Useful Sites

Here, have some Prop Stories

See How the Met Built ‘Tosca,’ Its Biggest Production of the Season – Lovely photographs accompany this article taking us inside the production shops at the Metropolitan Opera as they build the set, costumes, and props for their next iteration of Tosca.

Inside the Art Studio That Brings Broadway Shows to Life – Joe Forbes himself narrates this video that shows the scenic artists at work inside Scenic Art Studios. Forbes is one of Peter Feller’s “five heads” who started his own studio when Feller Scenery closed (the others being Nino Novellino with Costume Armour, Roger and Shelley Gray with Center Line Studios, and someone needs to help me remember the others).

May the 4th be with you: Elstree and Leavesden prop maker looks back on Star Wars – Though Star Wars Day was last week, I didn’t see this article until after I posted last week’s blog. Check out some of the early days of Star Wars when the props team were first creating some of the most iconic film props of our time.

The show must go on? Many theater performers, crew members don’t report head injuries – Props people, especially props run crew, are not immune to head injuries. A recent Ohio University study showed that theater professionals do not report head injuries at an alarming rate.

LAPD investigating disappearance of original Iron Man suit used in Marvel film – The iconic suit of armor from the first Iron Man film has recently gone missing from a Pacoima warehouse. It is hard to believe it has been ten years since that film came out!

And don’t forget that Ashley Flowers and I have started a new podcast called “Silk Flowers and Papier Mache Hearts.” Look for new episodes every Tuesday, and be sure to rate us on iTunes!

News

An All-New Props Podcast

Yesterday, Ashley Flowers and I published the first episode of our new podcast. Both of us have been wanting to start a props podcast for awhile, and we got the ball rolling on Facebook a few weeks ago. “Silk Flowers and Papier Mache Hearts” (get it?) is all about props for the stage, screen, and beyond. We will be discussing all sorts of topics relevant for the props person in performing arts, as well as interviewing other props people.

Our first episode is now available, and you can subscribe to us through iTunes or Google Play, with more options coming in the future. We plan on releasing a new episode every two weeks.

You can also check us out on Twitter.  If you have ideas or questions for future podcasts, send an email to propspodcast@gmail.com.

Useful Sites

May the Props Be With You

First, a couple of upcoming deadlines. The deadline for the 2018 Grants for Early Career Prop Professionals is May 15. If you have an upcoming internship/apprenticeship in props, you are eligible to apply for one of two $1000 grants offered by the Society of Properties Artisan Managers.

If you are going to the Maker Faire Bay Area later this month, check out the The First Annual Maker Faire Prop Contest. The deadline is May 17th to have your prop judged by an all-star team of internet-famous props people.

Han Solo’s Episode VI blaster up for grabs (VIDEO) – Yes, it’s on a site called “guns.com”; sorry about that. But they do have a load of information about the original Star Wars prop, along with a few videos of various replicas being built.

Prop Master April Laird on “Hold the Drama” – The latest episode of the “Hold the Drama” podcast talks with April Laird, who has worked in the props department of shows like Dexter, Grey’s Anatomy, and New Girl.

Make a Marking Gauge for Curves – Chris Schwartz demonstrates how to build a quick marking gauge that allows you to follow a curve to mark an inset.

Building a Portable, Collapsible Workbench - Elisha from Pneumatic Addict shows us how she built a simple workbench that folds down to take up minimal space.

Useful Sites

Last Prop Stories in April

Metal 3D Printing Like Never Seen Before – 1st Century Roman Helmet Build – We’re all out of a job! Except that this took months of hand painting and finishing on top of the actual printing. Not to mention you still need to deal with 3D printing just like any other process, where you break your prop down into its simplest components and determine the best materials and methods to achieve those components. Still, this is an impressive looking helmet.

Inside Hollywood’s Prop Food Wonderland – Take a journey to LA’s Prop Heaven, one of the largest independently-owned prop houses in Burbank, California. Nearly a quarter of their stock is devoted to food and restaurant-themed furniture.

Fit For A King – A Nine Piece Rolling Throne – Jay Duckworth details his process of creating a rolling throne for the Public Theater’s mobile production of Henry V. Initially, the throne had to come out in nine pieces and be assembled by the actors onstage, before another actor jumped on the seat and rode around in it. Luckily, it was the only prop in the show!

Propmaster Annette Breazeale Brings WBTT Theater Sets to Life – Check out this lovely photo slideshow of the prop stock at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, where Annette Breazeale is the props master.

How Some Of The Best Cosplay On Earth Is Made – This video details one of the costume armor pieces created by Henchmen Studios, where over fifteen people spent five weeks fabricating every part.

How-to

Benches from Beautiful Star

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A few months ago, Triad Stage put on their Christmas show, Beautiful Star. Though it was a remount, it had some major design changes this year. For the props shop, we needed to build six church benches that could be rearranged throughout the show to create various “locations.”

For the quatrefoil cut-out, I laid out the pattern with a compass and cut it with a jigsaw. I sanded it smooth using a sanding drum that was nearly the same diameter as the individual circles in the pattern.

Cutting the quatrefoils
Cutting the quatrefoils

I took the time to make one of the quatrefoils as perfect as possible, and then used a pattern cutting bit on my router to cut the rest of the side panels. I needed twelve panels for the six benches I was making.

So many panels
So many panels

The team wanted the benches to be able to stack on top of each other, sit up on their sides, and otherwise act as instant scenery. They also needed to support the weight of actors standing on them, but be lightweight enough for children to carry them.

I routed a groove down the sides of all the legs. My jig kept the groove in the center of the leg and set stop points for the top and bottom as well. I also cut a tongue on the side panels, which you can see in the previous photos.

Routing the joints
Routing the joints

In the picture below, you can see I also cut a mortise and tenon for the apron to connect to the leg, and a notch for the leg to fit up into the seat. Additionally, the aprons and side panels were attached to the seat with pocket hole screws. This sucker was going to be strong.

Fitting it together
Fitting it together

The joints made the whole bench pretty sturdy even without glue, but once it was glued and screwed together, it was rock solid.

The unpainted bench
The unpainted bench

We glazed the seat with a dark brown and painted the sides white. During tech we added the white border around the seat to finish off the look. Now we have six lightweight church benches that can be used in a whole host of shows.

Beautiful Star bench
Beautiful Star bench

Making and finding props for theatre, film, and hobbies