Open Forum

Hello! I have been reading past posts on creating snow onstage, and I have a follow-up question.

Does anyone have experience using a small retail snow machine?  I have been looking at a lot of options in the $100 range to create a brief (5 minute max) snow effect on my small stage. I am avoiding physical snow that needs to be cleaned up, so I was planning to use ultra-dry indoor snow fluid, which it seems won't set off smoke alarms. I am not endorsing this one, but it is a sample of the size/type I am researching: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010B2ETJO/

If anyone has experience with a similar machine, I would love to know your thoughts!

Thank you,
Laura

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Laura Butchy
BASIS Independent McLean
VA
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We used a machine similar to this for our last scene in A Christmas Carol and it worked great! It does leave a little bit of the soap on the floor until it dries, but it dries fine. We used it in our very last scene, so actors can out and did bows afterward and we had no slipping problems. I did mop the stage each night after the show just to make sure we didn't accumulate the dried solution and cause problems.

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Megan Liggett
Theater Director
Rifle High School
CO
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You'll want to mop up the residue using plenty of HOT, clean water and a clean mop. It's soapy and slippery, so chirograph/block around it. Best option is to have it over the pit area if you don't have a band, or just US of the pit if you do. 

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Kristi Ross-Clausen
Safety Maven/Consultant
IATSE 470/Actors Equity Member
Alliance for Wisconsin Theatre Education
Association for Quality in AV Board
AVIXA/USITT
Teacher, Author, Speaker
www.theaterhealthandsafety.com
Appleton, WI
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Hi there.  You should be aware that snow machines (with the exception of VERY expensive ones used primarily in motion picture production) are quite noisy.  You might be better with a simple snow box shaken overhead.  Much less noise!

kdl

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Kirk Longhofer
Theatrical Sound Design, Audio Production, Editing and Engineering
Systems Design and Consultation
www.technopraxis.org
kirk@technoprasix.org
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Have you thought about a snow cradle or pvc pipe and dried instant potato flakes?  Only downside is... must vacuum after each performance.  

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Michael Johnson, MA
Retired
Trinity High School
Trinity, NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-25-2024 13:15
From: Kirk Longhofer
Subject: Simple snow machine

Hi there.  You should be aware that snow machines (with the exception of VERY expensive ones used primarily in motion picture production) are quite noisy.  You might be better with a simple snow box shaken overhead.  Much less noise!

kdl

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Kirk Longhofer
Theatrical Sound Design, Audio Production, Editing and Engineering
Systems Design and Consultation
www.technopraxis.org
kirk@technoprasix.org
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Thank you all! 

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Laura Butchy
BASIS Independent McLean
VA
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