Properties

Holmes & Watson- ATC 2017

Newspaper- photoshop project using 1894 archive newspaper of the Daily Telegraph with show specific article and photo added in. Printed on Newsprint using plotter.

The Strand Magazine- photoshop project. Reproduction of 1891 Volume II of The Strand using archive images and original Strand stories issued that same year. Printed and then bound.

 

Medical Dictionary- Period Cover that I photoshopped and sized for our dictionaries. Printed on Canvas and then adhered to books. There are 2 dictionaries in the show, one that must be dropped every night and another rigged with a squib for when a bullet is shot into it. Both have these costume matching covers.

Violin Box- handmade box covered in vintage fabric, padded, lined and weighted. 

Hand Painted Sign- super easy but a fun prop that actor wears around his neck.

Dry Plate Studio Camera w/ Flash Unit- we luckily had this beauty in our stock already but it needed some tlc to get it show ready. I fixed the bellows to stay in the extended position and made a new round base for the camera to sit wear it meets the tripod. Originally we need its legs to stay open so I fashioned the triangular piece you see in the first photo. I later swapped it out for chain. We did away with the black swath of fabric ultimately too.

 

Here it is with the flash unit created by Jim Cox 

(Flash box has since changed and blue indicator light removed.)

 

Chair- This chair was fabricated in our shop by Paul Lucas and John Warring. I did the final distressing and paint job for it based on the research image that I've included below. Ultimately, the chair was cut from the show.

 

 

research image-->

Gargoyles- I wish I could say that I cast these guys! We actually bought them from a garden statue supply company, but I was responsible for drilling out their eyes and base and helping to wire their eyes with red LED's.

 

The set also had 6 gargoyle hand sconces (shown right) from same company that I assisted with and mounted.

Set Dressing- I created some rubble piles that were painted to blend into the set and added some realism to the top of the walls mostly for the audience members in the balcony to enjoy. You can see barely see them in the set photo below way up right and left.

Ring Of Fire- ATC 2017

 

This show is a touring show and a co-production with Riverside Theatre in Florida. We were in charge of re-creating all set dressing with items from our stock. Here are a couple images. There are many items tucked all over the set.

I also found and printed many Johnny Cash family photos to adorn the inside walls of the house similar to how Riverside Theatre had done.

 The Show quilt required some dying...

beforeafter

A slingshot right out of Johnny Cash's childhood...

I was also very proud of the paperwork I generated for the Syracuse transfer inventorying every item of dressing that, prop, furniture piece and instrument stand.

 

La Esquinita USA- ATC 2017

Bench Bush: a labor of weeds and love

 

This new and inspiring Latino play was this seasons chance to embrace realism. All real plants on stage were treated with FlameX and helped to sell Regina Garcia's scenic design.

 

 

Act of God- ATC 2016

Holy Floral Arrangement- originally all white. final version with more color!

Dummy- Body double for Paige Davis (to fall from "Heaven")

 
 

Originally dressed in a white suit, the Dummy ultimately wore pajamas.

 

 

Here is a test drop we did in the shop:

A deceptively difficult prop- she had to be rigged to drop from a solenoid and every article had to be well attached so she could fall again and again without wear and tear. Success! Not even her fake eyelashes budged in her 6 week run.

 

King Charles III- ATC 2016

Re-creation of coffin platform- built and covered in royal velvet.

 

Pillow for the Crown

Signs for the Rioters 

I put together the Queen's funeral program based on pervious royals programs.

 

I had a lot of fun putting together many of the paper props for this show and trying to have them be as accurate as possible. Such as the Abbdication...



... And Prince Harry's personal life in headlines. I photoshopped in our actress's face but left the real Harry.

 

Kebab Meat- during the show they "slice off some kebab meat" and hand it to Harry in a gyro. To get this effect we embedded magnets in the leg of meat and metal mesh in the flexible meat slices. The actor had to just be careful his knife didn't stick to the magnets and slid off nicely. Worked pretty well!

  

A Weekend With Pablo Picasso- ATC 2015

Inspired by Picasso's goat Esmerelda and a sculpture he did of her by the same name, I was asked to make a version that was a combination of a real pet and his sculpture vision of her.

 

 

Originally without back legs, the director and playwright loved her so much I added the hindquarters so she could come further out on stage.

 

The Resistance- 2012 short film

One of the biggest challenges of doing a sci fi film was to create high tech devices that belonged to the futuristic world we designed and could be believable. Small budgets only complicate matters but in this case made me even more proud of the outcome.

