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In 101+ Tips and Tricks Every Prop Maker Should Know, Utah Shakespeare Festival's Properties Director Ben Hohman explains tricks of the trade generally not taught in schools, but essential for prop makers working on the job. With tips and tricks divided into subject categories like carpentry, prop math, soft goods, upholstery, finishing, crafts and effects, and tools, the book breaks this knowledge down so that makers and prop managers can easily access the information, learn the skills, and be better prepared and more useful to any shop they work in. Each tip or trick is clearly introduced, features a relevant example of how it is useful, and includes step-by-step instructions. The book also features interviews and tips from prop makers across the creative industries, showcasing different techniques and need-to-know skills, and a glossary of prop terms that will help readers navigate the day-to-day of the prop shop.This book is written for theatrical prop artisans, prop managers, technical theatre students, and anyone who has an interest in prop building or backstage theatrical knowledge. Whether they are novice prop builders or seasoned professionals with decades of experience, this book will provide readers with a wealth of practical information that will serve them in their craft for many years to come.

Now in its third edition, The Prop Building Guidebook: For Theatre, Film, and TV walks readers through techniques used in historical and contemporary prop making and demonstrates how to apply them to a variety of materials.Experienced prop maker Eric Hart covers the tools and techniques used by professional prop makers throughout the entertainment industry. He outlines a construction process that gives readers the foundational knowledge to choose the best materials and methods for each prop and the background information to know the advantages of these choices. This new edition includes updated information and techniques throughout, including: Over a hundred new images and diagrams Updated terminology, products, and brands used internationally Expanded sections on 3D printing, vacuum forming, foam patterning, and more A new chapter on prop design New information on international safety standards, cleaning, and sanitation More recipes and step-by-step instruction for various finishes Illustrated by hundreds of full-color photographs, this is the most comprehensive guide to prop construction available for professional and student prop makers in theatre, film, and tv.For additional how-to videos, instructional documents, and supplemental information, visit www.propbuildingguidebook.com.

Prop Building for Beginners outlines the basic concepts of prop building by featuring step-by-step instructions to create twenty of the most commonly featured items in theatrical and filmed productions. This book uses a combination of projects to expose readers to a wide range of materials and tools that they might find in a basic scenery or costume shop, serving both as a guide to building simple props and as a crash course in the variety of items a props person may have to build. The projects require a variety of tools, techniques, and materials so that a practitioner who completes all of them will have received a complete introduction to the basics of prop building.Assuming no previous knowledge of prop building, this is the perfect primer for students, hobbyists, or community theater enthusiasts looking to enter the prop shop.Prop Building for Beginners includes access to full-scale printable versions of the patterns featured in the book.

This book explains and provides templates for organizing and managing a prop shop, from pre-production organization to production processes, budgeting, and collaborations with other production areas. It explores how to plan, organize, and maintain a prop shop for safe and efficient production work.

In The Prop Building Guidebook, author Eric Hart demonstrated how to cut, glue, sculpt, and bend raw materials to build props. Now in The Prop Effects Guidebook, he shows us how to connect and assemble components and parts to make those props light up, explode, make noise, and bleed. It delves into the world of electricity, pneumatics, liquids, and mechanical effects to teach you how to make your props perform magic in front of a live audience. The book is complemented by a companion website featuring videos of how to create individual prop special effects: www.propeffectsguidebook.com.

Filled with dozens of photos, illustrations, and technical diagrams, Todd Muffatti's Creative and Successful High School Set Design guides theatre teachers through the preparation and design steps necessary to build an appropriate and effective stage set. Using his 40-year career as a professional set designer and university professor, Muffatti shares tips from his creative process and offers practical ideas about how to approach and accomplish imaginative set designs for high school theatre. Creative and Successful High School Set Design discusses the spatial relationship of the auditorium and stage, the factors to be considered when choosing a script, and the research necessary to arrive at a proper visual metaphor for a production. Muffatti covers many design style options and creative approaches that don't require extensive building expertise, large amounts of time, or great expense. He shows how a small stock of basic scenery can be used to creatively serve multiple set designs with minimal additions. Muffatti outlines the skills involved in the design process — from sketching and drafting, to set dressing and model building — and provides illustrations to offer further guidance. Creative and Successful High School Set Design instills in high school drama teachers the imaginative, practical, and safe set designing habits that will help lift their students'dramatic performances to their highest levels of achievement.

