Eric Hart, Assistant Prop Master – September 1

[Jacob Coakley]

This week we visit the prop shop! Eric Hart will be joining us for the TheatreFace.com live chat interview on Wednesday, September 1 at 2 pm EDT/11 am PDT. Eric is the assistant prop master at the Public Theater in New York City. He has worked as a freelance artisan and prop master for several companies and theaters, including two seasons building pieces for the holiday windows at Macy's Herald Square and Saks Fifth Avenue. Before moving to New York, Eric has spent a winter at the Actors' Theatre of Louisville and three summers at the Santa Fe Opera as a props carpenter and artisan.

In addition to his day-to-day work, he has also been writing a blog on Props for the past year and a half (www.props.eric-hart.com). He is also a member of S*P*A*M (The Society of Properties Artisan Managers).

On his blog Eric writes about the process behind making some of his props. A couple of his favorite posts are ones he did describing the progress of a dismembered head for The Bacchae (http://www.props.eric-hart.com/education/changes-ahead/) and the “lawn gnome” piece for Broke-ology (http://www.props.eric-hart.com/how-to/gnome-building/). I’ll be asking him some follow-up questions to his post on the gnome making so be sure and check that out before Wednesday. Here’s a few of the questions I’ll start with. If you can’t make the chat, please leave your questions here and I’ll be sure and ask Eric them on Wednesay!

1 – How much building vs. “finding” props do you do?
2 – Looking through the gnome process, the skills involved include: woodworking, foam sculpture, papier-mache construction, sealing, painting. Where do you start when learning to be a props artisan? What skills do you find are most important?
3 – You mention in the post that you made tools of your own for the gnome – including just glueing sandpaper onto different pieces of wood. What other tools have you had to improvise throughout your career?
4 – The resin coat is “very toxic,” you need a respirator when sanding down the foam sculpture. How do you stay safe when building props—less about immediate danger (saw safety) but longer acting, toxic materials. How do you lessen your risk?

Leave a question, and join us on Wednesday!

[Candyce Iseminger]

How did you get your start (or what advice would you give someone interested in props?) and Whats the most interesting/ strangest place you have ever "found" a prop?

-Candyce-

[Brian Jeffrey]

Do you have any constructive comments as to working with heat activated materials like FOSSHAPE, WONDERFLEX and or VARAFORM? Did you ever work with CELASTIC?

[Ashleigh Poteat]

The line between set design, costume design, and properties design can be a confusing one. What do you find is the typcial way you operate in ther properties realm in relation to the other areas of design? What are the best - and worst - ways of communicating your ideas to the other designers and having them communicate with you?

[Jacob Coakley]

JACOB COAKLEY: Alright, away we go!

JACOB COAKLEY: So Eric, this is how I always start here: How'd you get involved in theatre?

JACOB COAKLEY: And then part 2: How'd you get inolved with props?

ERIC HART: Hm. I guess I really started doing theatre in high school. My brother and a few of my friends were all interested in being in the plays.

ERIC HART: I started college as an engineer, but found it less fulfilling than I had imagined.

ERIC HART: I was still hanging out with theatre kids, and I was taking a few theatre classes already, so I switched to a theatre major when it came time to choose.

ERIC HART: Focusing on scene design.

ERIC HART: And part 2 kind of comes out of that. I was going to graduate school for scenic design, and found I liked it less as a career than I thought I would. I had gotten a job as a props carpenter at the Santa Fe Opera, and that's kind of when I really

ERIC HART: became interested and dedicated to props. I had done scenic carpentry and some prop work before that, but that was kind of the "aha" moment for me, when I found I really enjoyed building things and solving the kinds of problems that come up in the

ERIC HART: props department

ERIC HART: /e

JACOB COAKLEY: What are some of those "problems"?

ERIC HART: The sort of problems that haven't been thought of before, and need a concrete solution by a certain deadline.

ERIC HART: Like my current project, where I have to make a fake dead goat and it needs parts that can be torn off and eaten.

ERIC HART: But the actors are vegetarian.

JACOB COAKLEY: LOL.

ERIC HART: It's not the kind of problem you can just look up on the internet. /e

JACOB COAKLEY: Wow.

