If you have a Flickr account, check out the Props Group. There are a lot of great photographs of props from film, television, displays, and hobbies.
Check it out, and if you wish, join the group and share your prop work as well.
This is from last year, but I just came across it and found it interesting. Martha Stewart maintains a prop library for all her photo shoots and television segments. On her blog, she gives an inside look at this props library and how it is maintained. The place looks huge!
They use a bar code system to track and inventory all the props. I know the Santa Fe Opera also bar codes all their props kept in stock. What kind of inventory management system does your shop use?
Mark Walston, the props master at Actors Theatre of Louisville, has a comprehensive and continually updated Flickr stream of photos from the props and scene shop at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.
I had the pleasure of working with Mark and the others there for a few months. It’s a great shop, and an amazing storage space. The giant train seat in the center of the photograph above is one of the pieces I built.
I have some more pictures after the break:
I’ve spent three summers at the Santa Fe Opera as a props carpenter. It’s a great place to build props and expand your skills, and the shows they produce are top-notch. I would definitely encourage any beginning props people to apply to their apprentice program.
Below are some links to news articles that tell some more about the props shop at the Santa Fe Opera.
Slideshow: The Santa Fe Opera Prop Shop
A slideshow produced by the Santa Fe New Mexican. It looks behind the scenes of the prop shop during the 2007 season, when I worked there as a props carpenter. I’m not in any of the photos, but you can see a cart I built for La Boheme.
Santa Fe Opera Tales: Too Wet, Too Dry
This article focuses on Randy Lutz, the head of props there, and the problems he faces with doing outdoor theatre.
