Good news, everyone! I’ve been talking with Focal Press for the past several months, and yesterday, I found out that my book was approved. It is tentatively titled The Prop Building Guidebook: For Theatre, Film and TV. What’s it going to be about? I am going to lay out all the “whys” of prop building I’ve developed over the years to help you build your own props. Don’t worry; it’s going to be heavy on the “hows” as well. Everything from carpentry and metalwork, to fabric and upholstery, molding and casting, and painting too. It will be the first guide to building props that will feature color pictures. We’re living in the future now!
The Prop Building Guidebook will hit the bookshelves in February, 2013. I know, it feels like a long way off. I will also be developing a companion website and some short videos to complement the book which may debut slightly ahead of then. Until then, you’ll have to continue getting your prop fix from this blog.
So don’t worry about this blog. The world of props is a vast world indeed, and I will continue covering all the news and information here that won’t fit in my book. Some exciting things are on the horizon; the third annual NYC Props Summit is scheduled for August 26th (drop me a line if you are interested in attending). I’ve recently begun interviewing props people, and will post those in a few weeks when I get through transcribing them (transcribing video takes a long time, apparently).
So keep on reading! There’s a world of prop-portunities out there!
I feel almost silly reviewing the Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information by Paul Carter and George Chiang; it is already so well-known and ubiquitous in the theatre world, I don’t know that I have anything to add. Nonetheless, every time I pick it up, it’s like I’m rediscovering how much useful information it has in it for the props professional. If you haven’t gotten this book because you think it’s aimed solely at the carpenter, electrician, stagehand or stage manager, think again.
Inside, you can find illustrations differentiating the type of moulding we use, parts of a window and wood joints. You can find lists and illustrations of the common hand and power tools you would find in a prop shop, as well as all the hardware and fasteners you will come across. It also includes definitions and descriptions of the various fabrics at our disposal, the multitude of adhesives we use (along with their ingredients) and the different types of rope and cord you can choose from. Along the way, you can also learn how to tie the most common types of theatre knots, how to draw a variety of geometric shapes (like pentagons and hexagons) and how to build a flat. Of course, you can also find all sorts of general theatre knowledge, such as the parts of a stage and the types of curtains we use.
So really, this isn’t much of a review; it’s more of a reminder that if you work in technical theatre (or film for that matter), you should own this book. Case closed.
Thurston James was born in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1933. He was a descendant of Jesse James, the infamous outlaw of the West. According to his obituary:
Thurston James passed away Friday, August 27, 2005, near his home in Sherman Oaks, California. He was in the process of mailing the latest issue of The James-Younger Gang Journal which he published. The cause of death presently is unknown. Thurston will be interred at Rose Hills Cemetery, Whittier, California.
He was also working on a book about lighting effects which he never finished. You can see a whole wealth of photographs from that book at Danny Truxaw’s website.
First let me start with the good. The first chapter is probably one of the best-written texts on developing an approach to building those props you need to build which you’ve never built before. It is one of the reasons I got this book. When I began writing my own book and working on my presentation for the 2009 SETC Theatre Symposium, I discovered this book; after reading the first chapter, I recognized the similarities in our approach and knew I was on to something.
The second chapter on safety is also wonderfully comprehensive and useful for the theatre artist.
It is after that when the problems begin. This is a good idea for a book, and that’s what the majority of it feels like: an idea. The writing is chopped up into so many bullet points and little blurbs that it never feels like more than an outline or book proposal. The interesting parts are not fleshed out enough, and the uninteresting parts are given an equal amount of room. Even the layout is troubling; this book has so much white space (some pages have only a handful of words), that were it removed, it would probably be more like a large pamphlet rather than a whole book. The first two chapters show so much potential, with an author who obviously knows her props, while the rest reads like a poorly-made PowerPoint slideshow. And let’s be honest; no one can make a PowerPoint slide sound interesting.
Speaking of layout, should I mention that the headings throughout the book use a font that looks suspiciously like Comic Sans? That, along with sample projects like cow masks and elf shoes, promise a certain amount of quirkiness, but the text itself remains dry and humorless.