JACOB COAKLEY: yeeah, that's specific.

ERIC HART: Indeed.

JACOB COAKLEY: assuming that's for the Bacchae?

JACOB COAKLEY: What was yoru solution? Do you have one yet?

ERIC HART: No, it's for a show "The Little Foxes".

ERIC HART: We don't have a solution, but we have some possibilities and experiments we are going to try. The prop master has actually brought on a Vegan chef to deal directly with the food.

ERIC HART: My part is to take what she gives and integrate it with the goat I'm building.

ERIC HART: By Saturday :-) /e

JACOB COAKLEY: whoa.

JACOB COAKLEY: I should talk about the gnome for Broke-ology, but I'm fascinated by this goat.

JACOB COAKLEY: Can you walk us quickly through how you're building it?

ERIC HART: If you've read my post about the Bacchae body we did last year, it's fairly similar. I've taken a taxidermy form for a small deer, which looks a lot like a goat

ERIC HART: took it apart and articulated the neck and limbs

ERIC HART: and began coating it with Dragon Skin, which is a very stretchy and translucent silicone rubber product from Smooth-On

ERIC HART: You can tint it too, so I've been building up the various layers of fat, muscle, flesh, etc. little by little

ERIC HART: have some very good reference photos, which is always a plus.

ERIC HART: Once they decide where they want to pull the "meat" from, I'm going to carve away those areas so they can be filled with the edible stuff.

ERIC HART: It's still very much in progress, and there may be some new curveballs added once it gets put in front of the actors and the director.

ERIC HART: And there remains the possibility that, like all props, they may cut it.

JACOB COAKLEY: Oy.

ERIC HART: But I'm taking lots of pictures and should have a post on my blog about it as early as next week. /e

JACOB COAKLEY: wonderful.

JACOB COAKLEY: Alright - I've got some more questions to ask, but I want to open it up to the people here now.

JACOB COAKLEY: Does anyone have a questin for Eric?

RON DE MARCO: I do.

DOUG KUPFERMAN: i do

SARA SWANBERG: i do

NICK DE LOS REYES: i do

JACOB COAKLEY: Love it! Let's start with Ron.

ERIC HART: Uh oh.

ERIC HART: Hi Ron

RON DE MARCO: What are you doing to prevent the form from "eating" the food?

RON DE MARCO: (Perhaps "absorbing" is a better word)

ERIC HART: Well, the silicone rubber itself is the same stuff used on cooking utensils these days. It actually doesn't stick to anything but itself.

RON DE MARCO: Love that. Wish I'd thought of that before I asked!

ERIC HART: When it's all done, you can just hose it off in the sink and it's all clean.

ERIC HART: /e

JACOB COAKLEY: Doug ,I think you were up next!

DOUG KUPFERMAN: Well this is a more general props question not relating to the goat is that OK?

ERIC HART: That's fine.

DOUG KUPFERMAN: Well something I've often struggled with as a props designer especially as I work on larger more demanding shows-- how do you know when to say "no", its our job to do the impossible, when do you fine that line that it is too impossible

ERIC HART: Sometimes it's tough to know what actually is or isn't impossible. I think that just comes with experience. But dealing with directors and designers, you can't promise too much. The best thing to do is offer alternatives. Say, "I'm not sure I can do

ERIC HART: that, but I can do this, is this ok?"

ERIC HART: And if you can still deliver the impossible, great, if not, you have an alternative that they can live with.

DOUG KUPFERMAN: So the key is set expectations early on?

ERIC HART: Definitely. You don't want to set yourself up to fail. But you also don't want to make it seem like you are difficult to work with.

JACOB COAKLEY: All set?

ERIC HART: It's a fine balancing act, and different in every situation with every designer and director

DOUG KUPFERMAN: yep

JACOB COAKLEY: Ready for another? I think Sara had one for Eric...

ERIC HART: Hi Sara.

SARA SWANBERG: Hey Eric, so as the Asssistant Prop Master at the Public, I have to ask, what is it like working with the infamous Mr. Jay Duckworth?

ERIC HART: Haha, it's been a wonderful learning experience so far.

