The onstage cell phone call... - TheatreFace

Another idea would be a small…

2015-09-20T20:57:05.769Z

Another idea would be a small Bluetooth speaker. There are some small enough to fit in your pocket. You could play a ringtone file or whatever you want through a Bluetooth transmitter to the speaker and have complete control over it. There are a few shortcomings to Bluetooth I've found, in particular its limited range. About 30 feet maximum assuming no obstructions ( walls, glass, bodies, etc.) But if the sound booth is too far from the stage, the transmitter could be located somewhere on stage (they also come in very small sizes) and attached to a line level feed from your mixer. This would allow free movement of the speaker on stage without any wires.

could you set and alarm on th…

2013-01-28T09:21:59.698Z

could you set and alarm on the phone to go off? or could it be opened to the part where you set the volume/ choose the ring tone and have the actor select it? orrr could you have the phone not ring on stage, but have someone back stage with a phone up to a mic and set that one off?

I did a production of Dead Ma…

2011-08-15T06:45:02.160Z

I did a production of Dead Man's Cell Phone - where the cell phone was constantly ringing. For that show we built a custom cell phone using the shell of a fake demo cell phone you would usually find on display in a store. We used an Arduino Micro as a control chip, a Li-Ion battery, an XBee Wireless chip, a micro SD card, and a small speaker.

We programmed the ringtone into the cell phone into different files (ie 1 ring, 2 rings, 3 rings, 4 rings) and we used a wireless MIDI transmitter to fire Midi commands from QLab.

This is probably a bit above your means, but it was well suited to our production.

Call the props shops. There a…

2011-03-01T06:53:53.075Z

Call the props shops. There are dummy phones that ring when triggered from an offstage transmitter.

Thanks everyone - it was cut…

2011-02-10T16:15:46.599Z

Thanks everyone - it was cut anyway. :)

I've done this before and it…

2011-01-19T19:31:59.531Z

I've done this before and it was a huge pain in the butt, but then I learned about the phone box (a small speaker you can attach somewhere). You could use the alarm clock function on the phone, though that might be risky because you'd have to time it perfectly. Another thing you could do is have the actor push the ringer test button on a second phone in her pocket and make it ring and then pick up the prop phone (unless she has tight clothing or no pockets--or if the phone decides to crap out at the last minute). I'd go with the small speaker idea, though. It's controllable. If you can't find a ringtone sound clip, you could probably record one on your computer if it has the capability.

I agree with the previous rec…

2011-01-18T05:45:41.813Z

I agree with the previous recommendations - an on stage speaker is the safest way to go. Find out from your director/stage manager what the blocking is like to help you narrow down placement. Even if you opt for the "real" thing, I'd suggest having it as a back-up in case the cell's battery dies or looses reception or decides not to work.

Two suggestion I have using an actual cell phone, are only "doable" with the right phone - many cell phones have custom ring tones for specific numbers. If you don't assign something specific, it goes to a "default." Assign the number you're going to call the phone from a specific ringtone, and set the "default" to silent or vibrate (provided the vibrate function isn't just as loud as a ring tone.) Any unwanted calls will come through but not make noise. Idea #2, there are also lots of phones that ring with volume adjustment - if you can find someone with a phone with an easily user accessible volume button and an "airplane mode" (disabling call and txt messaging so you still have PDA and game functions while on board a plane), you can put the phone on "airplane mode" so it can receive calls but will still ring.

Hope you find something that works well... let us know what you end you end up doing.

Cheers,

Even a pay-as-you-go phone wi…

2011-01-17T20:34:35.281Z

Even a pay-as-you-go phone will use a number recycled from a previous user - there is no way to ensure you will not get a random phone call during a show. Also, there can be a delay between when you call the number to when the phone rings, which will not work if you need precise cuing.

The problem comes up frequently in the prop master's list-serv, and so far, having the cell phone ring come from a nearby hidden speaker is the best way to accomplish the effect. Besides the cuing problems I noted above, an actual cell-phone has an omni-directional speaker, which makes it harder to tell where the ringing is coming from then by using a hidden speaker.

I've thought about Rich's idea before, where you hack a phone to make itself ring by pushing one of the buttons; but as-of-yet, there are no off-the-shelf solutions like this.

I've thought about this mysel…

2011-01-17T12:05:17.609Z

I've thought about this myself, but never actually tried it. What about purchasing a cheap "pay-as-you-go" phone for the job? Basic models can be had for around $40 and, if you don't give anyone the number, it is very unlikely that any calls or texts would come through the phone other than yours. You would want to stick to a carrier that has excellent coverage in your area!

In the past, I've used the local small speaker solution mentioned by Nick. Directional sound cues do take a lot of extra work to setup - extra speaker(s), extra amplification, and a discreet feed from the console - but the result is worth the effort. If you have other sound cues coming from FOH, you also might want to get a seperate source to fire the cue, so you don't have to redirect the phone cue from the default sound effects mix. I've done shows where we had effects cues going to the mains, off-left, and off-right; all firing from the same cd player. It can get very confusing during a live mix.

If you intend to do this sort of thing frequently, you may want to invest in a small, self-powered speaker. That would save having to provide a separate amplifier for that signal (but might be harder to hide onstage.) Good luck!

Jan

Although I probably wouldn't…

2011-01-14T16:09:21.641Z

Although I probably wouldn't want to do it for a show I was designing, you could have the actor trigger the phone themselves. I'd have to do some additional research to figure out the details, but if it's a bluetooth-capable phone, you could probably whip up a controller to send a bluetooth signal to play a sound file (if the phone also has an mp3 player app). Of course, that will be a little time consuming, and likely subject to failure.

I agree with Nick--the odds are good you'll be able to find a place on stage where you can bury a little speaker. If you get the playback level correct, you'll probably be just fine.