Prop design
Property design, commonly known as prop design, is the design of props (theatrical property) for use in theatre, film, television, etc.[1] Designers of props work in liaison with the costume designers, set designers and sound designers, under the direction of the art director or technical director.
The term is also associated with home or interior design.
Prop Design Process [2][edit]
Just like anything there is a process that comes with designing a prop. The first step is understanding the purpose of the prop and what it needs to accomplish for the play/film/show that it is needed for. Some things to questions to ask yourself during this time are, does the prop need to light up? Does it need to move? Does the prop need to be broken onstage? After you consider these questions and have an understanding of what your prop needs to do you can begin designing it.
The first thing you want to do is carefully draw out a design of the prop either on a virtual program or by hand. Once you have a design and if you are doing this for a play/show/film then you may want to get approval from the Director before taking the next step. This will save you from having to go back after the prop is constructed and make edits to it. Designing the prop on paper or virtually will also help you create a list of materials you need for the prop and varying techniques you can use to assist you in the construction. A materials list is vitally important as it will help you analyze the cost of constructing the prop and where you can get the materials.
Once you acquire the materials you can begin construction on the prop. This step will take many forms as it may require various skills and techniques in order to reach the result you would like to. Once the construction step is finished you can move onto the final step which is painting and detailing.
From here you will retrace your steps and check your list of requirements for the prop ensuring it does everything you need it do. You want to make sure it meets your standards and the directors before finalizing the prop and sending it to the stage.
History of Prop Design[edit]
Ancient Greece - (458 BCE - 405 BCE)[edit]
As with most theater props originate from Ancient Greece where they would use urns and pebbles to represent voting ballots and ballot boxes during Aeschulyus' Eurmidine[3]. This is possibly the most simplistic prop design as these props were either found objects in the case of the pebbles, or in the case of the urns terracotta or possibly bronze was used to craft them.
Renaissance England - (1450 CE - 1750 CE)[edit]
Then we reach Shakespeare who had an interesting history with prop design. His plays had many of props and in the case of Hamlet one of the props was a skull. Back then prop design was not advanced enough to build, or create a skull. This resulted in grave diggers being highered to go and find the needed skulls[4]. If the prop did not require the digging of graves it is most likely hand crafted from wood, metal stone, or sewn from cloth. Shakespeare even had natural props such as trees, and moss banks that were brought on stage for A Midsummers Night Dream[4].
References[edit]
- ^ "Making Props", How We Make Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company
- ^ Hart, Eric (2017-12-06). The Prop Effects Guidebook: Lights, Motion, Sound, and Magic (1 ed.). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203729397. ISBN 978-0-203-72939-7.
- ^ Wyles, Rosie (2022). Theatre props and civic identity in Athens, 458-405 BC. London New York: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-350-14399-9.
- ^ a b Cramer, Michael (2018-09-01). ":Shakespeare's Prop Room: An Inventory". The Sixteenth Century Journal. 49 (3): 879–881. doi:10.1086/scj4903145. ISSN 0361-0160.
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