ERIC HART: He knows how to make work fun without taking the "work" out of it. /e

JACOB COAKLEY: Which is vital.

JAY DUCKWORTH: I have a question

SARA SWANBERG: that sounds like a wonderful work environment

ERIC HART: Hello Mr. Duckworth.

JAY DUCKWORTH: Mr. Hart

JAY DUCKWORTH: Where does the line of Props master and Props designer cross

ERIC HART: That's a good question. First, I think a lot of producers and theatres are still unwilling to start giving design credit to props people, probably for budgetary reasons.

ERIC HART: Though there's certainly a need; it depends on the show really. I've always felt a props master was the person on a show charged with acquiring and preparing all the props for a show.

ERIC HART: Whereas a props designer would be in charge of deciding what those props looked like or how they were constructed. Most of the time, that job is relegated to one of the assistant scene designers

ERIC HART: though more often than not, a props master still has to do some designing to fill in the gaps.

ERIC HART: Much like sound design was taken care of by the assistant electrician until it broke off and became a discipline in its own right.

ERIC HART: And now has its own category at the Tony Awards. Which, unfortunately, props design does not. /e

JAY DUCKWORTH: one last thing, what was the best advice on props that you were given and what would you tell younger props people?

ERIC HART: Hm, good one...

ERIC HART: I would tell younger props people to never assume you know the answer.

JAY DUCKWORTH: I like your first quote as well

ERIC HART: Props involves learning everything about everything, and there will always remain something to learn.

JAY DUCKWORTH: ty/e

NICK DE LOS REYES: For a second I thought the question was going to be, "have you seen the epoxy"?

JACOB COAKLEY: lol...

ERIC HART: As for the best advice on props, I believe that was "make a decision, any decision, quickly"

JACOB COAKLEY: Nick - I think you said earlier you miht have a question.

ERIC HART: If you can't decide between two equally compelling courses of action, the difference is probably irrelevant.

JACOB COAKLEY: sorry - didn't mean to step on you, Eric.

ERIC HART: That's alright, Jacob.

ERIC HART: Hi Nick.

NICK DE LOS REYES: sure- have you ever had to work on a show with live animals?

ERIC HART: Not directly.

NICK DE LOS REYES: would you consider live rats actors or props?

ERIC HART: I would consider them actors. I think most props masters would. But it's hard to find production managers who would agree with that.

ERIC HART: If it eats and poops, it's an actor.

JACOB COAKLEY: LOL!

NICK DE LOS REYES: thanks, that's what I wanted to hear

MARY WENZEL: I have a question

ERIC HART: Sure, Mary.

MARY WENZEL: What is your go-to material when working on forms?

ERIC HART: Like, what kind of forms?

MARY WENZEL: casting

MARY WENZEL: latex, dragon skin, ect

ERIC HART: I do like the dragon skin, and the silicone rubbers in general.

ERIC HART: And epoxies and resins and such. I've never worked with latex.

ERIC HART: Not because I refuse to, just that the need or opportunity hasn't come up yet.

JACOB COAKLEY: I want to follow up on that with a question from a member who couldn't be here.

ERIC HART: Sure thing.

JACOB COAKLEY: "Do you have any constructive comments as to working with heat activated materials like FOSSHAPE, WONDERFLEX and or VARAFORM? Did you ever work with CELASTIC?"

ERIC HART: I can’t see any reason to work with Celastic ever; acetone and other solvents are so highly toxic, and you have such great alternatives between Fosshape, Wonderflex, and Varaform.

ERIC HART: I just started using Wonderflex in fact. It’s great stuff. I was heating it with a hot air gun; it actually made it too hot, and at one point I burned my thumb pretty bad and got a blister for a few weeks.

ERIC HART: A good trick my wife showed me was that you can dump cold water onto it to “freeze” the shape in place. We both worked with it; we had to rebuild a major prop for “Merchant of Venice” this summer in two days, and Wonderflex saved the day.

ERIC HART: That prop is on its way to Broadway now. It's pretty sturdy.

JACOB COAKLEY: your comments on Celastic bring up another question: safety.

ERIC HART: Yes, safety.

