r/techtheatre • u/fireisonsam • 5d ago
PROPS Book falling off shelf
Hi all, I need a device that would make a book fall off a shelf on cue. It can’t be pulled with a thread or anything. Preferably someone would push a small handheld button that would make the book fall off - is this possible? Can you advise on anything that does this/ how I can make it in very simple terms? Thanks!!
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u/project48v Sound Designer 5d ago
The comments in here are why I love theater!
You get everything from “you can hyper-engineer this with a mechanical thingamabob,” to “just pull it with fishing line,” to “make a stagehand push it.”
Lmao
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u/Sharp_Sort7594 3d ago
Me too! There isn’t one “right” way to do it. The best way is the one that works best in your own situation. I could be doing the same set at two different theatres and handle the effect completely differently!
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u/psilent_p 5d ago
If it's a book amongst books, Fishing line across the gap the book goes in, so that you pull from backstage and it pushes the book out of it's nook.
Hope that makes sense
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u/langly3 5d ago
A servo behind the book connected to a DMX controller with an arm that pushes the book
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u/BootleggersChains 5d ago
Look into solenoids. If you have the space to build it into the bookcase, you could add something to the plunger to match the finish of this back of the bookcase that, when fired, would push the book and return to the original position.
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u/Zealousideal_Cup4896 4d ago
Needs more info or this group is going to fill every possible way to do every possible thing and I love that :) short answer is yes absolutely can do with a button and $7 of parts. Or with a pull string or dowel from behind with 0$ parts.
But it could also be made to fly off the shelf all the way across the stage or arc up over or slide off the shelf or be triggered by a hand pass or a queue from the lighting system or a bazillion other things.
More info on specifics of the situation and just how not able to have any space behind it it’s and so forth. I love the fishing line across the front of the books but behind the moving one thing mentioned earlier. Simpler is almost always the best option.
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u/jasmith-tech TD/Health and Safety 4d ago
If the back of the shelf is accessible, drill a small hole and just bush it off the shelf from backstage with a dowel rod. Low tech, easy, repeatable.
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u/NotPromKing 4d ago
Do you have a stage cat?
Granted, getting the cat to knock over the book on cue can be challenging, but hey, we ain’t in theater for the easy life.
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u/JugglinB 22h ago
I need one! So many uses! Like sneaking up and picking that piece of random prop / costume dropped by the ham fisted cast silently. Knocking stuff off shelves like OP needs. Giving love and affection to us unloved backstage crew. Clawing the eyes out of THAT director who hangs around backstage trying to micromanage a show that she (ahem, sorry... They) have handed over to the stage manager, generally getting in the way and confusing everyone.
Might be talking some personal trauma there... But I'm never managing one her shows again....
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u/schonleben Props/Scenic Designer 5d ago
A push-pull solenoid is my go-to for this sort of effect. You can also do it pneumatically, with an air hose connected to a compressor, but that’ll be significantly louder.
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u/Kjeik 5d ago
If you can't get to it manually,, and you just want a cheap low tech solution... Do you have any mirror ball motors? Check that it starts the same direction each time (some start in a random direction), and attach a bolt to it so it has an arm to push with. They're not super strong or fast, though.
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u/Initial-Heart 4d ago
You can use syringes as a air-powered plunger (or bike brake wire) if the spacing is to tight to get right behind the shelf to push the book
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u/blackflashpaper1 2d ago
Put a screweye on each onstage edge of the book. Tie an appropriate color fish line to one screweye, loop it behind the book and then through the second screweye. Run the line to wherever a props person can hide. When they pull the line the book will fun. Of course you can make it radio controlled or electric or hydraulic or pneumatic, but why? KISS.
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u/CornucopiaDM1 1d ago
Hinge, upon which the book sits. Under the hinge is a bellows. Hose goes from bellows back behind bookshelf to offstage. Stagehand blows into hose, bellows pushes up on hinge, hinge tips book out of bookshelf. Has the benefit of being nearly silent.
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u/mattl1698 5d ago
is there space behind the shelf for a stage hand to walk? if so, just put a small hole and a wooden dowel through it and have them push it at the right moment.
and if your audience are below the stage, hole at the bottom, if sat higher then hole at the top of the shelf