Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Talk About It Tuesday: Career in Props

 I think I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up! Isn't that exciting? I want to pursue a career in prop making. This is a recent decision but it's one that's taken me a while to come around to.
I see many more shop/lab classes in my future.
I want to talk about possible future paths I can take, and why I think this job would be a good fit. If you want to hear my thoughts, read more below!

Want to know how I came to the conclusion that I could be a great prop maker? A blog, of course.

This blog to be precise, Stop and Eat The Roses. I stumbled upon this blog following some rabbit hole-esque trail of links that I can't quite recall. It's written by a woman named Rania, whom I'm certain I would be best friends with in real life. She's a super crafty lady who I slowly realized had my dream job, or something very close to it. Rania is a event designer and prop maker. She basically plans out and then makes all the props for events like haunted houses/attractions, parties, raves etc. I meandered my way around her site for a few hours amazed at all of the cool jobs and opportunities Rania shared on her blog.

This was the post that got me to Rania's blog so I thought I'd share my first impressions. She built this amazing 22 ft. long Lady Rainicorn centerpiece for a set of Adventure Time themed raves. Her disco horn spins. I had to bow down to her genius when I read that.
Via

She also made these amazing cotton candy tree lights! A lot of thought and engineering went into these, it's super impressive. I totally want some of these for my house and pretty sure I could make them following the pictures and what she said her process was on her blog.
Via




Cosplayers use a lot of props, some are home made, some are professional and some are a mix of both, like Joker's Harley below. She made her Harley Quinn Mallet out of foam and painted it. I believe she made the bands around it as well. The end result is spectacular! Something a film would be proud to incorporate into any scene, no CGI needed. 

Via
North Carolina School of the Arts is located less than three hours from me. It's where a handful of my artsy friends have gone to chase their dreams and I would love to follow them. It's the only NC university I've found so far that has an explicit Props program. Its also twice the expense of just about any other school I'd want to attend...

Right now I'm just going to focus on my life goal (learning how to make anything) while finishing up classes at my community college. If I have a good base level of skills maybe I can get an internship and get my foot wedged into the industry.

Do you have a plan for what career you're going to pursue?  My plan admittedly is pretty loose at the moment but it feels good to have some direction, an ultimate end goal.

Til Next Time!



1 comment:

  1. Congratulations on identifying your dream! I hope you pursue it with passion. Before you get too far down the path however, may I suggest that you do some left-brain thinking to see what the job prospects are after you graduate? Even prop designers have to eat. If your skills can pay the bills, you've got it made!

    ReplyDelete