Stand offs and Metal Turning

Metomic brass turning has a variety of brass turned finials.  They also have stand offs and picture lamps.  An odd assortment of stuff - but items that could be difficult to find again in the future.

Food Props

I came across this article about the props used on the Food Networks shows.  Its always kind of interesting to look into what other folks have.  I think real shame (or highlight if you have the honor to walk through and talk to Wendy Waxman the resident historian and design director) is that so many of the nuggets of information that could be learned will never be committed to paper and will become lost over time. The photos also reveal other interesting notes that designers could find useful - like saturated colors do best under stage lights on film.

I have to say that everything looked really clean - and there was no evidence that the items were stored under a dust cover...  it makes me wonder if they were cleaned for the shoot!

Props - life sized animals, dinosaurs, and characters

You never really know what you will find yourself in the need of when you are bidding projects.  The latest museum project has me looking for farm animals and I came across this site: Butlers and Signs.

They carry life sized fiberglass and resin props.  The prices seem fairly reasonable, though probably too high for theatrical props.

Some of what they carry includes Christmas and Santa themed items (great for those Santa visits), dinosaurs, mounted heads, cowboys, pirates, butlers, carousal horses, oversized food and lots of zoo and farm animals.

History of Prop Money

Priceonomics has an interesting article called The Business of Fake Hollywood Money.  It’s a really interesting read.  I have certainly ran into issues when I have done props in the past – making money realistic enough for use, but in a way that we could do without getting into trouble (its not like you can just go to the local kinkos and plop a $5 bill down on the copy machine…).

The article is also interesting as it discusses some of the Hollywood prop shops.  And for listing the book by Fred Reed called Show Me the Money, about the history of money in the movies.  It is definitely a book to add to my reading list!

Fosshape & Wonderflex

For a theatrical production that came through, we were tasked with doing a statue. Instead of carving the body and clothes we used Fosshape. It’s a material that can be sewn or glued, and can be shaped with steam or heat, and when the material is cool it maintains its shape. The material can shrink up t 30% though, so allow for that when using the product. Below are a couple of photos from the shop showing the piece we built.

The same company can has a product called Wonderflex, which would work better in situations where you would typically use Fiberglas, carved foam, or paper mache. It is similar to Celastic, but celastic requires immersion in solvents to become moldable, and Wonderflex uses heat instead. For more information on the history of Celastic & props check out Prop Agenda.

Bed Rail Hangers

I ran across some of these bed rail hangers in the shop today. We often use Z-clip or french cleats to hang things, but I could easily see where these would be useful, particularly on a small item (think prop) or on rails as designed.

Small Turntables for Props / Sign Rotators

As an update to a previous post on Dino Rentos Studios, we recently purchased a turntable (8 1/2" diameter) to spin a prop in a display case. They have a number of sizes. The place also has architectural pieces (columns, molding etc made from foam and coated). Their site is work a look.

Boxwood Hedges & Plants

Finding reaslistic greenery (usually specific plants) is always fun, and sources are always helpful. Looking for boxwood, I was suprised to see that Amazon sells in by the roll. A few months back I needed a very specific piece of laminate, which I also purchased off of Amazon because our local suppliers could not procur it. I remmeber propping in the 90's and how muh sites like ebay helped back then in the process of finding a needle in the haystack.

Also check out:
Geranium Street
Amazon Foliages
Silk Flowers Factory

Quake Putty

A couple years ago I posted about Museum Putty - a product like Mortite, that was being advertised for specific use in Museums. Then last April, I posted a pic of a vase being secured. Theatrically not unusually - but I thought it was unique because it was in a hotel in Costa Rico. Today, while searching for something completely different - I stumbled upon Quake Hold. Seems to be pretty strong.

I guess it’s also a little interesting to me that we now see it for use for walls (poster tac) & I have seen people using it in their homes to secure small knick knacks to display shelves. The evolution of the idea from an esoteric theatrical trick to something marketed as an official product with specific uses is a reminder about all of the simple things we know in theatre, yet take for granted.

Trees

Trees…. There are probably as many different ways to fabricate them as there are people fabricating them… Many years ago for a theatre production we took a piece of steel, bent it and covered with plywood and fabric, then muslin & glue to create birch trees. The edges of the muslin “peeled” off in a very realist looking way – but we were only recreating trunks of the trees. Otherwise, I have seen muslin, foam, chicken wire, cnc cut and nested, foam coat, sculptorcoat, supper 88, hardcoat and polygem all used to create trees – and virtually any other sculptural shape. Plus, I have seen many “recipes” for bark usually containing some mixture of glue or binder with sawdust or shavings. One of these days, perhaps we will all get together and try all of the materials at once and be able to compare the products to each other. Until that happens, I wanted to bookmark a few additional resources about trees and sculpting material on Poly Gem’s resource pages.
How To build a tree is their first offering, followed by a page of tips. They refer to using a press mold which EHow has an article on.