Perhaps all of this could be forgiven if the photographs and illustrations were well made. Alas, this is not so. Even the largest pictures are no bigger than a wallet-sized photo, and they are all in black and white. Some are so washed out you cannot make out the details, while others are left with no context; for example, a photograph of a “shampoo bottle costume” shows a costume without a person inside of it, so it looks like a regular shampoo bottle. With a plain background, you cannot even discern the size. Some of the sections do not even have photographs. This may be forgivable in the chapter on materials; a picture of “muslin” would be nice, but not necessary. However, there are a few projects which do not even include a picture. With the descriptions sparse as it is, neglecting to include a photograph makes one wonder why the project was even included.
Since I mentioned the chapter of materials, I’d like to mention another problem I have with this book. In a seemingly random collection of materials one would use for making props, the book lists generic materials alongside brand-name products. So one page will talk about urethane foam, while the next page discusses Sculpt or Coat. The whole chapter reads more like the contents of one’s supply cabinet rather than a comprehensive overview of the materials available to a props artisan. Without placing a product like Sculpt or Coat within the context of materials, you make the discussion irrelevant to an artisan who lives in an area where one cannot buy Sculpt or Coat, or it becomes obsolete when the brand goes out of business. Finally, I just have to point this out: the book lists “backpack frame” as a material. Really?
I do not mean to heap complaints onto this book, but I feel I need to give a fair review. The final major problem I have with this book is its lack of focus shown by its choice of projects. Of the 31 projects, 7 are “animal heads” and 7 are crowns/hats. The rest of the projects include costumes, a puppet, shoes, some masks among other random props. It feels like the projects want to be either more general, or more specialized. If one is interested in learning more, there exist books on any of these project types that explain the processes far better. Perhaps if the projects were more exemplary, this type of hodge-podge collection could be overlooked (Thurston James’ Theatre Props Handbook takes a similar scatter-shot approach in the materials and techniques it explains, but makes up for it in its wit and sheer amount of knowledge it contains), but one of the projects is literally hot-gluing flowers to a costume.
I don’t know what it is about books about theatrical props where even when a talented artisan is involved, the end result feels cheap, shoddy and incomplete. You only have to browse the crafts section of any bookstore to see any number of trite and instantly forgettable books which are nonetheless chock full of beautiful full-color photography and clear writing. If you are looking for general books about theatrical prop-making, you would be better off with Andy Wilson’s Making Stage Props, James’ Molding and Casting Handbook, or even his aforementioned Theatre Props Handbook. If you want more focused books on specific crafts, such as millinery, puppets or costume crafts, you can find any number of books with far better instructions.
This book is tailor-made to anyone who works as a props artisan. In many ways, it is the book I wish I had when I first started out as a props carpenter. It does not talk about shopping, or organizing a prop list, or talking with directors. It is not a collection of tips and tricks used by props people, such as breakable glasses, blood knives, or fake food. Quite simply, it deals with how to construct props the way a professional prop shop constructs props. For the most part, that means furniture, though it also includes examples of large decorative pieces, masks, and some weaponry.
Because it deals with more tried-and-techniques (and it was written in 2003), it is one of the most up-to-date books about making stage props you can find.
As you may have noticed from his spelling of “moulds” above, Wilson is British. The book is still highly useful even with a few linguistic and cultural differences—20mm plywood instead of 3/4″, for example.
The photographs, though all black-and-white, are very clear. He also includes a lot of diagrams and illustrations. Obviously, a book on prop-making can never hope to contain all the materials and processes one can ever use; he does, however, cover the most common ones which can be used to build probably 90% of the props you will ever build for the stage. Some of the information he includes can be oddly specific; for example, in the chapter on “wood”, he includes a diagram for a lathe, with all the parts listed. This is the only tool that gets such a diagram in that chapter. Why? I’m not sure.
Overall, the amount of information Wilson packs into this compact book is amazing, and it has something for prop-makers of all skills, whether new to the field, or experienced artisans. I feel strongly that it is one of the few “necessary” books for prop-makers, and even for prop people in general.
Making and finding props for theatre, film, and hobbies
by Paul Carter and George Chiang; it is already so well-known and ubiquitous in the theatre world, I don’t know that I have anything to add. Nonetheless, every time I pick it up, it’s like I’m rediscovering how much useful information it has in it for the props professional. If you haven’t gotten this book because you think it’s aimed solely at the carpenter, electrician, stagehand or stage manager, think again.
and 
, two books which, despite being over twenty years old, remain necessary texts on any prop person’s bookshelf. He has also written 
and 
, making him one of the most prolific authors in the realm of props.
by Ann J. Carnaby, is quite the mixed-bag in terms of books about props.
