Stage Designs

Throwback: Tangled Boxes

Carrie Davidson at Topeka Bible Church in Topeka, Kansas brings us these tangled web boxes. (Originally posted August 2013)

They were inspired by Shatterboxes.

This stage design was the first (and only) design completed without the aid of a full-time tech director. As such, they aimed to have a design that could be constructed in pieces, ahead of when the design would have to be placed on the stage.

The box frames were constructed by a church member and fabric was stapled to the frames. There were some Coroplast scraps leftover from previous set designs, so those scraps were painted black and used to frame the boxes. Strips of the scrap Coroplast of varying lengths and heights were cut and stapled to the boxes in random, criss-cross designs. Once the boxes were constructed, they had 2 full sheets of Coroplast left over. They created sheets that looked similar to the boxes by framing the Coroplast sheets with black gaff tape and hanging from the top edge of the stage. The boxes with the megabars mounted on the top back were fastened to the walls with L-brackets.

Materials/Cost:
– Framing Materials $ 32.63
– Wood $169.56
– Fabric $ 99.20
– Spray Paint $ 25.99
– Coroplast/paint accessories $ 95.22
Total: $422.60

Lights:
– 8 Elation Opti Tri Pars (4 hanging from back center stage, two aimed at top hanging panels, 2 aimed at wood on walls to left and right of projector screen)
– 9 American DJ Mega Tri Bars and 3 American DJ Mega LED Bars (8 on the inside of the boxes and 4 mounted on the top back of the 4 outer boxes)
– 2 Elation Platinum Spot 5R Standards (mounted on the top left and right sides of the stage)

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LED by the Spirit Outdoor Streaming

14 responses to “Throwback: Tangled Boxes”

  1. Ed K. says:

    I’m just a 63 year old who likes innovation and definitely likes lively worship, and this setup looks really great. We’ve had it for several months, and the changing light colors and fading work great from a layman’s perspective. In the end, we don’t view our stage as a place to perform, but a place to lead worshipers into fellowship with God–and with His Son Jesus Christ. And this setup moves us towards that goal.

    I appreciate what our worship arts group has done.

    • Carrie Davidson says:

      Thanks, Ed, for your comments. I am glad the set helps move the congregation to worship the LORD; that’s certainly the goal!

  2. Marion says:

    Question: So the fabric is against the coroplast on the outside? And is the coroplast white, so that the fabric color shines through it when the light is on it? And the strips of coroplast are on the inside of the coroplast?
    Thanks,
    M

    • Carrie Davidson says:

      Hi Marion,

      All of the fabric is white, and all of the coroplast is painted black. The boxes were lined with fabric first, then coroplast was placed on top of the fabric. We stapled all of the “shattered” pieces of coroplast first, then we framed the boxes with coroplast. I hope that clears up your questions; let me know if you have any additional ones.

  3. L Reed says:

    This is my favorite idea so far! Love that it is do-able by church members, is budget friendly, and looks great in so many different color schemes and programs. My question is how deep are these boxes? 12″? How are they stable to stand up without extra support? And how many lights per box? Are they lit from within or backlit or front lit??

    • Carrie Davidson says:

      Yes, the boxes were all 12″ deep. They are quite stable without any additional support, but on the boxes that held strip lights on the tops, we fastened small 2×4 blocks to the back and then bracketed those blocks into the stage wall. The boxes are all lit from within (1 light per box), and the 4 outside boxes had one additional light mounted to the back about 4 inches from the top, allowing us to light the boxes one color and the wall behind the boxes a different color.

  4. Spenser says:

    LOVE the design! So, what kind of fabric is that? I think I understand the concept, and we are going to get started on this soon!

    • Carrie Davidson says:

      Spenser, I am sorry I didn’t respond to your question earlier; I just now saw it. The fabric was called EconoSheen White, and it was purchased from our local fabric store. It was a very thin, white, non-flexible fabric, and it was one of few fabrics that was more than 1 yard wide. We were able to use a coupon to get an additional 40% off.

      Did you end up doing your set yet?

  5. Steve says:

    What are the boxes framed with? What dimension of lumber?

    • Carrie Davidson says:

      Steve, if I remember correctly, they were framed with 2x2s. The back of the box was covered with thin wood instead of fabric.

  6. Carrie Davidson says:

    The base may have been made out of 2x4s, not 2x2s.

  7. Dominique says:

    Do you have a full tutorial? I’m wanting to build something similar for our platform and want to be able to hand my team a tutorial to work off of as it will make it an easier ask.

  8. If anyone would like a set of these, our church made them and is done using them. We are in MN. We have two 10 feet tall ones, 2- 6 foot and 1 4 ft.

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