So one of my favorite things on twitter is to tweet exactly what I’m doing, without giving any context. Usually this is something that I just said at work. So… for the people who have forgotten that I’m a puppeteer, here are a sampling of things said at work. What we said. Do you know […]
Back in 1985, Leonard Nimoy hosted a show on Nicklodeon called Lights, Camera, Action. In this clip he talks about homemade special effects. via Props
Leonard Nimoy and special effects Read More »
Have you ever had this nagging thing that you knew was wrong, but you couldn’t figure out what? For the last two years, I’ve known that the props work wasn’t satisfying, but I didn’t realize how much I missed the world of puppetry until coming down here this weekend. Some of it was performing, but
Orlando International Puppetry Festival Read More »
For the film shoot last week I needed furniture to represent ten different scenic locations, all shot on greenscreen. Besides dealing with the usual greenscreen parameter of avoiding reflective surfaces I also had a fairly tight budget. This meant that some of the rental furniture I picked up wasn’t in stellar condition. You’ll notice that
Refurbishing a table Read More »
I signed up to do props for a film this week. It was only two days of work and looked like a fairly light load. I did a half day on Tuesday lining up furniture and planned another half day on Wednesday to pick up the hand props. Unfortunately, things imploded when the verbal bid
Well worth reading for the view of theater in the early 1900s. (from The vaudeville theatre, building, operation, management, by Edward Renton, 1918) “Resourcefulness” should be the middle name of the individual who is competent to occupy the position of property-man in a theatre. There are other important qualifications, but this one is essential. He
The Property-man in Vaudeville Read More »
For the show, Night Sky, I was brought into the project very late, after the original propmaster had to depart. We had a tight budget and very little time to find furniture, which meant that I was shopping for shape, knowing that I could adjust the color later. The designer was very particular about wanting
Faux woodgrain on chairs Read More »
Sorry for another day of twitter only. It was long and it’s late and I’m tired. 01:04 I’m at home after a day running around at the theater. # 14:29 I think I’ve done the last of the paperwork props for this show. Now to make the music of the spheres device. # 18:11 I
Short bits for today Read More »
My dad said he thought a dull day for me was more interesting than most people’s day jobs. As an experiment, I used twitter to record the minutia of today. There are big silent stretches, unfortunately, where I’m in the theater without a signal to the outside world. 10:22 Picked up a zipcar at 10
What a day doing props looks like Read More »
I was at the theater today and one of the folks I’m working with commented on my website. He asked why it doesn’t say anything about props. Truly? Because unless I’m building something interesting, the job is deadly boring. My posts would consist of, “Today I went shopping for paper, a box and a copy
Why don’t I talk about props? Read More »
Sure, I have to research props for stage, but I also have to research them for fiction too. For instance my upcoming story in Talebones, is set in England in the 1920s. I needed to find out if cigarette lighters existed by then. Yes, but hand held ones were still a couple of years away.
Props — How to Research Read More »
Somehow the two weeks that I had off turned into rehearsing for two shows, doing props for a third and finishing an essay, a short story and the SFWA website. Oh yeah, and I have a novel to write. Clearly, my time management involves the need for a TARDIS. And yet I don’t have one.
Time? Who needs that. Read More »
While researching champagne for stage, I stumbled across this 1906 article from the NY Times. It’s a fun read if you’re a theater geek like me. EATING and drinking on the stage,” remarked the chronic theatregoer the other night, “always bores me when I have dined well and tantalizes me when I haven’t; but whenever
I had to work this morning, doing the usual stuff. Making stone angel wings from cardboard, ordering 1000 toothbrushes, macheing crows and the like. So Peter was on his own for a couple of hours. I picked him up in the evening and we went to dinner at Henry’s then downtown to see Avenue Q.
Crows, Almost Q and Slumdog Read More »
My newest gig is doing props and “specialty items” for a play up at Barnard College. The specialty items consist of a series of crow puppets and a box of entrails. When the director called me, she said, “So, do you have any ideas on how we can make a box of entrails? [1. side
Explaining entrails Read More »