Begginer in need of help

Hi Everyone.

Even tho I have been in the TV world for a while , now I am trying to get into the art department. I have little knowledge and I am trying to get experience, but as you all know is hard to get any jobs without much experience or a portfolio to showcase your work. Therefor I want to start building my own props. I am just very lost on where to start. Of my research , replicas are the best way to start, I just have a really hard time deciding what to do since I don't have a big budget ( unemployed at the moment) .

What skills should I try to learn? I am pretty good at teaching myself through internet. I guess my question is what are good art project to showcase your work and abilities to be able to apply for jobs. What main skills are people looking for?

My second question is , when I have something to show, who do I apply too? There are very few prop masters in Toronto.

I think I am just asking for HELP!

Thanks!

If the budget is small, I would suggest you to start with paper props. Train your Photoshop skills and at least one vector graphic app (most widely used: Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw).

As Roland said, learn photoshop and related software. An idea translated to "paper" is the first step.

If youre after on set work, as far as skills, there are more than can be read. Most is learned by trial and error and on the job yet all that varies from job to job. By nature I think backwards, the worst case scenario, then backtrack to the A plan. That way plan B, C, D, X, Y, Z are already thought out. I would suggest getting basic extra work then pay close attention to how crew works. You wont get a gig cold off the street as art dept but extra work gets you on set, a free lunch and cash in your pocket. Its how you apply your time in that line of work thats the big pay off. I started out with extra work back in the 80's and on the first show was helping gear people up proper and doing basic weapons handling training. All that came from prior interests in history. That lead to lots more work on that show, but it was a different world in entertainment back then. Back when I ran Roger Cormans art dept I would give anyone a chance off the street, again those days are gone. All around art dept is a mix of problem solving and making things appear as what they are not. Research will pay off ten fold on projects, items and real world usage of an item. Its a basic theory when broken down but to do that it has to "click" in your own head. When it does its literally a light bulb. You will be able to do ten things at once as you have to to keep moving forward and not losing any time because in production time = money.

With fabrication there are old and new methods involved. Old skool is sculpting and strait up fabrication. New skool is 3D printing. Regardless moulding and casting as well as the choice of materials to cast with will play heavily. The days of the old skool prop master are written on the wall as technology dictates this person will do more for both less time and money. Youll end up mixing research with graphics creation, special FX into moulding and casting, stunts into design... Interdepartmental know how and forward thinking will keep you working. Knowledge of local shops will likely come into play but honestly I dont deal with shops after working for one for a few years. Its ironic in that shops failures keep me working independently to this day.

Very important, how do you do with lack of sleep? I worked 120 hours last week. The hours dont play well with others.

I also suggest learning a decent software package..

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator

(however.. might be hard with little to no budget)

That being said..

start with pep..(Pepakura) all you need is some files.. some paper/glue and time..

If you don't have the funds for a program like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator than I would suggest using the free online "photoshop clone" called Pixlr. Although not nearly as advanced as Photoshop, it will help introduce you to some of the basic tools and techniques that are used.

I agree with what has been said thus far about paper props and Pepakura. Also look into scrap builds. Going to places like thrift stores, Value Village and Goodwill's as well as hardware store can reveal TONS of potential prop parts to build something more recognizable. As you may know the prop masters of the original Star Wars trilogy used things like vintage camera parts and flashes to make a lot of the weapons including the now famous lightsaber.

Crafting an object out of clay, creating a mold, and working with resin can become expensive but if you're smart about it and keep it small the costs are manageable. After the resin prop is made you can experiment with various aging and distressing techniques which is a good thing to have in a portfolio.

My final suggestion is to reach out to local schools and community theaters. They sometimes have a prop master on hand but most don't due to budget restraints, and although a shows prop funding maybe low there is usually some money there to work with, so volunteering your time to help build could get your foot in the door and may lead to a steady position.

Just my .02 cents (or .03 cents in Canada cause of the exchange rate) on the subject. If I have any other ideas I'll make sure to shoot them your way.

-Ash

I agree that Pepakura is a very good start. I find papercrafts to be easier than sculpting or building with no base. If you're going to be using Photoshop as others have suggested, you can get older versions for free I believe, for other Adobe software as well, probably. They don't have all the functions of the newer versions, but I feel like it'll still be better than the cheap alternatives.

Thanks everyone!

I am intermediate-advance level of photoshop and illustrator and begginer in autocad and sketch up. I have been working as production assistant in the tv world for a while and I want to work in the art department , but have had very hard time getting a job because I have no portfolio of props, set design or anything related to that. As well I can't joing the guild because I am not a permanent resident of canada ( I am here on a work visa) . So my jobs are as well limited .

Thank you thank you thank you so much , all your answers have helped tons!

Practice your SketchUp. Practice it a lot. It's free to learn, there's tutorials everywhere. Learn how to use one of the rendering engines - Maxwell does a free plugin that's great. Learn how to make pretty renderings with SketchUp, learn how to make good plans with SketchUp. The vast majority of TV shows, even the most boring soaps, will use SketchUp, and too many students spend 3 years doing 'production design' courses and come away with rudimentary SketchUp skills that are no good. It's less commonly used on big films (there's lots of schools of thought on what's best to use and some PDs prefer people to use certain software), but it will get you in the door.

The beauty of SketchUp is that it's free to make spec work. If you don't have any actual work to show, create some. When I was going for my first TV/film jobs, I was aiming for prop making, so I would bring in a very good replica of a Proton Pack I'd done. Most designers knew what it was, some didn't, but being able to show how I'd done the moulding, weathering, graphics etc - it was enough to show I had basic skills to get me going. When I realised what I really wanted to do was work in the art dept proper, I did the same again - created sets and drawings for spec work, to show that I understood the basics - SketchUp, white models, some drafting, etc. That will be enough for some art directors, if you can show willing + promise, then they might be on the kind of show that gives you room to learn (we all have to start somewhere, but some jobs are more forgiving than others).

Finally, specialise in something. When I was starting out I was one of a thousand art dept assistants with nothing to stand out with. I focused on SketchUp a lot and that's what got me in the door for my first few jobs in the art dept as an assistant.- doing basic visualisations, even basic concept art before the CA came on board, rough set layouts etc. It really helped. I'd still have to do petty cash buying and make the tea etc but that's the nature of the job. When I learned to specialise in graphics, after a year or two I found that I was actually getting calls for work, rather than me chasing for it. You have PS/Illustrator - again, it's free to create stuff. Even if you're just replicating things - that is often the nature of the job, so just show you know what you're doing. Maybe you'll learn an advanced 3D program, maybe you'll get good wth motion graphics, maybe you'll be an excellent period set dec - everyone has their forte!

edit: this was my first proper job, where I used a LOT of sketchup - http://cargocollective.com/matthewclark/The-Adventurer-Curse-OT-Midas-Box I did preproduction renderings before we had a proper concept artist, I did stage layouts with steel deck, I did 'digital card models' where the drawings were scanned and used as textures, I even did a first pass on a sword for Sam Neil.

As for the union thing, I don't know how to help you there. We're not really unionised in the UK which is a mixed blessing. My friend runs artdepartmental on twitter and she's Canadian, so she may have some tips.

Best of luck!

(but as Robstyle said... be sure you want to do this. This job is a time vampire, and it's killed more than a few relationships in my social circle)