Category Archives: Useful Sites

Useful Sites

The Most August Links in Props

The store bought items used as sci-fi movie props – In theatre, even the lowest-budget show will demand actual antiques and designer furniture. In film, apparently, you can just talk into a lady’s razor and call it a communicator.

Carpenter makes on-stage magic for actors, and cross stitches horror scenes – Mike Gerlach, props carpenter for Syracuse Stage, talks about the various things he’s had to build over the years.

“It’s a tool to tell the story…” Bernadine Cockey: Props Master! – The Idaho Shakespeare Festival props master discusses her job and shows off photographs of some of her work.

Stranger Things Product Placement: The Definitive Guide – The Dieline looks at all the vintage packaging found in this amazing show, both real and imaginary. As a bonus, many of the boxes and labels are flattened out, so you can print your own!

Finally, it must have been artisan week on the internet. We have a bunch of articles dealing with other theatre craftspeople outside of props. You can Meet the People Behind the Santa Fe Opera’s Amazing Hats, discover Broadway’s Dirty Secret: How an Artisan Turns Costumes From Riches to Rags, and learn The Many Secrets and Sequins of William Ivey Long, Broadway’s Costume King.

Useful Sites

Prop Shop Confidential

More Stranger Things! More Stranger Things! People are in love with the show and want to know more about the props. This week, we have two podcasts that talk with props master Lynda Reiss. First is a short 7:40 interview on CBC Radio. Second is an hour-long episode of Pop Culture Confidential with both Reiss and Shannon Purser, the actress who plays Barb.

Dorothy Thicket has put together this great reference chart for armor materials. It’s handy for all sorts of props, comparing the properties of materials like acrylic, EVA foam, Worbla, and more.

Eugene Lee recently received his 12th Emmy Nomination for Saturday Night Live, which he has been designing sets for since the first episode back in 1975. Crain’s talks with him about his career in TV and on stage.

Variety has a special feature on “Artisans So White”; while a lot of attention is paid to the diversity of directors, actors, and writers on films, the below-the-line craftspeople and technicians remain overwhelmingly white and male. Though this article deals with film, the same trends can be found in theatre. They even include a quote from Clint Ramos, a costume/set designer familiar to many in the theatrical world. It’s a thorny issue to deal with, and part of the problem is that so much hiring at companies is done informally, with jobs going to friends and acquaintances of people already working there.

Useful Sites

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.

Useful Sites

Friday Prop Talks

First off, I’ve already gotten nearly a hundred responses to my quick survey about my upcoming book, The Prop Effects Guidebook. I’ll probably close it down after this weekend, so if you still want to fill it out, it’s your last chance. I’m sure I’ll have more surveys on different topics over the next couple of months.

Wired talks with the props master on Stranger Things about some of the retro 80s props used on the show. The show is set in 1983, so props master Lynda Reiss had to track down several iconic pieces which are hard to find but recognizable to many. And if you haven’t seen the show yet, do yourself a favor and watch it as soon as possible.

As China becomes the next superpower, it only makes sense to check out some of the prop makers working in Shanghai. Global Times looks at three props people working in TV, film, and on a freelance basis.

Take a look at the set designs in this year’s Berkshire Theatre Festival. Though no mention is made of the props shop, it’s a nice behind-the-scenes look at how the scenery and effects come to life.

Finally, Adam Savage gave a TED Talk on his love of costuming and cosplay. You can watch the video or read the transcript which Tested has graciously provided.

Useful Sites

End of Week Prop Links

First up, Rolling Stone checks out the ghost fighting equipment in that new Ghostbusters movie everyone is raving about. Props master Kirk Corwin shows us all the proton packs, traps, and other sundry items used throughout the film.

Rosco shows off how to make a statue of David out of foam and FoamCoat. Though the emphasis is on the FoamCoat, the real interesting part is how they were able to export a 3D model of the statue to a CNC machine and build the sculpture out of many layers of regular insulation foam.

Back to Ghostbusters, Rick Lazzarini shows how his shop built an animatronic “Slimer” to use as a stand-in for the CGI effects in the film.

Back to foam carving, Make Magazine has some quick tips for sculpting Styrofoam. Though short and fairly basic, they have a few tips that you may not have tried yet.

Finally, Popular Woodworking dispels six myths about wood finishing. They aren’t fun myths about unicorns and bridge trolls, but myths about stains and grains.