SCA: one really cool tent

[kellan_the_tabby]

[ A round marquee tent, taller and narrow than usual, and made from very pale green canvas instead of the standard white. It’s decorated with painted details along all the vertical seams. ]

Check it OUT. Every once in a while you see someone in the SCA who’s painted their tent, & even more rarely you see canvas that isn’t the standard white, but most SCA events are seas of white canvas dotted with bright modern dome tents.

I’d LOVE to see more of this.

[ It’s a closer view of the same tent, from a slightly different angle that shows more of the painted canvas. A line of red, stylized stems runs up each seam; green leaves are stamped in threes at the end of each stem. In between, in the center of each length of canvas, is a vertical design in gold paint. Stylized trees rise from the bottom of the canvas, red trunks with green leaves. ]

DAMN. I WANT one.

I also wondered where it was from, because even when you do see painted tents in the SCA, they’re an entirely different style. Was it from another group like the SCA? A reenactor’s group? A really awesome LARP that I’d really like to start going to?

[ Even closer, it’s visible that the design has seen some wear, but most of the painted details are still very clear. ]

Across the way was another tent, a standard SCA square marquee, with a guy sitting in a comfortable looking chair out front. He looked up from his book long enough for us to have a chat and for Loiosh to get a thorough petting, & he solved the mystery: this tent was one of a WHOLE LOT of tents made for the most recent movie version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Which explains the details, & also the height — something something camera something something, anyway.

[ Even closer, focusing on the foliage up each seam. There’s red berries among the green leaves! ]

I wonder where the rest of the tents wound up, & how I can get hold of one of them …

Of course I went digging through stills from the movie to find it. & after very little searching, there it is!

[ A still from the movie. A broad dirt road crosses through the center, from upper left to lower right; beings of many species walk along it. The grass on either side of the path holds many tents, most round, many of them red, all of them decorated. One tent, towards the front, is circled in red. ]

… I think I’d want one of the red ones. Which one do you want?

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Comments

[corvi]

Oo, that's pretty neat! I wonder how someone ended up with it?

[siliconshaman]

Movies auction off a lot of props at the end to recoup costs.

[kellan_the_tabby]

Thank for information!

[siliconshaman]

Weird, I thought I'd seen that tent before, even before I read to the bottom... visual memory you know. Still, period accurate tent FTW. IIRC, medieval jousting pavilions would be taller like that to accommodate arms and armour. Although I think they'd be embroidered instead of painted. But patterned somehow to make them easier to pick out.

and I'd take that twin peak red tent that's set back a bit to the right... although setting it up looks like it might be a tad bit tricky.

[danabren]

The process of embroidery punctures the fabric and makes it less waterproof. Painting fabric is period, and adding more thread to what is already heavy canvas will add even more weight - opaque thread coverage adds up.

[siliconshaman]

Valid point...

[kellan_the_tabby]

*points up* this

[kellan_the_tabby]

You're gonna want at least two people for any of these, & the more the merrier, but an oval marquee isn't MUCH harder to put up than a round one.

Also yes, what Danabren said.

[danabren]

The yellow one at the top, please. The lighter color fabric will make it easier to find things without needing a light at noon, plus it comes with a sunshade.

[kellan_the_tabby]

& here we see the opinion of someone who's Been There &, also, Done That.

[danabren]

Yea verily, an' shit :D

[thewayne]

That is really cool, someone put a lot of hours into that one.

The dark red appeals.

[kellan_the_tabby]

I do love the contrasting piping on that one, & the one next to it.

[cellio]

The burgundy one to the right of the yellow one at the top is striking. I can't see its ornamentation well enough, but the contrast and placement look nice.

[kellan_the_tabby]

It does look REALLY pretty.

[montuos]

Oh, man, that tent is pretty!!!

Although the red of the twin peak tent already cited and the one beside yours is really pretty, I recall from science classes many years ago that the darker a color is, the more heat it absorbs, so I am always going to go for lighter colors for a tent. That, plus what danabren said about light enough to see better.

I admit, though, that if I were decorating a round tent, I'd probably have trouble resisting the urge to make it look like Baba Yaga's hut! Meanwhile, the idea I've always had for decorating my garage tent has been a rose-covered cottage — but simple, block-printable geometrics have a great deal to recommend them.

[kellan_the_tabby]

I mean. Baba Yaga is always gonna be a draw.