I do love seeing occasional admiration for really well thought out and detailed prop work like this book they’re talking about. 

Of christinahaberkern.tumblr.com.

She’s a prop artisan for a prop house in LA. She’s made/designed props for such shows/movies as:” LOST, 24, The Office, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Super 8, Paul, True Blood, J. Edgar, Dexter.” 

Here’s her portfolio as well.

She is unbelievably nice and talented and I highly suggest that if you aren’t already following her, you start now. 

To Christina:  
Thanks so very much again for the interview!

theatremajors:

If it was an accident:

Recently I got told that I’m “too possessive over my props”. 

This was all said by my technical director.

I’m going to share with you two stories here.

One:

In high school I was the props wrangler/master for our productions (every single one). One involved a starter gun. I had just gotten it from the drama teacher and put it in the road box. A fly crew guy (who also happened to be a friend of mine) pulled it out because I trusted that he wasn’t going to do something stupid with it. I told him he could take a look at it. He ended up firing it off right next to my head. Like, literally six inches of less from my ear. I was deaf for two hours in that ear. It also quite possibly affected my hearing to this day (I’m slightly hard of hearing).

Two:

This happened today. I am borrowing a nightstick from my technical director (yes, same guy). It’s $150. I’ve also made two replicas of it out of wood. He found his nightstick on the floor where it could easily be stepped on in a recent rehearsal. He told me if it wasn’t treated right he’d pull it from the production (he has every right to). So I went to the SM/ASM team and told them they needed to make sure this didn’t happen again. It happened again today (but I found out about it before he did). So this time, I went to the SM/ASM team and told them they absolutely needed to make sure this didn’t happen again, then I told the actor who used it the same thing. They both said the quick change dressers had a hand in it to, so I told the head of Wardrobe and then tracked down the specific quick change dresser. That specific dresser, while I was explaining why she needed to make sure it was taken care of, started to simply walk off. Later on I saw her spinning around one of the wood replicas and I told her she needed to stop doing that because I needed it to last the entire production and I don’t really have time to fix it or replace it. She walked off mid-sentence on me then too, rolling her eyes. 

One important piece of information: I don’t have a props wrangler on this show. I have to rely on the SM team, the actors, and whatever other crew members happen to have time to cast an eye toward the prop table. I need all eyes on the props that are expensive or borrowed so that they can be taken care of. 

My TD told me that I needed to have less of a mindset of “these are my props” and more of “these are the show props”. But that particular night stick belongs to you. It’s not mine. It’s not the show’s. It’s yours. And you’re possessive over it because you want it back in it’s original condition. This is also my mission, to keep the props in their original condition for the entirety of the show. If I treat them like they’re just everyone’s then nobody seems to want to take care of them. When I emphasize that they’re someone else’s or worth a shit ton of money, then they get respected more. 

The cast and crew during the run of a show need to treat props like they’re a caregiver to these props. They can take them out and use them but they need to be returned in proper condition. People (cast & crew) don’t seem to understand that I can’t just pull props magically out of my ass if they break them. It takes time and effort. 

I understand if something is broken on stage and it was an accident, but if it’s broken because someone was fucking around with something they should not have been, that’s when I get angry. 

As for the dresser’s dismissiveness: My area of expertise is the props I’m about to hand you for a show. I know everything about them. I know what their made out of and how they need to be on stage. Some of them I built, so I know where their weaknesses and strengths are. So you really need to listen to me when I tell you about them. This may look like an ordinary night stick, but there can always be special circumstances associated with it. I’m not trying to treat you like a child. You just don’t know as much about this prop as I do. 

And yes, I need to re-explain these things to you. Because sometimes I can assume you know how to handle it, but I need to make sure. I’m sure as hell not reliving going deaf for two hours just because I thought you could handle yourself without my explanation. I cover everything when I give props over to a show. I need them to understand what the potential problems are going to be and how they can avoid them. I need them to understand how to take care of the props. 

Deep down, as much as I want my props to come back unharmed, safety is my number one concern. I am always concerned about potential harm to my actors and crew. My explanations for these props go beyond just “if you do this you might break it”, they sometimes branch out into the “don’t handle it improperly or you could hurt yourself or others” and that’s why you need to always listen to your Prop Master. 

tyrannosauridae:

teethandambitions:

it’d know Hyper Voice, Scary Face, Helping Hand, and Rage.

Lighting Tech would know Signal Beam, Flash, Spark, and Overheat.

If an actor was a pokemon, it would know Mimic, Fake Tears, Chatter, and Role Play.

If a singer was a pokemon, it would know Sing, Screech, Perish Song, and Metronome.

If a dancer was a pokemon, it would know Teeter Dance, Agility, Rapid Spin and  Dive.

If a director was a pokemon, it would know Encore, Glare, Frustration, Explosion

If a set designer was a pokemon, it would know Facade, Drill Run, Work Up, and Hammer arm.

If a theater newbie was a pokemon, it would only be able to learn Confusion and nothing else until it evolved into one of the higher evolutions.

If a Props Master was a pokemon, it would know Magic Room, Skill Swap, Conversion, and Rage. But it would be able to learn anything.  

I was extremely nervous and I hope things went well, but I can’t ever tell if they did or not. There were six people interviewing me via Skype. We shared a laugh, but I was pretty straight-faced and sweaty the entire time.

I’ll find out within the week. 
Hopefully I’ll get this internship at Cirque and everything will be lovely!
Wish me luck!