talkmagic.co.uk

...both forwards and backwards!

I'm not sur ethat one exists without getting one made, but I'm currently working on a routine whereby I change everybody's watches in the audience aka, turning back time. One of the things needed is a clock.

Now I need this clock to be slighly "broken", that is, off time. It has to move 1.25seconds (or something close to that, I haven't done the exact maths) for every one second, so eventually it is a good 10-15 minutes more than anybody in the audience's watch, without appearing to be fast.

Also, I need to be able to have a stage hand, via remote control, both pause the clock, and move it back 10-15 minutes.

Does such a clock exists? If not, does anybody know a way in which I oculd go about getting one?

If not, it isn't essential, there are just a few things I wouldn;t mind test running

Cheers all!

Any clock with a fast/slow setting can be adjusted to run just that little bit fast. As far as remote control... Tomo's probably yer man to ask about that!

Craft places sell just movements, and the plastic quartz movements are cheap enough to buy and play around with. You can put them in any kind of case and make them look older and more impressive than they are.

surely a well placed magnet will be enough to slow down a cheap and cheerful clock...

This online shop seems willing to answer any questions (e.g. "how can I adjust this movement") and has good prices.

IAIN wrote:surely a well placed magnet will be enough to slow down a cheap and cheerful clock...

Doesn't a magnet stop it and not slow it down? I would need it to be reliable over an extended period of time. If so then I have been missing out!

Robbie wrote:This online shop seems willing to answer any questions (e.g. "how can I adjust this movement") and has good prices.

I'll have a peek and await Tomo to arrive and see what he says about the remote element of it...I can see this routine, if it comes to fruition, really becoming the dog's marbles...

i was thinking more of a very weak magnet set away from the internal workings, but interfering with the metal arms...kinda creating a drag as it were...

IAIN wrote:i was thinking more of a very weak magnet set away from the internal workings, but interfering with the metal arms...kinda creating a drag as it were...

Ah now I understand! Problem with that is that I need the "drag" to be slightly faster than standard time, rather than slower, if that makes sense.

Unfortunately it also has to be an exact speed faster to the second, and if I'm just slightly off with the magnet that could potentially ruin the routine - if I just needed it to be slightly slower then a magnet would have done the job!

I'm thinking more a dodgy movement...I'm just wondering how to go about the mivement now - that website just confused me! I may just go talk to the local watch guy and ask if e can sort out a dodgy movement for a clock...

edit: Just had another idea which means I oculd probably just do it with the remote control...less likely to be caugh too...

Any clock with a spring in it can be sped up or slowed down, a bit of tweaking over time should find the right setting to have it running at whatever speed you need.

If you want it to run gradually ahead and then gradually slow back to real time it'd just be a matter of setting stops at the right tensions on the spring to get it to first speed up and later slow down (with the aid of a stage hand).

The tension lever could be changed with a simple radio control and servo.

Setting it to then run at real time would require a third position to be marked too and a bit more complexity in the controls but not impossible.

If you want it to jump back to an earlier time though, that's beyond anything I could suggest.

One thing to bear in mind though... if I remember correctly, spring wound clocks are subject to naturally speeding up and slowing down according to the temperature around it (I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that's right) - that might be a bit of a pain to get around if it's an effect you'll need to move around.

Why not move the audience so that they are travelling near to the speed of light while they are looking the other way or move them away from a gravitional mass?

Talk to a theatrical scenic design company. They will build for you to exactly what you want and make sure it works in your venue. Might cost you a bit but presuming your guna be selling this new show Beardy you should have a budget

I use Scenic Projects...just Google them