Friday, January 14, 2011
Building a prop from a photograph
Props: "When you are building a prop, you are often working off of some kind of reference material. In many cases, a photograph is the only reference you have. I’ve learned a couple of tricks over the years to help me construct a prop from a photograph.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Costume drapers build their pieces from a sketch. When you need to build a prop from a picture or sketch there are lots of things to help you make an educated guess. Prop people know so much about so many different things it's great to hear how they think through problems.
Although a props master is not the prop's designer they have to be extremely creative and resourceful in order to do their job to the best of their abilities. All prop masters know all about different time periods, know where to find the oddest items, and know a lot about different materials. A good prop master is worth their weight in gold.
I love building props from a picture like this. I find it to be great to go off of a picture as a base idea, but still have the freedom to change it to fit your purposes. Taking it from an image, especially an older image such as the hot dog cart, is an imaginative puzzle for me. As much fun as it is to create something completely new and innovative, I love the way the reverse engineering of items can take you back in time and allow you to alter the past, especially if it's a really clear image that sheds some light on how it was previously built.
This article gives you a very practical and designer type of view on how to build a prop from a picture. Although we look at a picture and want to build the prop perfectly to match the picture we should always be a designer and original. This articles shows how you must be well educated in many areas from history to construction in order to be great at making props. It just goes to show that being well rounded is sometimes better then being perfect in one area.
I find that most of the details and history of each individual prop is overlooked so often. Therefore, I appreciate the in depth descriptions that the author provides here about both the research and design that goes into an object. I would have loved to hear the break down of a hands prop.
props is a very interesting form of arts in theatre. i feel many times the props department is underrated and give the backlash and second citizen treatment from the rest of the show. in many aspects props hold show s together. this takes talent.
Post a Comment