Fires and Furnaces

Open fires in the studio consist mostly of logs set in large baronial fireplaces or coal in old-fashioned fire grates. Both need to display practical flames and, sometimes, smoke, but generally they are fuelled by gas with the flames controlled to remain constant throughout the recording.

Open fires

A prerequisite for any open fire is its fuel. Logs, coal, twigs and even blocks of peat can be made from plaster of Paris applied to wire formers. Painted with water-based paint, these will eventually deteriorate where they are subjected to heat, but, nevertheless, will last for many hours. Ceramic logs and imitation coal are commercially available from the manufacturers of domestic gas fires.

The gas burners may be constructed of copper tubes that sit between the logs, or placed below a bed of sand where a more dispersed area of flame results. In the unlikely event that bottled gas is unavailable, domestic fire lighters can be used – although they must be constantly replenished.

Smoke can be supplied by charcoal tablets or incense.

Actions

Actions in which letters or papers are thrown onto a gas-fuelled open fire are normally permissible – the burning seldom lasts long enough to endanger the set, but such actions as using a poker or replenishing the logs or coal are best avoided.

Furnaces and red-hot coals

For braziers, furnaces and stoves, it is possible to use an electric lamp surrounded by glass fibre. Some varieties of this material are available in a suitable pink/orange hue, but white varieties may be tinted with spirit-based dyes. Alternatively, the light source may be coloured.

Dobs of black and grey paint applied to the outside layers of the glass-fibre add realism. Flames are not usually required for this type of fire, but smoke can be used as above.

FIRES AND FURNACES

1. A brazier constructed of glass fibre with internal lighting and a charcoal smoke unit, a, Glass fibre, b, Lamp, c, Charcoal tablet.

2. Log fire using piped gas and charcoal tablet.

3. Non-combustible log with flames fed by gas dispersed in a sand tray, a, Log made Irom plaster-covered chicken wire, b, Sand, c, Gas.

4. Augmented fire effect using flame drum to supply illumination.