Builder needed

[splitxends.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know a builder who can help me build a small table? It would be about 30 inches long, 12 inches wide, maybe waist high (about). Its a little bit of a strange request as the table needs to have a trap door in the middle of it. But any advice/suggestions on where I can  find someone to help me build would be great! For the curious- Its for a vaudeville-esque performance/trick.
Thanks!

Comments

[ron_newman]

A couple of old posts about carpenters, though I don't know if they are really what you want:

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1081780.html
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1033167.html

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Do you need it custom-built or can you find a table that's suitable for your needs and gaffe it?

[splitxends.livejournal.com]

I've thought of that, i just don't have the equipment to cut out the trap door. If I find someone who would be willing to just put a trap in, that would be much cheaper, im sure!

[splitxends.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I will see if any of those will work!

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

It'll probably be a more convincing illusion, too. If the table looks newly built, the audience will automatically assume it's gaffed.

[ron_newman]

What does 'gaffe' mean in this context?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Generally it refers to taking an item and making alterations to it to conceal the mechanism by which a magic trick works.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

It's usually spelled "gaff" actually. It's the same usage as "gaffer" in movies (the gaffer is the head electrician, who's responsible for rigging up various lighting arrangements on the fly).

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

Isn't a "gaffe" a blunder? That would suck to be the film's gaffe-r. :D

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

It comes from the silent era. Used to be natural light was the only type of lighting powerful enough to get an exposure, so there was a lot of pushing around of large mirrors and sheets of canvas using gaff poles. Hence the name "gaffer" which stuck when electric lighting came along. At least that's the version that makes the most sense to me: there are others.

Film terms are full of oddities. If you're shooting a scene and not recording sound while shooting, it's called "MOS", which is essentially a bad joke that became a technical term.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

That's true in film, in magic and similar performance I've generally heard it used the way I described above.

Theoretically, of course, gaffers aren't supposed to work on the fly, the cinematographer is supposed to have a nice, orderly, intelligent and efficient plan for getting the scene lit.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I hate that "gaff pole" explanation, largely because there was already an existing usage of "gaffer" as "the get-it-done guy who heads up a team of workmen".

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

>SHRUG< I hadn't heard that. Honestly, the etymology of the term isn't nearly as important to me as to where I can find a good example of one who will work for what I pay. :-)

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

? I wasn't questioning your usage, just your spelling. A "gaffe" is an embarrassing mistake, whereas a "gaff" is a clever gimmick/work-around/jerry-rig/mechanical solution to a theatrical problem.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I thought you were confused about my usage of the term since I wasn't talking about filmmaking! :-)

I've seen both spellings, actually. Of course, much depends on how annoyed the production manager is that day in terms of how some words are spelled.

!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

The thing is that gaff poles are called gaff poles because they...wait for it...are really handy in adjusting sails on the fly. If you were, you know, a gaffer on a ship who was always being asked to gaff things.


I think you should have explicated "MOS" because it's so amazingly stupid that sometimes people refuse to believe the etymology. I shall do so now:

"MOS" stands for "mit out sound." Yes, back in the day, it was considered hilarious to affect a mock-German accent. WHEE-HA!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I thought you were confused about my usage of the term since I wasn't talking about filmmaking! :-)

Hee.

Nope, I just thought that people who weren't in the live-theater business would be most familiar with the word from movie credits.

Re: !

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Well, beached sailors working on film sets WAS pretty common, back in the day.

I think that MOS has been attributed to every single famous German director. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a whole bunch of them insisting the scene be shot "Mit Out Sound!" and the term just stuck.

Re: !

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Wait, what? People actually attribute that to real German people?

No, no, no. In the late 1920s-early 1930s, it seriously was considered hilarious in the US to use mock-German accents.

Then there's the "Motor Only Synch" explanation...

Re: !

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I know it was considered hilarious, but I've heard it attributed to Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, Eric Von Stroheim, and even Billy Wilder!

There is at least one case of bad English on a film set, though: Michael Curtiz. He demanded a poodle of the prop manager, and, as it wasn't on the schedule, went nuts looking for one. Finally he found the dog and presented it to Curtiz. Who promptly blew a fuse and screamed: "A poodle! A poodle of water!"

That sounds like fun

[dskippy.livejournal.com]

I could help. Have you found anyone to help you do it yet? I love building stuff.

Re: That sounds like fun

[splitxends.livejournal.com]

i do actually, would you be willing to help?

Re: That sounds like fun

[dskippy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could find some time this weekend to do it. When are you free over the weekend? Do you want to email me so we can figure out the details? My email address is this same live journal name "dskippy" and the domain is "ccs.neu.edu".

Table

[papaglytle.livejournal.com]

If you are still interested in having someone build this table for you, please contact me at noblewood@comcast.net and leave a telephone # to contact you directly. I am a custom cabinetmaker and would be happy to help if possible.

I look forward to hearing from you.

George