In terms of buying out fake bark, take a look at:
Flex Bark
Quality Silks (also for branches and foliage)
Commercial Silk (also for leaves)
Retail Display and Props
Earth Flora
Faux Stone Sheets also sells Flex Bark, a seemingly popular brand of fake tree bark.
Van Dykes Taxidermy offers pieces more suited for props. There are also other taxidermy supply sources that sell similarly sized small pieces of fake bark.

There is also several patents that are online regarding fabricating trees and making tree bark:
Peter J. Fritsch et al
from 1939.
Jarobe
Menard

Mortite

I was introduced to mortite rope caulk many (many) years ago for securing props to the set. What is surprising to me about the above photos is that I took them in a hotel - in Costa Rica.

Prop Source

I came across Dino Rentos Studios while looking for props for a recent event. (Somehow you always find things you aren't looking for when you don't need them, and have problems finding the item you really do need. The item of need at the moment had been handheld confetti cannons, which seemed very common until needed more immediately). At any rate, this shop had a couple props I hadn't seen before (fake cinder blocks for instance) and thought it was a good addition to the list of potencial sources for the future.

Wood Balls

Seems like I am often in search of teh most random things. Todays quest - 3" wooden balls. Premier Wood Products has them up to 18" in diameter. Don't expect it to come cheap that large though - the cheapest (pine poplar or mapple is $683, and other woods can run up to & over a thousand. They have other items - appliques and overlays, corbels and brackets and columns and pilasters among others.

Casey's Wood Products also has a wide varity of items, but they tend more towards game pieces, starts and craft cutouts than architectural details.

Woodworks, ltd. has a wide variety of wooden shapes & also sells wooden kitchen utensils.

Bear Woods has turnings, including balls, as well as clock parts and other craft items.

Craft America has a crazy assortment of wooden items acrylic items, as well as much more. It's an odd collection of craft stuff.

Superior Studio Specialties

Speaking of resources, Superior Studio Specialties is one to keep in your back pocket. From Giant Christmas bulbs, to LED lighting, Spaghetti lights (faux neon?, Bamboo, thatch, palm trees & cactus, Fake birds (including several that would be good Into the Woods options, as well as a variety of other props. They aren't the cheapest place out there, but they have a unique variety of stuff.

Unmanila Rope

UnManila Rope is a product I am using on a current project. While it will degrade under sunlight, it was important to look like authentic nautical rope, without splintering like hemp or manilla. While I wouldn't consider this for rigging, and it great for decoration, and it comes in a variety of sizes.

Zen & the Art of Prop Making

Deco Works has a short list of entries that involve some prop "how-to's". It's sort of a wierd mix between easy or obvious and more difficult, but worth a look.

If money was no object

I would have one of these. I can think of tons of fun things to do with one of these - and could definately see it's use around the shop, especially for props. Take a look at the PlasmaCam and see what you think.

Transformers Filming

Transformers has been filming here in Chicago the past several weeks, and it has brought out lots of crowds. Last week we went down to check out the installation of some of our rental deck (not installed by us). Nothing like working on top of a 25 story building. Of course, you could ignore the view and count the number of OSHA violations....


On the other hand, it was cool seeing some of the scenery they brought in. They had scenery sitting in lots across the city, on trailers, staged for future use. With the cranes, a casual glance most of it looked like no more than building ruble... the lack of hardhats, coupled with sharpie inventory marks made it a little more obvious.


Looking at the scenery brought up an interesting topic: How much of this was built for the show, and how much was pulled from stock? The ruble, the cars, and even the damaged bus shelters were generic - they could be used repeatedly, just like many theatre props. On the other hand, these pieces are large - and would cost alot to store, and with travel and set up could require additional touch up. At what point then does the cost of storage out weight the cost of building new? Thoughts?

Graphic Software

I ran across this website today and thought it would be something useful to come back to. ShapeCollage will take your photos and create a collage to letters or a shape of your choice. Below are all images that have been posted on this blog.

Stuffed Fish

Well it isn't everyday that you come up with the need for a realistic stuff fish. But I have had the need while propping a show before, and last week I had the need to price out said realistic fish. Cabin Critters, Inc. sell a variety of fish, sealife, ducks and other wildlife. Some are more true to life than others - the 10" red fox is alot more cute than realistic, but the company offers a nice selection at reasonable prices. Next time your looking for a unique stuffed animal - give the a look.