JACOB COAKLEY: When you're wroking with all these compounds -- some of which for the first time, or over long term...

JACOB COAKLEY: How do you practice safety for something like that?

JACOB COAKLEY: Simple things like gloves and a mask?

JACOB COAKLEY: Easy to see when yuo get a blister -- harder to tell if chemicals are affecting yuo. How do you stay safe?

ERIC HART: Yes of course. The trick is knowing which gloves and which mask for which substance.

ERIC HART: One of the best resources for theatre safety is Monona Rossol; I’ve attended her seminar three times and am still learning more, and she has some great books out there as well which deal with just that.

ERIC HART: Basically, don't breathe anything but air, and don't get anything on your skin.

DOUG KUPFERMAN: Don't you a blog post about that?

ERIC HART: Every product with hazardous materials will have an MSDS, which will tell what chemicals are in it, and in what quantities. You then match that up with which safety gear will protect you from those chemicals.

ERIC HART: Yes, I did a post on gloves. Different gloves will protect you with different gloves; if you use something like latex gloves with solvents, for example, it actually offers no protection at all.

ERIC HART: Sorry, different gloves will protect you from different chemicals.

ERIC HART: (Typo)

NICK DE LOS REYES: nitrile gloves in that case?

ERIC HART: For most solvents, yes.

ERIC HART: It's hard to generalize on safety advice, because it's all about finding out the specific information for the specific task you are performing.

JACOB COAKLEY: Understood.

ERIC HART: MEK, a solvent, is actually stopped more by vinyl gloves than nitrile, for example.

NICK DE LOS REYES: I have a followup question regarding safety, actually

ERIC HART: Sure, go ahead.

JAY DUCKWORTH: I have another wehn you have a second.

NICK DE LOS REYES: Is it good practise to require your workers to log the hours of exposure to the chemicals they're working with?

NICK DE LOS REYES: Is it good practise to require your workers to log the hours of exposure to the chemicals they're working with?

ERIC HART: Hm, I've never heard of that practice before.

ERIC HART: Legally, an employer is supposed to train their employees how to recognize what chemicals they are working with, and how to adequately protect themselves from them.

ERIC HART: Which, you can imagine, in props, is very difficult. There are just so many chemicals you use on a daily basis.

JAY DUCKWORTH: What do you look for in a Prop head or props runner on a show? you are essentially handing over your work to this person so there has to be a lot of trust right?

ERIC HART: A lot of trust, yes.

ERIC HART: Trust they can get the job done, and trust they will come to you when there's a problem.

ERIC HART: /e

JACOB COAKLEY: alright!

JACOB COAKLEY: It's 50 minutes past the hour, which means we have to let Eric go finish his goat.

ERIC HART: Haha.

ERIC HART: Eric - thank you for all your time! This has been a great session.

JACOB COAKLEY: Is there anyway people can get a hold of you if they have any more questions?

ERIC HART: Thank you for having me. And thank you to everyone for their questions.

ERIC HART: Sure, I can be reached at [e-mail]. And you're always welcome to leave questions or comments on my blog.

JACOB COAKLEY: which is at www.props.eric-hart.com

ERIC HART: Yes, thank you.

JAY DUCKWORTH: great Job Mr. Hart

JACOB COAKLEY: Thanks again, Eric! And everyone else for the great questions! I'll have the transcript up soon for anyone who missed it.

RON DE MARCO: Thanks, Eric.

NATALIE TAYLOR HEART: indeed!

JACOB COAKLEY: (And thank yuo, Mr. Duckworth, for giving Eric the time to participate!)

JAY DUCKWORTH: He is the best in the business.

JAY DUCKWORTH: thank you

ERIC HART: Have a good day, everyone!

[Cindy Garcia]

Prop master must be the coolest job! I read Perspective magazine & it's just awesome what you guys can make.
Let me know if you ever need herbal cigarettes or loose herbal mixture for roll-your-own; I stock Honeyrose & Ecstacy brands. (Just an fyi, not trying to spam!)
Anyway, you guys do an AWESOME, AWESOME job!! Keep up the great work!
And I too am curious to know how you got your start in the industry! :)
Cindy Richard-Garcia, Homestead, Florida