How to Make a Rain Machine

How do you add instant drama to your scenes? Rain and sappy music of course. Using some wood, rope and a garden hose Erik shows you how to make a Hollywood rain machine for less then $50 bucks. Be sure to send in your Indie Filmmaking projects to Indy Mogul, and subscribe to our iTunes podcast!

Hey everyone and welcome to the technical blog for Episode#13 (rain machine). All you people who wanted a cheap way to recreate good looking "movie rain" read below. The coolest thing about this project is you probably have a lot of the parts laying around the house. Remember you can submit your project ideas here!

Warning: I'm using power tools to build this project. Always have adult supervision when using power tools if you are under 18. Seriously people be careful.

Shopping List

1. 25-50ft garden hose.
(I bought a 50ft one, but the water only came out about half way. I'd try a 25 footer)

2. Some cheap wood.
(I got about 20ft of 1"x2" beams. If you have some old 2"X4"s laying around just use those.)

3. Cable ties.
(I used these to fasten the hose to the frame. You could use duct tape in a pinch.)

4. Plastic Hose cap.
(This was like a dollar and screws on to the end of a hose to cap it off.)

5. Female to male hose adapter.
(This is a simple piece that allows you to screw the end of one hose to the beginning of another. Mine came with a nifty valve.)

6. 4 eye bolts.
(To provide a good place to hang ropes.)

7. Rope.
(I used some left over nylon rope I had from the samurai armor, but whatever you get make sure it is strong enough to support the rig. You don't want this thing falling on your actors.)

8. Some screw, nuts and bolts.
(Basically something to hold the frame together. I used wood screws.)

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Step 1: The Frame

This can really be made out of anything that is reasonably light and will hold our hose in place. I chose to build a simple wood frame and would suggest you do the same. Start with two beams that are 5-6ft long. Using some wood screws, or even better a bolt, nuts and a few washers, secure the two beams in the middle. You should end up with a big "X".

Now add some cross bracing using more wood and wood screws.

Now add some eye bolts where the cross braces meet the "X". Four in total.

CamWaite says: Aug 17, 2009. 10:01 AM

um dude the sun is shining tin the top photo??!?!?!?!?

Tystarr says: Mar 25, 2010. 8:40 AM

I've been in rain while it was sunny.. its not impossible. lol

stephenniall says: Dec 24, 2009. 9:34 AM

i did this using pvc pipe and two Water inlets with a tap so i could adjust how much rain How powerful and the heat of the rain!!

J@50n says: Aug 17, 2009. 4:58 PM

couldent you just hang a sprinkler??? great instructable tho!

dragonwarrior3000 says: Apr 16, 2009. 7:31 AM

so you poke little holes in the hose?????

Father Christmas says: Jun 1, 2009. 7:09 AM

nope. he drilled holes in it.

jongscx says: Jan 31, 2008. 3:36 PM

I'd suggest that it would be better to make it more rectangular, since: 1) if you allign it perpendicular to the way the camera's pointing, you will have "rain" in a narrow strip. A lot of movement on camera is side-to-side and not towards/away anyway (unless you're specifically going for that effect) so you can zoom out a little more and not need to have your actors stay in your 5x5 square... Since there are raindrops, it will give the image of it raining anyway (correct me if I'm wrong... I've only ever shot rain shots.. in the rain.) 2)There's a bloody drought in a majority of the US... and it's always a good idea to conserve water wherever you are. I doubt many of those who will use this method are using reclaimed condensate water or collected it from their roof. Such a deviation from a square would allow you to use less hose too (especially since you're punching holes in it).

nathan42100 says: Aug 6, 2007. 11:31 PM

Check your math.... 50 sq ft does not equal a 5x5 space (5x5 = 25 != 50). Try about a 7x7. It also depends how much hose you use and how much pressure the water has.