THR 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Running Crew
November 8, 2016
Rand Ranting: General Notes
• We don’t do generic
• Props are specific to the play
o Who is carrying it?
▪ Ex: Man, Women
▪ How old is the character?
o What’s the time period?
o What’s the character’s socioeconomic status?
▪ Was it hand-me-down?
▪ Is it brand new?
• Must do you research
• If you are going to be a props person you might want to start collecting different
styles of items
• A lot of the time you need crazy things so you have to make it
o Ex: Passport → rubber stamps, shirt card board and the leather is from a
small note pad
• Audience will spend less time examining something if they believe it is real
during the first glance
• Rand once spent 6 months reading several books and learning hieroglyphics to
make Egyptian scrolls so they would say what the script actually said = actors
look like they actually know how to read hieroglyphics
• There are always deadlines
• The show will always open
o If you aren’t done then you lose
• Props are whatever anyone says they are
• Lighting designers normally get stuck with special effects but props are dumped
with anything else others don’t want to do
o Ex: shooting with blood coming from victim, chopped up body (cast body
parts of the actor)
▪ Normally has to be done in minutes
• Being done quickly adds to the shock value the audience
feels
• Most directors are actors and have never worked with actually making something
o They might have been on a backstage running crew but that is different
than the backstage crew
o Our job is to create the vision that the director has
▪ We have to tell the director was a foot really is or what color they
are actually wanting
▪ Give them models, drawing, floor plans
• The more you have documented the more likely that the
director will not change their mind
• Don’t get worked up or upset just
say, “alright, how about this”
• Directors don’t want you to be upset
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