August 7, 2022 • 23 mins
Jane Murphy considers herself to be an “Accidental Property Master”. She stumbled across a role in a film art department in the mid 1980’s in Sydney. Her love of stories & people, combined with a fascination of things, has proved the perfect marriage for her role of Props Master for film, TV and theatre.
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Episode Transcript
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Jane Murphy (00:00):
I'm Jane Murphy and I'm in my mid sixties and I have a long career
doing many things, but the main one ofwhich is working in a career in film.
Nat Grant (00:18):
Welcome to season six of the prima Donna podcast, Sonic
portraits of Australian artists.
This audio was recorded andproduced on Wurundjeri country.
I pay respects toelders past and present.
The third episode in thisseries, features props master
and art director Jane Murphy.
To find out more about the projectand to hear more episodes like this
(00:41):
one, visit prima Donna podcast.com.
Jane Murphy (00:48):
My career in film started absolutely accidentally.
And I've felt that , I actuallyshould call my title, the accidental
prop master, because I actuallyhad no aspiration to work in film.
I worked in the arts.
I trained as a graphic artist.
(01:11):
Swinburn in theseventies, pre computers.
And then I swapped overto fine art and majored in
printmaking, mainly because I was
quite disenchanted with commercialadvertising and the world that
I was gonna be pushed intothrough my graphic arts degree.
(01:31):
Part of that meant that I also cameinto contact with community art.
And when I finished my printmakingdegree, I actually went to Sydney and
worked in community arts in Sydney.
And I lived in Sydneyfor 20 years or so.
but for payment, I basically mainlyworked within social issue employment.
(01:57):
I worked within a women's refuge.
I worked within a domestic abuserefuge in Melbourne, and then I in
Sydney, I also worked in a refuge forwomen with drug and alcohol problems.
So, you know, while I was, wasstill working within my community
arts practice, I was actuallyworking in a completely different
(02:17):
field for money because communityarts does not really pay the rent
But one night, I just happened tobe at a dinner party with a friend.
And I was sitting next toa woman who I'd never met.
And, you know, we didthe old, what do you do?
What do you do?
And she said to me,well, what do you do?
And I said, well, I trainedas a graphic artist.
(02:37):
And I was about to launch into the factthat I did nothing like graphic art.
She immediately said, oh,I need a graphic artist.
Can you start on Monday?
So I, I sort of said, well, what doing?
And she said, oh, I'm makinga film about Nellie Melba.
And I need someone to recreateall the graphic props.
So the theater programs, the theaterposters, the newspapers, and I don't
(03:01):
know what possessed me, but I wasjust, I just was in a yes mood.
And so I just said, sure,I'll give it a crack.
And I rocked up at the, um, Sydneyshowgrounds, which was a place
where a lot of films used when theshow, the Royal show wasn't on.
And sat at a desk with my sheetsof letraset and paint brushes, and
(03:27):
basically fake being a graphic artistin film for the next three months.
And everyone was completely fooled.
Some of the most enjoyable jobs forme don't necessarily end up being
the most successful finished project.
(03:50):
But I would say a careerhighlight in terms of really,
really having such a fun process.
Very, very high on my list would be akid's TV series called round the twist.
I've never met anyone who sawit as a kid and didn't love it.
And it was just as much fun to workon a really, really intelligent, funny
(04:13):
scripts, a very cohesive creativeteam, the director, the actors.
The production team, which was theAustralian children's TV foundation.
And of course, Paul Jennings thewriter of the first two series, really.
I mean, it was like everything justcame together in the perfect storm.
(04:34):
The designer, a woman called PetaLawson, who has just retired from 10
years at Neighbours, the absolute joyof going to work every day and working
on those scripts with that team, itwas just a really, really fun project.
And.
I think I always put itat top the top of my list.
(04:56):
Probably the second one in terms of fun.
And when I talk about this, italways comes back to the script.
If the script is good,the project's good.
And so probably number two on mylist would be Muriel's wedding,
which was a feature film, not aseries, but PJ Hogan's first feature.
(05:18):
Very unknown director and writer, butjust the most brilliant, brilliant
script, very kind of shaky start.
It wasn't smooth sailing from day one,but it was just an absolute joy to
work on because of the intelligenceand the humor in the script.
(05:39):
So that would probably be number two.
And if I'm gonna go on tonumber three, I'll do three.
Probably the most recent onewould have to be the dress maker,
which again, an adaptation ofa book, but a very good script.
The director who co-wrote the screenplaywith the the writer of the, um, novel
(06:05):
really took on the job of reframing orframing the whole story as a Western.
And it was such a, an honor reallyto work on that film because.
It really pulled together the creamof a lot of film talent because of
the director and the cinematographerand the designer, people really,
(06:27):
really wanted to work on the projectand it was such a great script and
a great story and didn't have verymuch money, but people just wanted
to go that extra, extra yard to makeit the absolute best that they could.
And I think it, youknow, it looks like it.
It had a lot more money andfunding than it actually did.
(06:55):
Props usually are something thatpeople don't notice and in a way
that means we've done our job.
The process for me, forworking on a project would be.
I would be contacted bythe production designer.
Who's in charge of the overall look ofthe film, or maybe the art director.
(07:17):
And I would go in for an interviewand meet the production designer.
The first thing I always do is I askif I can read the script because for
me, I can't just work on anything.
I have to be able to relate to the storyin some way, I it's such a passion job.
That you can't just kind of rockup to work and do whatever's
(07:39):
handed to you that day.
