TSM 08 Rain without water
Outline
This is a project by Susan Scott, created as part of the TSM 08 classes, to research a way to achieve a rain effect on the New Athenaeum stage without using water. This page will give details of the process as well as equipment used, it's operation and approximate costings.
The 'Rain'
As my project is about making rain but without using water, the first aspect i needed to look at was what material could be used to simulate the rain drops. After looking at several references online i have settled on using uncooked rice to achieve this effect.
pros
The rice (when falling en mass) gives a convincing 'downpour' look and it also bounces off of set pieces and people similar to how rain splashes. Another positive aspect to using rice is the sound it creates as it hits the ground - it is basically a large scale rain stick - and is therefore saving the need to source a convincing sound effect. And as far as budgeting goes,obviously depending on the length of the run, the rice should only have to be bought once as it can be swept up and reused for every show.
Cons
There are few cons to using rice in comparison to the pros, the obvious one being the clean up of the stage after the effect. If using water, a trough would be used to collect the fallout leaving a wet but clear stage. When using rice, the benifit of having the realistic bounce means that the grains are scattered far and wide and posing a rather large slip hazard. This means that the effect has to be limited to a specific point in the play - like just before interval - or in an isolated part of the stage - like behind a window. Another way to speed up the clearing of the stage would be to use a floor cloth wich can then be folded up and carried off stage to be emptied. This however, affects the quality of the sound as the rice hits the stage.
The System
After thorough research it seems that the use of the basic 'snow drop' mechanism is the best way to achieve this kind of effect. Below is a detailed description of how a drop is made, rigged and controlled.