Wizard of Oz Production
In the summer of 1999 I was asked to assist in the local production of The Wizard Of Ozme, put on by the Ohio Valley Summer Theater. I worked for 6 weeks and was mechanical special effects person. I got to build wonderful fun things, have my own work space with free building materials, met some really amazing people, and I had an absolute blast. Working with theater people for the first time was marvelous fun, and it was good exposure to a field other than the mechanical engineering courses and people that make up my college major.
There were some definite challenges to doing the special effects for the show. Dr. Robert Winters, The Director of the play, helped in narrowing down what exactly he wanted in the way of puppets, special effects, and various staging issues. For the show I did:
3 mechanical puppet crows.
7 detachable/reattachable apples.
30 hand controlled poppy puppets.
1 pair of glowing evil eyes.
1 owl puppet with working eyes, and flapping wings.
1 majic faerie wand.
2 mechanical flying bat puppets
4 lbs of glittery snow.
1 "fireless" glowing fireball
1 "fireless" fire shooting broom.
