wall / scenery, AND it blinds the performers, which is both dangerous and disconnects the performer from the audience so they can't 'read' the audience's reactions.

    Satin finish black floors are the default for most theatres - this is the norm.  If and when the floor look and texture need to enhance the presentation (for example: the yellow brick road in 'The Wizard of Oz'), then placing a ground cloth down and painting the floor scenery upon that is the best solution, as the drop can easily be removed after the show without having to repaint the floor.  Floor scenery is usually painted with matte colors so the stage lights don't reflect strongly off of the floor.  Repainting floors is time consuming. material intensive, and requires a week of down-time for the stage.  Frequent repainting also makes layers of paint build-up until the floor gets spongy, and the layer-to-layer adhesion of the paint begins to fail so when spike tape is removed large sections of the painted floor can pull-up with it.

    If a (dance) show wants a shiny floor, they can easily rent or buy some roll-out dance flooring material to meet their aesthetic needs.

    All this said, the existing "awful glossy honey wood" is typically a pine or maple tongue-in-groove 'basketball' type floor (I could be wrong), and these types of floors are high maintenance for the school district.  With age they can begin to splinter, which is a hazard to both performers and technicians; and the floor typically shows dents, divots, and scratches very easily.

    Consideration should be given to adding a 1/4" layer of ANSI 135.4, Class 1 tempered hardboard (www.stimsonlumber.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ANSI-Standard-A135-4-Basic_HB-2012-FINAL.pdf) over the existing wood floor to act as a sacrificial layer.  (note: you have to special order ANSI 135.4, Class 1 tempered hardboard as no one stocks it, and places like Lowes or Home Depot have no idea what this is nor will they provided it).  The material can be  secured to the floor with 3M VHB double-sided 'hurricane' tape so it doesn't move, and this does not require driving any staples, nails, or screws to attach it.

    The floor (either the existing floor or the tempered hardboard floor) should be prepped and painted with a 2-part epoxy paint for durability (minimum maintenance).  Sherwin Williams B70-8160 with the associated hardener, in a SW2936 Black Emerald is a good solution (2-coats recommended).  An alternative is Benjamin Moore V410.80 with the V410.90 hardener.  ALWAYS let the floor cure for a full 7 days before ANY traffic is on it.

    For the long-term health of your floor, keep it clean (for safety), when damp mopping it add about 25-50% hydrogen peroxide to sanitize against the sweat and skin droppings from actors and dancers.  Always clean-up and dry puddles of any type liquid.  If it is left standing on the floor it can weaken the paint seal and penetrate the wood and reduce the life of the floor.  Teach people to pick up objects when they are moving them.  Dragging stuff across the floor is hard on the finish, even if it just a few inches.  Castered carts and dollies are your friend!

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    Erich Friend
    Theatre Consultant
    Teqniqal Systems LLC
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Paint Persuasion

    Posted 04-14-2022 09:14
    I don't know if it would help, but do you know what your outside users might want?

    When I took over my school, we had the bright, gym floor stage surface (and reflective silver teasers and wings!) The curtains were replaced about a year after I arrived and I managed to talk them into Blacks. Whew! Then I tried to convince them to paint the floor black. Heels dug in immediately. They had spent a lot of money on that floor. They spent a lot of money keeping it up. Why wasn't I grateful for all they were spending on my program? Sigh. Anyway, my theatre was the main performance venue for the local ballet and the city band. The school was having conversations with those folks about what might make the space better for them and both asked if there was any way that the stage could be painted black. Poof! The stage was black by the next September. They couldn't listen to the guy with two degrees in Theatre and a couple of decades of experience, but if the local ballet master wanted it, it must be right. I couldn't decide whether to cry or laugh. I went with laughter and thanked the ballet and band for their support. :-)
    ​

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    Robert Smith
    VA Co-Chapter Director
    Virginia Thespians
    Centreville VA
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Paint Persuasion

    Posted 04-15-2022 08:47
    Robert, I couldn't echo this sentiment fast enough. I'm going on 36 years of having used every theater in town in that time, but when it came time for our county to build a theater at our school, they brought in every TD from those theaters to give their advice one afternoon. Turns out, everyone of them said, "You've got a guy with 30 years of experience here, why don't you ask him?" They told them they wanted to get another opinion. They said the exact same things I had been telling them for the past year of planning! That was almost six years ago, and now they're building another theater at a crosstown public high school and the principal of that school refused my input after 3 email offers to help. They're making the same mistakes with that space as they did with ours and are looking at headaches for years to come. Add to that the fact that our town was hit by a category 5 Hurricane Michael four years ago and those other theaters still haven't been rebuilt and you have two more theaters in town that are essentially useless to outside tour group use because they didn't listen again. Ugh.

    Bruce Taws
    Mosley High School Drama Director

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