I began this process with very few ideas. I was gonna make a woven skiier that got pulled back up the hill with nitinol, a family tree that opens little biographies when turned on, and a little stage with a curtain that would be pulled up to show a little stage. I landed on the third idea because this had the most surprise factor to it.
There were many failed attempts in working with a small motor, some string, and a screen that would be lifted. At first, I had a much larger rotating pillar that would wrap up two strings and pull the curtain up from both sides. Unfortunately, the wooden pillars were too heavy to rotate and lift the curtain. Then, I made a smaller stick still with two strings that somewhat worked, but didn’t pull the curtain up over the top of the box. Finally, I had to settle on one string up the middle of the curtain. If I could change it, I would get a larger motor for this process.
On the inside, I made little speakers with black sparkly ribbon and a little background I printed out. The lights are submergible coaster lights that have a remote to turn them on. I wanted to figure out a way for music to play as well but I wasn’t sure how to incorporate that into the process without having any more steps involved.
Essentially, the back motor is turned on and lifts the screen, then the lights will turn on creating a mini version of a stage. The three things I would change would be getting a larger motor, incorporating music into the stage, and having the same on/off switch for the motor and lights.