Atmospheric effects are the difference between lighting you can see and lighting that simply lands on people. A haze machine puts a fine mist into the air so that beams read as beams. Smoke gives you dense white cloud for an entrance or a dream sequence. Confetti and pyrotechnics are punctuation: the finale, the reveal, the big number at the end of act two. All of it needs a conversation with your venue before you book, because effects and fire alarms do not naturally get on. Everything here is hired per day. Run it yourselves, or ask us for a technician who has done it before.
The commonest mistake is hiring smoke when what you wanted was haze. Haze is a fine, even suspension that hangs in the air for a long time. You are not meant to see it. What you see is the effect: every beam from your lanterns becomes visible, which is where a dance number gets its shafts of light. The Equinox Stage Haze 1500 uses water-based fluid, holds six litres, warms through in about three minutes and runs on two DMX channels from your lighting desk.
Smoke is for moments rather than atmosphere. The Antari ZR1500 gives dense white fog for an entrance or a transformation, and fog drifts and clears instead of hanging, so fire it on a cue. Use it for visible beams and you get a white wall that hides your cast.
The fire alarm conversation comes first
Detection in school halls and community venues is usually optical. Optical detectors watch how airborne particles scatter a light beam, which is precisely what haze is built to do, so the alarm is not faulty when it trips.
Agree the process before you book. Ask your site manager which detectors can be isolated, who is authorised to do it, who reinstates them afterwards and who keeps a fire watch meanwhile, then put the answer in writing. Plan for build-up too: haze accumulates across a three-hour tech rehearsal, and alarms tend to sound at four in the afternoon, not on the cue you were worrying about. Running the machine low and early beats running it hard and late.
Effects with children in the cast
Our guidance on children on stage puts it plainly. Smoke, haze, dry ice and strobe are recommended against in children's productions, and any effect you do propose needs separate approval from your venue and the licensing authority.
With a young cast you can usually get the look another way. Colour, angle and a strong backlight give a number depth without anything in the air. Where you want a real moment, confetti carries no respiratory question and no alarm risk. It does need sweeping up, and a confetti-covered floor is a slip hazard for whatever follows, so save it for the bow.
Confetti and pyro: what happens on the night
The Chauvet DJ Funfetti Shot needs no compressed air and no CO2 cylinder, which makes it far easier to get agreed in a school. It runs from a mains socket on a single DMX channel, or fires from its own wireless remote if you have no desk. Rig it upstage and shoot across, never down towards heads.
A handheld confetti cannon is the low-tech version: no power, no cable, someone in the wings on a cue. Two from opposite sides read better than one blast down the middle.
The LeMaitre Pyroflash 6-Way Firing Unit is the control end of a pyrotechnic effect, with six channels fired individually over cable runs of up to fifty metres. Cartridges are pyrotechnic articles with rules about who may buy and use them, so speak to us before a flash goes into the script.
Power, position and who operates it
Both machines carry 1500W heaters, so a hazer and a fogger sharing one 13A extension lead sits close to that lead's limit. Give each its own socket. Warm-up takes a few minutes and both re-heat mid-show, so bring them up in the interval, not in the wings.
Placement decides more than output. Haze needs time to spread, so put the machine upstage or in a wing and let the air move it. A propped fire exit, a swinging door or an extractor fan will pull your atmosphere out of the room. If you would rather not think about this on the day, hire the kit with a technician.
Rates are per day and exclude VAT. Ask us about multi-day and show-week rates, delivery, and hiring with a technician.
Common questions
It can, and that is the detector doing its job rather than failing. Most halls use optical detectors, which respond to particles suspended in the air. Speak to your site manager well before the show and agree in writing which detectors can be isolated, who is authorised to isolate them, who reinstates them and who watches the building while they are off.
Our own guidance recommends against smoke, haze, dry ice and strobe in productions with children in the cast, and any effect you propose will need separate approval from the venue and the licensing authority. Confetti is a much easier conversation. If you want atmosphere on a school show, we would rather help you find it in the lighting than in a machine.
The firing unit is only the control end. The cartridges themselves are pyrotechnic articles, and the rules cover who may be supplied with them, who may fire them and how the effect is risk assessed in your venue. Tell us what you are trying to achieve and when, and we will tell you honestly whether it is workable in your space.
Yes. Everything is available as a dry hire at the per-day rate shown. Haze and smoke machines are simple enough to run once they are addressed and warmed through. If it is your first time with effects, or the show is your annual production and you cannot afford a wobble, a technician is usually the easier route.
