Fun
FAQs & Helpful Hints
Foggy
Notions - Part 2: The Unique
For
newcomers to lighting design, haze machines can seem quite confusing.
Adding to this confusion is the fact that technicians, salespeople
and others who should know better often use "smoke machine",
"haze machine", and "fog machine" interchangeably.
Let's take a look at how haze machines differ from their foggy counterparts
on stage.
A fog machine heats a glycol/water-based fluid to create thick clouds
of white fog. This fog rises into the air and usually disperses
within a few minutes. Fog is a great effect for suggesting smoke,
hiding an appearance or disappearance or in other situations where
you need an opaque cloud on stage.
Most haze machines also heat a glycol/water-based fluid but, instead
of shooting out thick clouds of opaque fog, the hazer produces a
thin mist in the air. The haze spreads out to fill the air with
an even mist, which lasts significantly longer than fog. While this
haze can be seen by the audience - if they're looking for it - it
is not opaque and doesn't obscure the action on stage from the audience.
So why use haze instead of fog? A haze machine is best used when
you want to show off lighting, or make a lighting effect appear
larger or more dramatic. The haze droplets that the hazer puts into
the air are dispersed thinly enough to go unnoticed by the audience.
Unnoticed, that is, until a beam of light shines through the haze
and reflects off of them. You've probably seen a similar effect
when sunlight shines through a window into a dusty room.
An example seems to be in order; here's one that goes nicely with
the season. You're designing lighting for a Christmas pageant. During
the pageant you want to highlight Mary, or one of the shepherds,
or the baby Jesus - you get the idea. A PAR can colored with a deep
amber gel will produce a nice, strong pool of light around said
character. With haze in the air, however, the character will seem
to be enveloped in a shaft of golden light. The PAR won't just light
the actor, scenery and stage floor - it'll light the air itself.
Similarly, if you're using moving lights in a production, a hazer
can mean the difference between moving patterns on the stage or
walls and dramatic beams of light dancing through the air.
The best way I've found to use a hazer in production is to have
the haze in the air constantly, from the moment the audience enters.
That way the haze is only detectable as part of the "atmosphere"
inside the performance space. Depending on the size of your space,
it's usually a good idea to start hazing about thirty minutes before
the audience is set to arrive. Most hazers offer control over the
amount of haze produced, and it's a good idea to run the machine
on full power during the initial haze. Once a suitable amount of
haze is in the air, the machine can either be set to run constantly
at a lower volume, or at intervals during the performance. If DMX
or analog control is being used for the lighting, the Unique hazer
would allow you to build additional haze blasts into your lighting
cues - perhaps pumping a little extra haze into the air prior to
any effects that may need it. A hazer can be a really powerful tool
for adding the right atmosphere to your production. The Unique gives
you total haze control, allowing you to make your show the best
it can possibly be.
*********************************************
Theatre Effects Customer Service Department
service@theatrefx.com
www.theatrefx.com
Theatre Effects, 642 Frederick St., Hagerstown, MD 21740
Phone: 1-800-791-7646 or 301-791-7646 Fax: 301-791-7719 *********************************************
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