The Fingerprint Scanner

The fingersprint scanner was actually created from an iphone case designed for toddlers so that they can play with a parents phone without damaging it. Below is the original image of the case before its dramatic makeover. My assistant originally created an app for his phone that had an animation of the working scanner. Unfortunately, his phone was an android and when inside the case the phone was pinched and caused the app to constantly be on the fritz. This led us to green screening the prop instead which was a disappointment but still ended up looking great in the end.

The Communicator 

The Communicator was originally a hand-held pinball game (as shown below). I found this item at a thrift shop for about $3 and I believe the transformation was great! We ended up green screen this prop as well since the pinball seemed a little out of place. 

                  

 

The Radiation Detector

 

The Radiation Detector was meant to warn characters of dangerous levels of radiation in the atmosphere. This watch from target worked perfectly with the costumes to complete their futuristic look. This piece was also green screened. 

The TONIC

                   

 

One prop that was important to the storyline was the Tonic. Meant to be the government issues source of nutrition for everyone in this future setting. We went through a handful of designs until we came to the one used below. I found that baby food containers with cinnamon applesauce were the perfect shape and size to convert into the Tonic.

Here is the Tonic in its dispensing station. Complete with government insignia and finger print activated  lock (green screened).

Writing Crime- 2011 short film

I was the Production Designer and Co-Producer on this short film. We had a small film budget and big screen dreams; and with a Production Team of one, me, I was quite proud of the end product. Here are some of the props I created for our film and a few that never appeared in the final cut.

The "Mad Men" Office 

 It was a challenge to say the least to procure 6 matching tank desks to create a uniform and period looking office. After a lot of phone calls, luck and heavy lifting these 6 were donated to us from Raytheon an American defense contractor in Tucson, from there massive warehouse. These desks were literally saved from the scrap heap and perfect for the scene we needed to create. Each desktop was then decked out with as many period details as possible to make this seemingly functional office. Unfortunately, this entire scene did not make the movie.

Frank Hughes' Office

 

I painted the lamp at left to
give it more contrast, the desk
was found for a bargain at a flea
market, and I painted the
painting below to blend with
the avocado green drapes,
altogether giving the office a
custom decorated look. 

Drapery Fabric above right, painting below.

Wet Bar- an office essential!

Walter's Office 

We had a huge space above the couch to fill so I refurbished an old picture frame giving it a high gloss stain and then had a 5' x 3' black and white photo printed at FedEx Kinkos. This is actually a photo I took a few years back on a trip to New Mexico while inspired by what they call "O'keeffe Country".

               

 

The two lamps are family heirlooms of mine and added a nice sheen/glint to the otherwise dark and somber scene. Also a fun prop I was able to incorporate was this photo above right which was in the room already and depicted the building we filmed in, the Tucson Scottish Rite during the 60's when our film was taking place. It made our crew chuckle for its unplanned perfection.

The Bank 

 


 

We had incredible luck of filming in the historic Bank of Bisbee. It just so happened that the bank was undergoing a remodeling project, and with just a few weeks until they reopened as Western Bank we were given two days to make our movie magic. This bank was in another movie, Violent Saturday which came out in 1955.

Inside the Vault

A major set dressing requirement for our little bank heist were the safe deposit boxes. I found eight sections of Post Office Boxes at an antique sale that worked rather well. Although they were not the most accurate boxes they caught the light so well and looked impressive as the background for the dramatic scene.

 

The Hotel Room & The Bloody Manuscript

 







In the original script a fight is held over the strewn pages of the manuscript accounting for the dried blood seen later in the movie. Unfortunately, the fight was not in the final cut and we did not have the opportunity to to reshoot this small detail. Ah Continuity! 

The Bar Rendezvous 

Weapon Wrangling

Where would any bank heist film be without its guns and weaponry. I have now worked numerous times as a weapons wrangler for both film and theater. 

Sideways Stories From Wayside School- 2007

Assistant Scenic Designer & Prop Master

Scenic Design By: Andy Diaz

 

My sophomore year I was involved with Educational Theatre company (ETC) through the University of Arizona. Every year a show was put together to preform on campus and then also travel around the southwest preforming at schools. The whole show had to break down and fit inside a van.

These are the whimsical musical instruments that I created for the show. Some of the first props I ever created start to finish. A few closer pictures of my favorites...