SPMinars: like webinars but better
What’s a SPMinar? It’s like webinar but better. Animatronics, firearms safety, blood recipes,
fake (and real) food. Props professionals share their tips and tricks (almost) monthly via our YouTube channel.
We are requesting pay-what-you-can donations to support this S*P*A*Minar programming. All money collected will be used to offset webinar operation costs with additional funds going to our annual grant program for early career prop people. Suggested donation amount is $3. If you’ve already donated, thank you! If you are able, pay what you can donations can be made via Venmo, Zelle, or Paypal. Venmo @SPMfund Paypal Money Pool @SPAMprops Zelle to spamdues@gmail.com
Venmo @SPMfund
Paypal Money Pool @SPAMprops
Zelle to spamdues@gmail.com
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Increasing Your Shelf Life: Physical Safety in Props
Join us for a discussion on physical safety in the prop shop and how we as prop people and theater technicians can Increase our Shelf Life.
We’ll be joined by Lara Musard, the Properties Manager at the Court Theater, Deb Morgan, mostly retired, but still freelancing Prop Designer and Manager, and Kristi Ross-Clausen, Theatre Safety Expert and Teacher to talk about our physical safety in the prop shop.
We’ll be sharing data gathered from a S*P*M survey on prop shop safety, discussing ways we can build on the tools we already have around us to work smarter and safer, and empowering ourselves and others to open up this conversation with their respective organizations.
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Life is Hard, Puppets Aren’t: Tips and Tricks for Puppet Building Part 2
If you’ve ever wondered what type of mechanism to use on a puppet or how to keep the fur out of the way while stitching, then Nikki is here to help! In this webinar, she will talk about the different type of puppets, puppet mechanisms, and show different puppets from the First Stage stock.
Nikki is proud to be finishing her 9th season as the Prop Master at First Stage in Milwaukee, WI. In Wisconsin, she has worked as a Prop Master or Prop Artisan at many theatres, some of her favorites include Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and Renaissance Theaterworks. For eight summers she called Winona, MN her home where she served as the Properties Director at the Great River Shakespeare Festival. Recently, she has also worked with Kohl’s Wild Theatre at the Milwaukee County Zoo, repairing and building puppets for their in house and touring shows.
Animatronics - Where Objects Come to Life
In this SPMinar, viewers will learn what animatronics are and where they are used. They will then learn some of the basic technology to add movement and control to their own creations.
Eric Hart is the interim Director of Animatronics at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has built props and effects for shows on and off Broadway, regional theaters and operas, films and commercials. He has been a member of SPM since 2009.
From tufting to textures, daggers to set decorations,
our topics run the proverbial props gamut.
- Firearms Safety for the Stage
- Using Airtable for Props Organization
- I Have to Eat WHAT!?! Stirring solutions for prop food onstage
- Blood, Guts, and Vomit: Investigating the Gory Side of Props
- Anatomy of a Production – Sweeney Todd
- Come Clay with Me! An Introduction to Sculpting Mediums for Prop Building
- How’d They Build That Prop? Cool builds from the Penn State Props Shop
- Greening Our Theatre Practices
- Grading for the Arts Based Classroom
- Proper Prop Presenting - Portfolio Reviews and Tips
- Set Decoration—The Forgotten Narrative
- Making Your Own Stage Blood
- What's Cookin'? Tips and Tricks to Making Realistic Fake Food
- Tufting, Tacking, and Trim for Theatrical Upholstery
- The Art of Authenticity
- Is this a dagger I see before me?
- Props and the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland
- Props You Can Make At Home
- Fix It With A Formula
- Ask A Prop Manager Anything
- Prop Adjacent Careers in Film, TV, and Trades
- How Do I Know What Type of Mold To Use?
- Textures 101
- Bloody Hell, A Variety of Ways to Execute Blood Special Effects
- Life is Hard, Puppets Aren't
