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  • 1.  shooting Edward out of canon in Big Fish

    Posted 02-25-2019 18:05
    How did you manage to pull off shooting Edward out of a canon in Big Fish??

    Thank you!
    Arden

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    Arden Thomas
    Sequoyah High School
    Pasadena CA
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  • 2.  RE: shooting Edward out of canon in Big Fish

    Posted 02-26-2019 07:29
    We have not produced this show, but in just brainstorming-- I would probably use a double and or produce the effect as a shadow play or animated projection.  Hope that helps.

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    Michael Johnson
    Trinity NC
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: shooting Edward out of canon in Big Fish

    Posted 02-27-2019 09:06

    We used two actors.  One who got in the cannon we made and the other in the balcony.  With a big cloud of smoke and a change of lights the cannon went off and the actor in the balcony stood up and said, Ta Da.  It worked really well.

     

    Break a leg and may all your theatre seats be filled.

     

    Kelly M. Thomas

    Department of Theatre

    Dr. Ralph H. Poteet High School

    3300 Poteet Drive

    Mesquite, Texas 75150

    972-882-5300

    Kthomas@mesquiteisd.org

     

     




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: shooting Edward out of canon in Big Fish

    Posted 02-26-2019 07:50
    I used a series of projections from a short throw projector onto the cyc. Edward "climbed" into the cannon getting out of sight of the audience and then the bang was followed by the images showing Edward making progress traveling the distance of the stage. Obviously the audience knew they were projections, but it worked in this show. Edward "landed" by coming from behind the Auburn sign that was rolled on the stage.

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    Ann Hileman
    Indiana Executive Board
    Maconaquah High School
    Bunker Hill, IN
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: shooting Edward out of canon in Big Fish

    Posted 02-26-2019 08:41
    We are working on this show right now too. We made a cannon using sonotube on a wagon. The upstage side of it is cut away so Edward can get out of it easily. It gets pushed on so the very end of it is covered by drapery. We also turned the cannon towards the upstage corner of the stage. I have to continue to troubleshoot this to get the exactly look I want.

    Two boys load Edward in feet first with his head facing up. The actor playing Amos steadies the cannon as they do this this. Edward slides down the sonotube and his is able to exit from the side of the cannon and move to his next position behind the Auburn sign. 

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  • 6.  RE: shooting Edward out of canon in Big Fish

    Posted 02-26-2019 09:03
    Hello,

    I am not sure what we did was the best answer, but here's what we did:  we had a plywood cut-out of a cannon and had Edward, wearing a helmet, crouch behind it and run offstage with a cannon shot sound effect and a black out.  Then we had him throw himself on from the opposite side he exited on and fall in a heap on the stage when the lights came back up.  Just remember he's telling this as he remembers it, so it can be somewhat comical.

    Good luck,

    Ken Robinson

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    Kenneth Robinson
    Drama Club Sponsor
    Wapahani High School
    Selma IN
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: shooting Edward out of canon in Big Fish

    Posted 02-26-2019 21:07

    Like many others, we built a canon out of sonotube.  It came on SL, and he climbed in on stage, then slid down to the end, which was off stage.  When they got to "boom!" in "Closer to Her," we had several circus characters who were down stage and they all "followed" Edward's trajectory from SL to SR (that was a LOT of practice, getting them to all be looking in the same place and moving at the same pace!).  Then, when it was time for him to drop, we dropped a dummy from one of our battens.

    We actually made "Ricardo," a life size dolt that made and dressed like our Edward.  Our TD figured out how to rig it so that he was flown with a carabiner and a quick release knot of some kind, so when it was time our technicians pulled on the rope that was holding him and he fell.  Edward had already crawled behind the set (under a platform to protect him from the falling Ricardo) and he popped up behind the platform after Ricardo fell.  It was pretty simple, and Ricardo looks ridiculous up close, but from a distance it worked really well.



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    Laura Steenson
    Theatre Director
    Reynolds High School
    Troutdale OR
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    Original Message


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