All posts by Eric Hart

Fonts and Logos

March 16, 2009 Eric Hart

Will sent me two sites he uses for making paper props.

The first is Best Brands of the World. This has vector files of the logos for many of the most popular companies around the world. What’s a vector file? It’s a graphic you can resize without getting those jaggy edges. You usually work with them in a vector graphics program, like Adobe Illustrator, but you can still use them in a raster graphics program like Adobe Photoshop. When you open the file, it asks you what size you want to make it. I’ll probably be using this site this week, as I have to build a Starbucks sign.

The second is What the Font. Will says:

You can send a scan of any string of text (it has suggestions for size and length) and it will make a pretty good guess as to what font you’re looking for. This is really handy if you’re trying to duplicate something in a paper prop. They also have a forum that has logos and text that have already been worked out.

Maybe one day, Will can write a tutorial on the newspapers he had to make while I was working at Actors Theatre.

How-to

A bar for Torture

March 13, 2009 Eric Hart 1 Comment

I recently finished building props for Why Torture is Wrong, And the People Who Love Them, at the Public Theatre. It’s the world premiere and is written by Christopher Durang.

One of the more complicated and interesting pieces I had to make was this bar. The top is kidney-shaped, and the whole base has an elliptical footprint.

You can get a better picture of the overall shape of the piece in the picture above. You can also see how I framed it out.

A closeup of the strips which run the length of the bar

Above is a closeup of one of the three strips which run across the center of the bar. They stuck out an inch and a half, so I built up strips of wiggle-wood and lauan. I used lauan because it was cheaper than the wiggle-wood, and the front of the bar had a gentle enough curve for the lauan to handle.

If you’ve ever worked with wiggle-wood, you know that it leaves a rough surface. There are any number of ways to make it smooth, from covering it with some kind of laminate or veneer to coating it with some kind of filler. For this piece, Jay, the prop master, told me an easy recipe for a coating. I mixed about 4 parts of joint compound to about 1 part white glue, and added a touch of water until I got an easily spreadable consistency that wouldn’t drip or run. Joint compound can be sanded very smooth, and is easy to work with, but it tends to crack and flake off over time. The addition of the glue helps give it enough flexibility to keep that from happening.

Jobs

Careers in Technical Theater

March 11, 2009 Eric Hart

If you looked closely at my previous post on Milwaukee Rep’s prop shop, you will have noticed a link to Mike Lawler’s webpage. Mike is the author of Careers in Technical Theater, a book I have not gotten around to reading yet, unfortunately. The reviews are fairly praiseworthy, though, and it does have information about props.

The rest of the website has a lot of useful resources as well. He has put together a list of U.S. academic programs in technical theatre, a survey of technical theatre earnings in 2006, a collection of links relevant to technical theatre and all its branches, and a list of the various publications devoted to backstage work.

Mike also runs EcoTheatre, a blog about creating theatre without sacrificing the environment.

Showcases

Milwaukee Rep’s Prop Shop

March 11, 2009 Eric Hart 1 Comment

Anna Warren pointed me to an article which goes behind the scenes at Milwaukee Repertory‘s prop shop. “Props Properly Placed“, by Susan Bence of WUVM, shows Anna and the other artisans, along with properties director Jim Guy, getting ready for a production of Pride and Prejudice.Â There is an audio segment as well as a written one. Don’t miss the link to the photo slideshow as well.

For more information, Mike Lawler’s website has a profile on Jim Guy, including a short video.

Features

Making a props portfolio part 2

March 9, 2009 Eric Hart 4 Comments

In my previous post, I discussed what to include in your props portfolio. In this part, I will discuss how to layout, organize, and present your portfolio. I’m going to use my own portfolio as a guide; there are certainly many other ways you can make your portfolio.

Layout

There are a number of ways to layout your pages. You can of course do it by hand, where you make copies of all your photographs and drawings and glue them to paper or a heavier board. Or, if you want a less time-consuming and cheaper method, you can do it on your computer. For simple layouts, you can use any number of software programs, depending on what you are already comfortable using or what you have access to. I use Scribus, an open-source desktop publishing program. I know people who use Powerpoint. You can even use a word processor if that’s what you like working with. You basically need to fit images and text on a page, so your options are limitless.

Continue reading Making a props portfolio part 2 →

Prop Agenda