HEAVY LOAD
The car is built on a truck chassis with two or three axles. To support the weight of the allegory, the structure is reinforced with steel beams and columns. This skeleton, called a table, is covered by a wooden platform.
BLOCKS ON THE STREET
In the case of Gaviões da Fiel, the car leaves for the parade limited by the size of the shed, which is 6 m high, 8 m wide and 14 m long. After fitting more than 20 pieces, taken by truck, the wing opener gains up to 9 m in height, 3 m in width and 5 m in length in general, sculptures are built with styrofoam. If the allegory needs to be reproduced several times, it is made of fiberglass.
COMPLETE MAKEUP
The allegory is supported by a skeleton of steel beams. The final shape is largely made of wood and Styrofoam. Styrofoam sculptures are coated with paper and glue and another layer of spackle or fabric. Painting and decorating add the final touch.
LIGHT ON THE CATWALK
The last stage of the car’s production is the installation of lights and special effects – such as flares and shredded paper cannons. The control of all this paraphernalia is done by a light table at the rear, powered by a towed generator just behind the wing opening. A crane fits the tall pieces during the week leading up to the parade. The highlights go up minutes before with elevators and forklifts.
«GIVE ME YOUR HAND…»
Articulated movements of the main allegory, such as flapping the wings and turning the neck, are done manually. In some cases, professionals from the Festa do Boi, in Parintins (AM), develop the mechanisms and operate them at the time of the parade.
HOW HOT, Ô, Ô, Ô
Although not included in the regulation, the car is equipped with four fire extinguishers – hidden, but positioned in easily accessible places. When the decoration uses thatch, straw and other flammable materials, a fireproof liquid is applied moments before the parade.
PULLING THE SAMBA
While motors are allowed, some schools do speed on the arm, with around 50 people at the back pushing the wing opener. When there is no driver – who is hidden in the middle of the ironwork –, two people control the car by the truck from the exit of the shed.
Around 50 people work for up to four months to build the opening of a first class samba school in São Paulo and Rio.
CONSULTANCY: Igor Carneiro, carnival designer at Gaviões da Fiel