Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Bric-a-brac
Props: "For some productions, the set decoration and dressing can be thought of as an entirely separate area of design. From just a few clues in a script, you need to fill a space with a lifetime’s accumulation of objects. Even the most detailed of set designers will not specify every single item on a stage; for the props person who enjoys dressing a set, choosing these objects is a vital skill."
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6 comments:
I really love to see details and appreciation of the props master's craft. I have been a props master for several productions, and so few people really realize the importance of a such a position. A set designer could design a fantastic interior but without the props master the house would be lifeless. Its the set dressings that really bring the space to life and give it its own character.I feel that often the props master is adding personality to the set and world it self through the objects chosen to be displayed.
It was nice to read this article, because one forgets all the subtleties that are on a set if they are there. If these pieces were missing, everyone would feel something was off. It takes an incredible amount of focus and research to really decide what is appropriate for each set, each home, even a single person. As Mary said, without props, the small details that seem to be added just by chance, a set would have no character. These pieces are essential to any production.
It's amazing how for Film/TV these pieces play an even larger role...or actually the placement and composition. In a live performance the audience has the luxury of perusing the set themselves and discovering every little characteristic. With a camera determining what the audience sees, there is a lot more pressure and planning on the set dresser's (art director's) end. You have to portray and location/character in a much smaller frame, while not overdoing it.
All the bits of "stuff" are something that you never notice until they're not there. If the accumulation of clutter looks natural then it's just a part of the scene and can even go far to transform a space that's not what it's supposed to appear to be into something new (think about the setting for Grapes of Wrath - the Chosky was transformed, just through an accumulation of boxes and the like, from a theatre into a field or a home during the depression). If the "stuff" didn't fit then it would look more like a props storage area than a real scene.
This article made me think about my home, which isn't hugely messy, but there's usually a significant accumulation of papers and cards and miscellanous stuff lying around on tables and on the kitchen counter, and how difficult it would be to recreate the essence of my home on a stage. To successfully be a good props master, you have to creatively figure out what sort of objects would make sense to put on the set, and then figure out exactly how to make them, which isn't always easy.
A couple weeks ago, I was watching a behind-the-scenes video about the making of the sixth Harry Potter movie, and for the scene that takes place in the wizarding joke shop, the designers had to come up with three hundred different products that would make sense to sell in a wizard joke shop, and then make the boxes and packaging for all those products to put in the shop for a five minute scene. It really gave me a new appreciation for the enormous job that prop masters have to accomplish.
This article gave me new insight into what props can do. The more I think about it, the more props seem to take the integral role in the transformation of a set to a real place in the mind of the audience. Without all the trinkets and baubles, a bedroom or living room just look like they're in a hotel. The personal details are what make the show come alive, and the props are those personal details. Just looking around my room, I can see so much bric-a-brac that if taken away, would make my room feel like a dorm and not my home.
I wonder why it is we don't have a design option in Props...?
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