DTCOP Loc: Camarillo, CA

Several months ago I bought a Stage Ape (Ape Jungle Sister) 800W wire control Fog machine but I am hesitant to use it. One thing... I'm afraid that the smoke will bring the fire department down on me and Ill be charged with a false report for them having to turn out. I only want a little fog around the feet of the model. Secondly, I have been told that I should not use it in an enclosed studio... the fumes can be toxic. Any Hog out there have any experience with this machine or even other foggers. I know that if I shoot over ice it will keep the smoke down on the deck. any help will be appreciated... as usual
Don

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

Don,
The Studio should be well ventilated, and the Smoke Detectors should be disabled or covered with something to prevent false alarms. Working 35 years at a major movie studio I have responded to many false alarms from Fog Machines.

RAK Loc: Concord Ca

Why not several small salad bowls with dry ice, only add water once you are set up and you are ready to shoot.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I used to be head of sound engineering for a big church with 4500 members. They had dramas for every major holiday, of course especially at Christmas and Easter. Smoke machines were used regularly. I also used to run sound for a 6 night a week rock band which used smoke machines and flash pots nightly.

The toxic chemical problem was pretty well solved 30 years ago. The original smoke liquids from theater production supply stores was certainly toxic and caused a lot of respiratory problems with people who never had one before. The chemical also settled on furniture and equipment and was acidic enough to eat the finish off. But around 1983 or so, non-toxic smoke fluid came out and resolved a lot of that.

That's not to say it's perfect because if a person already has a respiratory problem, the smoke can lead to triggering an attack. The air carrying the chemical is still breathed and can cause coughing, watery eyes, sneezing, clogged nasal passages, etc. but at least it's not causing cancer and directly-related death. It can also still get into potentiometers (volume controls, for example) and sensitive equipment to make it act up. Death by respiratory attack is possible but not typically carcinogenic death from a new respiratory disease that the smoke causes. So... it's not really good to use it in a confined studio without ventilation although it's done.

The liquid can be heated to the point of creating smoke by putting it in a pan and placing a heat source under it. You don't actually have to use a "smoke machine" The church I spoke of had a machine for the grand finale of the resurrection with "Champion of Love" playing very loudly to pin people in their pews and thunder strike audio samples (my favorite part) but for earlier scenes they had large frying pans with smoke liquid in them and single burner electric hotplates to put on both sides of the stage. Small rotary fans on low pushed the smoke across the stage from both directions.

Personally, I'd recommend renting a smoke machine and setting up all your lights to make the smoke look it's best, fill the floor with smoke and shoot the smoke at various depths from shoe height to waist height. Then get rid of the rented machine and use the shots you took as a Photoshop layer to blend with people photos you take later so there's no smoke in the room during portraiture at all. Then there are no health issues, no smoke to direct in the proper direction as people are moving around, no waiting for some of the smoke to settle down because you ran the machine too long, and the whole thing becomes hassle free.

Dry ice is a good idea too but it doesn't get as thick as smoke. Smoke liquid can also be purchased in various colors. Then again you could probably Photoshop in the pale color yourself.

N4646W

Wow, 800W is over kill for what you intend. I use a 400W with a 30 sec duration every 5 min to fog a 40 ft. tunnel for a Halloween Bash, through 60 feet of pipe with 4 outlets feeding into the tunnel. Depending on the weather sometimes it is over kill. Try one of the little 40W units sold at CVS Pharmacy or Wallmart. Vent it into a pipe (3" or larger PVC) and direct to where you want. The pipe will keep it cool and down at ground level. You can also connect a "Y" or sweep fitting to the pipe and use a small computer fan to blow the fog though the pipe. The fan will blow cool air, keeping the fog down low.

Ron

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

WOW!
That's a lot of machine!
The "smoke" isn't toxic, but it can be an irritant, and if too thick make it really difficult to see/breathe :-) DAMHIK :-)

Dry ice is a great alternative when you don't need to cover a large area.

GT

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Contact the fire department beforehand, let them know what you are about to do, and that there's a possiblility that some fog may escape into the open. The fire department wants to avoid false alarms just as much as you do. If you have neighbors, talk to them too, to prevent unnecessary worry and panic.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Why not try it outside? That way you can get the "feel" of it and truly find out what it can do.

Swayne

Glad to have discovered you on this site and that you have 35 years experience in the business. My question is this. What name, brand, model , size fog machine can I buy that puts out a lot I mean a lot of fog. Like seen in major productions. I have had many fog machines and they all stink and only make a little fog for a short time, I want one that is the mac daddy of smoke machines.
Can you help.,

Stage Light Loc: Northeast

Try a LeMaitre Stage Fogger or a LeMaitre G300. The G300 can also haze. For dry ice a LeMaitre Pea Souper works very well.

zerobeat

I am wanting to do even less than you are as to quantity of smoke. We operate a model railroad (and other stuff) museum in and 8000 sq ft building. In am pushing smoke to 12 model building, all with smoke stacks. They are located within a 50' x 50' layout, but spread out.

I use the Eliminator Lighting brand, just because it was the first one we bought and all the slip off/on PVC fitting match up to it. I use both 400 and 700 watt machines, which ever I can find cheap. In the past four years we have gone through 10 of them. Duty cycle is six hours of operation and using a remote timer it is 7 seconds on and 45 seconds off.

The out put goes into two 50 quart Styrofoam coolers connected in series. They are mounted at right angles to slow down that blast effect we get when the machine is running. The cooler output goes into a small marine bilge fan, that is run with a model train transformer at its slowest speed. The smoke is pushed into a set of distributor valves that via 3/8" id hoses to each smoke stack.

We have a hidden 20" floor fan above the drop ceiling to carry the excess smoke away from out guests.

The idea is to have it run unattended during out open hours. I still have to baby it from time to time. The biggest problem is the machines break down, mostly the pumps. If any one has a source for parts, I would sure like to know.

HTH,

Dale - Brooksville, Fl

Our site: www.sundancecentral.org

One of a dozen buildings


Some of the output manifold and hoses.


This is the original version which has been updated.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

I've seen smoke machines used in haunted houses and they're enclosed.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

Good suggestion. And probably cheaper, too.

DTCOP Loc: Camarillo, CA

Aren't the ammonia fumes toxic too?

Stage Light Loc: Northeast

Perhaps you should add the dry ice.