Tag Archives: Bill Doran

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May the Props Be With You

NFTS Model Making Course Leader Reveals What it Was Like Working as Prop Maker on Star Wars: The Last Jedi - John Lee was a prop maker on the newest Star Wars film, and he talks with his alma mater about what it was like working on such a large-scale film.

EVA Foam – What it is and Where to Get It – A Prop Maker’s Guide – Bill Doran gives us a rundown of all the different types of flexible closed-cell foam which prop builders use.

Watch Colin Furze build a life-size TIE Silencer from Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Colin Furze and his team build one of the new spaceships from the recent Star Wars film. It certainly looks sturdy.

Building a Studio Scale Model of the Escape Pod from Star Wars: A New Hope – At the other end of the scale, David Goldberg builds a miniature replica of one of the first spaceships we see in the Star Wars franchise, forty years ago.

Wow, look at that; I managed to find one non-Star Wars related link to share this week!

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Late Weekend Links

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Hero Props: Graphic Design in Film & Television – The 99% Invisible Podcast sits down with Annie Atkins, a graphic designer who makes paper props and other signage for films.

Blood Test – The Many Shades of Bookshelves and Blood – Jay Duckworth talks about how he got the blood just right for one of the Public Theater’s latest productions.

The film props firm targeting the YouTube generation – BBC News sits down with Ryan Johnson, president of NewRuleFX. They make breakaway bottles, as well as foam frying pans, custom e-cigarettes, and other special effect props.

Weta Workshop: Behind the Scenes on Thor: Ragnarok – Weta Workshop made some super colorful weapons and armor for the latest Thor film. Check out some behind-the-scenes footage in this video. In another video, Tested visits Ironhead Studio to talk about making Hela’s magnificent headdress from the same film.

Probius the Protoss Probe – Prop Build Tutorials – Punished Props debuted a replica prop of the Protoss Probe at this year’s Blizzcon convention. Check out this series of videos detailing the build process as well as giving tutorials on many of the techniques used.

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First Links After the Eclipse

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Star Wars set decorator who ‘cobbled together’ props reflects on film 40 years later – Roger Christian, one of the prop makers and set decorators on the original Star Wars film, takes a look back at how he made some of the most iconic props of the franchise.

Stage Properties student lives the dream behind the scenes – The University of North Carolina School of the Arts blog highlights one of their props students and where she worked over the summer.

The Death Of Local Craftsmanship Is Causing Problems For Costume Designers – Though this article is about costume design, you can see a similar thing happening with props. As more manufacturing moves overseas, we are left with less local craftspeople and shops who can fulfill our needs under the crazy time constraints of our jobs.

Genesis of the Cybermen – Part Six: Designing the new series Cybermen – WhoSFX takes a look at the team who designed the current Cybermen for Doctor Who.  They show how the design went from sketch to model to final product.

Turning Your Garage Into an Intergalactic Weapons Factory, with Prop & Model Maker Bill Doran – The “Busy Creator” podcast interviews Bill Doran, aka Punished Props, who has turned his cosplay and prop-making hobby into a full-fledged business in Seattle.

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Mind Blowing Props Links

At the Stage Door with Lori – The San Francisco Opera shines a spotlight on their prop master of nearly 20 years, Lori Harrison. Find out how she got there and watch the video to go backstage in the props shop.

A Beginner’s Guide to Making Mind Blowing Props – Bill Doran of Punished Props has taken his ebook guide to building props and put it up on his website for free, forever.

Giant puppets for “BFG” stage play – Gavin Worth recently made these giant puppets with a group of students at the International School of Lausanne in Switzerland. Check out the image gallery for pictures and animations of how they were built.

These Intricate, Hand Built Suits of Armor Are Fit for a Cat – This is the most important thing on the Internet today. Jeff De Boer has taken his jewelry and metal-working skills and used them to create intricate armor for cats and mice for the past 30 years.

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Friday Prop Roundup

The Most Ingeniously Cheapskate Props And Sets From Classic Movies – Io9 takes a look at some well-known movies and how they occasionally used very low-budget means to get the shot, like cardboard cutouts of castles.

4 Business Tips From One Of The World’s Best Cosplayers – Forbes talks with Bill Doran of Punished Props about the business end of building costumes and props for cosplay. I didn’t count four distinctive tips, but the overall knowledge in this video is pretty helpful.

How to Choose, Cut, and Bend Sheet Metal – I always want to do more sheet metal work, but rarely find the opportunity. But it’s always amazing what you can achieve with just a few hand tools and basic power tools.

Three Friends Battle to the Death With Even More Iconic Movie Weapons in ‘Prop Wars: Prop Harder’ – This video is a bit nonsensical, but it’s mostly fun to watch three guys use a whole bunch of iconic props to fight each other.