Class Work

Theatre Design and Production: Props

Taught by Jay Duckworth

Final Project

Our final project assignment was to build a prop that can do something, such as light up, make a sound, transform, move, create smoke, etc. I decided to build a frog out of wire and clay with an opening through its belly as well as some holes on top. The frog was painted with acrylic paint and coated with glossy Mod Podge and clear nail polish topper. It sat on top of a wooden structure with a hole cut out with a jigsaw to match the hole in the frog. I used a silicone “stretchy string” toy as the tongue with a skewer in it on one side and a magnet attached onto the tip. I bought small yellow LED lights that looked like fireflies. The magnet would grab the bug and pull it in with the skewer through the hole in the structure. From there, stronger magnets could catch the LED light, holding it in the belly and glowing through the holes of the frog. Black fabric was attached to the inside of the wood covering as much of the opening as possible so that the light wouldn’t show through the fabric. Green fabric was attached to the wood with a staple gun with a technique similar to upholstery. Fake moss, leaves, and a flower were glued onto the fabric. The LED bug sat on the flower, and with my hand hidden inside the box, I maneuvered the tongue to grab the bug and pull it inside.

Fake Food

Our assignment was to create fake food. I chose macarons. To make the first two, I casted and molded a real macaron with SmoothOn products. I painted these with acrylic paint to make them look like lemon and chocolate macarons. For the third macaron, I used oven-bake clay, pink eyeshadow, acrylic paint, and glue. I formed a cast out of half of a macaron and baked that, then I put baking soda inside that to keep the soft clay from sticking. I mixed pink eyeshadow into the soft clay and pressed it into the mold. Before I baked the halves separately, I used an X-Acto knife to score the clay in a bite mark shape. I used a toothpick to create the texture of the macaron feet. I then assembled the halves and made a raspberry filling out of paint, eyeshadow, and craft glue.

Smaller Props