Günther Johann Schaidt

         Günther Johann Schaidt was born April 14th, 1948 and passed away relatively recently on July 15th, 2021 in Schenefeld, Germany. He was known for his special effects, pyrotechnics, and being credited as one of the developers of the smoke and fog fluid that has become the standard in theatre, television, and film.

From  the 1970s until the1990s Günther Schaidt was the special effects coordinator, meaning he dealt with pyrotechnics to optical effects, in a number of movies and shows. Among them are Angels of Iron (1981), Kamikaze 89 (1982), Fifty Fifty (1988), and Schattenboxer (1992). It was in 1984 that he was awarded, with Rosco Laboratories Incorporated, the Scientific and Engineering Award for the development of an improved, non-toxic fluid for creating fog and smoke for motion picture and theatre production. This technological innovation was huge as previously fog or smoke was generated by the use of chemicals, which were irritating, and the resulting product was noxious. The previous alternative at the time was oil smoke produced by a vaporizing device, but this would irritate any inhalers’ throats, damage their lungs, and the compound was also very flammable. Or the other option was adding dry ice to heated water to generate fog but unfortunately the mist generated with this technique left strong moisture at the site and was potentially a hazard on dance floors. The mixture created by Schaidt was made up of double-distilled water, to prevent mineral residues, and high-purity glycols which would be pressed, with for example a piston pump, through a valve into a tubular heating element, heated to approximately 300 °C and then evaporated. The glycol vapor then condenses when it exits the nozzle of the device and at the same time the jet breaks down into visible mist in the form of microscopic droplets. This new form of creating fog quickly replaced previous methods as it was a much safer and pleasant option and it opened the door for fog machines now to be used in places they previously hadn’t been available in. Without patenting this formula, many imitations and similar products arose on the market meaning the original product was not as successful as it may have been. Regardless, Günther Schaidt and his wife Renate Brühl-Schaidt founded their own company called SAFEX, now Chemie GmbH, in 1973 as a service provider and manufacturer of special effects for stage, television, and film productions. Today they sell smoke and fog devices and accessories, stage pyrotechnics, stage blood, crash glass, and confetti shooters on their online store. They also sell smaller products like artificial snow, soot / dirt / dust, and effect sprays. The location of the company is in Tangstedt, Pinneberg, Germany and is rated three out of five stars on Google Reviews. A few pieces of technology he would’ve used in his time would’ve been the Rosco 4500 Fog Machine or the Rosco Model 1700 Fog Machine. The 4500 was discontinued in the 90s and was never sold in large quantities when in production and there is no user manual of it to  be found, just advertisements of the product. The 1700 is a vaporizer fogger that has remote and DMX control options and requires 120 volts of power (manual).

        

Günther Schaidt personally demonstrates his film effect experience with an explosion that ignites directly behind him. Demonstration was part of a public event organized by the Federal Institute for Materials Testing in Berlin.