Re: Lightweight Theater walls

WilliamMLovell@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:

> Background:
> Here is what I need:
> - The walls must be 12 feet high
> - They must be lightweight
> - They must be easy to setup and teardown and move to storage
> - The walls should not warp while stored.
> - The walls will be decorated will various things like paint, foam etc
> as needed.

Sounds like as good a description of a standard theatrical flat as I've 
seen.

> Here are my current thoughts:
> - I am thinking of building walls in 12 feet by 4 feet sections. This
> is a manageable size and materials are often sold in 4 by 4 or 8 by 4
> foot sections so 12 by 4 should be easy to construct.
> - I plan to join wall sections together so each section should easily
> attach to neighboring sections.
> - I am thinking of some sort of panel material attached to a frame.

So far so good, nothing unusual there.

> The Frame
> I think I have found satisfactory frame materials. Since wood tends to
> warp, I am thinking of angle aluminum or "slotted" angle steel.
> Slotted steel has many holes predrilled in it so it is quite light and
> can be easily bolted to the neighboring sections.

This is where we'll differ. I can't speak for the others here but I 
personally use wooden frames for flats. I find it much easier to work 
with when building the flats and can be worked using standard joinery 
hand tools (saw, hammer, screwdriver etc.) which is im****tant if you 
don't have a dedicated workshop available. I consider it easier to work 
with when assembling and striking sets and as durable as metal but 
others may have different opinions.

> The Panels
> Here is where I need help. Normal plywood is too heavy. I have seen
> corrogated plastic. This has some value but seems flinsy.
> 
> Can anyone suggest other possible panel material and how I can optain
> it?

You have a couple of choices for this. You can build 'hollywood' flats, 
which are hard-covered (usually with thin plywood) or standard 
soft-covered flats (covered with muslin or canvas). There are benefits 
and drawbacks to both options, though if you are planning to use these 
long-term I'd suggest the hollywood style may be more durable if 
slightly heavier. Be aware however that fabric covered flats are 
preferred by many scene painters, so if you are planning to have scenes 
painted onto the flats themselves ask the person doing the painting what 
they prefer before building.

The materials for hollywood flats are readily available from any decent 
hardware supplier - basically some 3x1" framing and sheets of 1/4" ply. 
it's simply a rectangular frame of the desired height and width with one 
or more horizontal bracing struts across it's width.

If you are building soft flats the frame is more critical as it's the 
only structural strength the finished flat will have. You'll want to use 
corner braces (triangular pieces of 1/4 ply screwed to the back of each 
corner), a central horizontal bracing strut and possibly diagonal 
bracing struts as well. You'll find reasonable diagrams and some 
guidance here : http://www.northern.edu/wild/th241/sc92.htm

As for suppliers of canvas/muslin, I'm sure others will provide suitable 
guidance - it's too long since I had to buy any for any advice I could 
give to be relevant.

Jim.

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