For many people, even within the theatre industry, prop making is something of a'dark art', practised by gifted individuals who manage to produce intricate works battling against short deadlines. However, the skills of prop making are relevant to many industries and contexts, whether for art projects, carnival floats, live action role-play (LARP), model railways or film and television. The options and applications are endless, but the traditional skills remain the same. The Prop Maker's Workshop Manual is a definitive guide to the materials and practices used within the professional performing arts industries, covering both traditional techniques and modern practices. Supported by original hand-drawn illustrations and over 300 colour photographs, topics covered include: paper mache and card construction; flexible canes and withies; timber and steel frameworks; sculpting, moulding and casting processes; texture and paint techniques; GRP and epoxy resins; thermoformable plastics, including Plastazote and Wonderflex and finally, an introduction to life casting.

Experienced prop maker Eric Hart walks readers through techniques used in historical and contemporary prop making and demonstrates how to apply them to a variety of materials. Hundreds of full-color photographs illustrate the tools and techniques used by professional prop makers throughout the entertainment industry. New features to the second edition include: Updated information on the latest tools and materials used in prop making Both metric and standard measuring units Step-by-step photos on common techniques such as upholstery, mold making, and faux finishing Expanded coverage of thermoplastics, foam, and water-based coatings

This book analyzes theatre scene design through the powers and characteristics of physical space. Physical space is central to creative composition in the theatre, but the author extends the reach of the book to individuals concerned with spatial design--architects, interior designers, industrial designers, artists and other performers. A theory is presented on how design, and its creative process, echo the process of human awareness and action. The book covers an array of considerations for the theatre designer--the observable features of given physical spaces, their layout, detailing and atmosphere--and presents these features from the points of view of various disciplines. There are chapters on the'physics'of space, the'geography'of space and the'music'of space. The author also speaks to the less tangible qualities sensed more personally, such as the'spirituality'or the'psyche'of space. A discussion of the collaborative process of creating space is included. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Theatre and film frequently require replicas of three-dimensional objects built for actors to use. This book lays the groundwork for an artisan to determine what materials and techniques to use to build these props. Walking the reader through the various tools and techniques used in historical and contemporary prop-making, the author present a process for deciding the materials and methods to build any prop. With an explanation of how the craft and its products have developed over time, the budding artisan will understand not just how and when to use certain techniques or materials, but also why to use them and what advantages they give. It arms the prop maker with a structured procedure for approaching the construction of any prop. Illustrated with step-by-step examples of how to use each construction method, and explanations of different types of materials, this book gives the beginner prop artisan a strong foundation to approach the construction of props and answers the question,'How should I begin?'The author is hosting an online component to the book along with his successful blog. It will feature additional resources for the prop maker, including books, shops, contact information, and how-to videos.

You may be familiar with how to hang lights, build scenery, or run a high school/college/community theatre, but few are familiar with the nitty-gritty details of being a properties director or prop master. There has been an utter lack of information on this topic in the market, until now. Sandy Strawn brings together her incredible 30 years of prop making and managing in this concise guide to managing a prop shop and show built. She skillfully explains planning, pre-production, production, and post-production procedures, budgeting, collaborations with other stagehands, and planning a prop shop from the layout of the spaces to the health and safety protocols for shop planning and workplace management. With this how-to book, you'll be able to keep your prop shop in tip-top shape.

The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting HandbookThis is the first book to contain, in one comprehensive volume, every molding and casting procedure of use to the theater props builder (no matter what his or her level or proficiency). The author demonstrates the techniques involved in using more than thirty different materials ranging from papier-mache to breakaway glass.While the use of some materials–plaster and polyester resins, for example–is covered to some extent in other publications, information on the selection and use of rubber materials (latex, neoprene, silicone, and the urethanes) and the procedure for making breakaway windows and bottles is available only in The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook.Written in an easy, conversational style, the book will be useful to anyone involved with theater properties, puppetry, and costuming (as professionals or amateurs). It will also serve admirably the needs of students taking classes in those subjects.Completing the book is a special section on designing and building a vacuum forming machine suitable for use in constructing theater props. More than 450 photographs illustrate the step-by-step procedures explained throughout the entire text.