Tag Archives: Iron Man

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!

Baby Iron Man

I hope everyone enjoyed the nineteen interviews I’ve posted over the last month. Thanks to Ron DeMarco’s class at Emerson for taking the time to do that, and allowing me to post all of them. If you haven’t read them yet, they are a great cross-section of how prop masters get where they are, and are filled with wonderful advice on how to build your own career.

Even though I was running these interviews for awhile, you may have still seen my name out there in the internet. I made a little video showing an Iron Man mask I constructed for my baby this past Halloween.

It went a little viral. I ended up on TV a few times, interviewed by Right This Minute, my local Fox news channel, and WFMY. I was also interviewed over the phone by Huffington Post, the Today Show, and HLN. And then I watched the story get picked up on Buzzfeed, E! Online, US Weekly, CNet, as well as trending on Facebook and appearing on the Yahoo! Front Page, and appearing on news sites all over the world in all different languages.

Thankfully, all that has died back down again. The mask was a pretty simple build. As the video states, I found the pattern online and scaled it down. I assembled it in paper first to check the fit and make some modifications ( I left the back and sides off so it would just sit on top of his head rather than act as a full mask). The actual piece was built out of EVA foam, aka “fun” or “craft” foam. It is the same material I built some of the puppets out of for Snow Queen, which we are currently remounting at Triad Stage.

Collier is still in the hospital, but getting better. He wishes all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Baby Iron Man
Baby Iron Man

Friday Rehearsal Report

In case you missed it, Backstage Jobs has changed its name to OffStage Jobs. Same great site, new title and address.

Ray Harryhausen, special effects pioneer, passed this week. StarWars.com has a great tribute to him, talking about his influence on the movie industry. I posted a great video interview of Harryhausen a while back, too.

Over at Tested, Harrison Krix has a tutorial on some pretty advanced mold making for props. It’s actually part 8 of a series on prop making, all of which is heavily photographed and well documented.

I like this show, so I really liked this slide show of 10 odd items from the New Girl set. But even if you’re not a fan, the explanations of how they dress sets and locate props on a TV show are very insightful.

This next one is only marginally prop related, but it’s about Iron Man, a movie that has cool props and whose hero is kind of like a prop maker. Scientists look at the Iron Man suit and debate which aspects are possible with our technology.