So I read the script andwhen I read the script, I'm
reading it first for the story.
And I, I don't know what it is,but there's something about the way
that my head or, and I think thisis the same for any props person.
There's something aboutthe way we read the script.
(08:00):
When you are reading it, you areactually putting yourself right
into the middle of the story andyou are almost kind of acting
it out as you're reading it.
I read the script first for thestory, and then I will approach it
depending on what type of story it is.
If it's historical or is somethingthat needs a lot of research.
(08:25):
Of course, I'm always in the backof my mind while I'm reading it.
Where can I dig deeper to researchthe main themes of this story?
So if something's historical, ofcourse, over the years, I've kind
of, I mean, it's not like a blackbook, but I have a file of resources
(08:46):
that I can tap on to get moreinformation about that era or specific
things that might need attention.
You just can't useanother film to research.
You actually have to go to the peoplewho are the experts in the field.
(09:08):
So, for example, this is a reallybasic one, but a film, like a period
film that's set, maybe I don'tknow, 40 years ago, part of what
I have to do is I have to organizeto make all the graphic props.
So if things are on paper lettersor newspapers or whatever that is.
(09:31):
I need to get someone, a film graphicartist to recreate these props.
Now, what people don't realize isthat, you know, 40 years ago, or I
think, I think it was sort of aroundthe time we had decimal currency.
So 1966, we also changed to, tometric paper sizes from Imperial.
(09:53):
So any film set before that?
foolscap and quarter paper, not A4.
And the proportion of a sheet ofpaper is such a subtle thing, but
it's something that if I see apiece of A4 paper in a period film
or TV show, it's the first thingthat jumps out at me because it's
(10:17):
visually not right.
So it's all of those little detailsthat you have to get your head into.
I'm a big lover of books.
I go to libraries.
I don't just researcheverything through Google.
I actually will go into R M I Tlibrary or the state library of
(10:38):
Victoria, and actually talk to thelibrarians, go into the archives,
go into the graphic archive.
Stuff like that and actually reallyresearch the visual period so that I
at least have a benchmark in my bodyfor that project so that I can kind
(11:01):
of make sure that all of these visualclues are as accurate as possible.
And that that's kind of the stuff thatyou won't, you won't notice unless you
know it and you can see that it's wrong.
I don't sort of storefilm facts in my head.
(11:24):
because, you know, my head's fullenough and I, and I can't . Recall
that sort of stuff very often.
Now that people can streamcontent there are a group of
people who will freeze frames andpick the eyes out of something.
(11:45):
You know, there are whole websitesdedicated to film faux pas, and
of course, props are often oneof them that people pick on a
lot because they're so obvious.
One thing I can say is I can go tothe movies and watch a film and even
(12:07):
though I know how something is done,and I, I remember one instance going
to the cinema to watch chopper, whichwas such a brilliant film and feeling.
So I.
At the violence scenes, even thoughI know exactly technically how
that's done for film, I nearlyfainted with the horror of it.
(12:32):
Like I still get really, reallyaffected, even though I know the
technology and the techniquesI can suspend my disbelief
when I'm an audience member.
And look, I have to say, eventhough, you know, you strive
always to make something accurate.
You may be working on something.
(12:52):
It's not a documentary, it's a drama.
So of course there's always licenseto bend the truth or, you know,
change the reality of it or whatever.
And at the end of the day, you arethere for the director and the,
um, and the designer and the actor.
I mean, part of my job, younever ever see, there's a
(13:15):
lot of props that, that you.
That you never end up seeingon screen because the shot may
just be head and shoulders.
But the fact of the matteris you are making the prop
for the actor to help them
portray their character.
And so, you know, one of the thingsthat I do when we go back to talking
(13:36):
about the process is after I've readthe script and assuming I've then
been chosen for the job, once I'vedone my research and everything.
One thing that you always do is makecontact with the actors and talk to them
about props that they're gonna have tohandle within the story and help them
(14:00):
to become familiar so that they're,they're just appearing effortless
with their props, if they have aspecialty tool or something that
they're supposed to be really familiarwith an example, being for, you
know, obvious ones, Kate Winslet,with her singer sewing machine.
When, on the dress maker we organizedthrough the produce or the producers
(14:25):
organized cuz she was still inEngland for her to have sewing
lessons on the machine that she,
which was purchased in, in England.
And she then brought out with herwhen she came out and is the hero
machine all the way through the film.
In fact, she became so, so adeptat that machine that when it
(14:45):
broke down, she would be the onewho would, um, fix it on set.
we'd all be standing around.
She'd go, oh, I know what's wrongwith this and changes the tension.
And.
All that sort of stuff on, on thisancient singer sewing machine.
So, you know, you, part of my jobis, is to just make sure that the
(15:06):
actors are completely familiar andcomfortable with their own props.
And that often will involve organizinglessons or training with something long
before they ever get to shoot the scene.
I mean, one thing about working in filmis that you actually very rarely get
(15:26):
time to go to films or see films soI actually do a lot of catch up, but.
One of the most recent films I saw, Isaw probably one of the most beautiful
props I've ever seen, which was innomad land, the love interest guy.
They had a close up of hismobile phone in one scene and
(15:49):
stuck to the front of the phone.
It was just an old Nokia orsomething like Americans always
seem to have these ancient phones.
Stuck to the front screen on alittle bit of paper with sticky.
was the pin number for the phone.
And to me, that was the mostinformative thing I saw about
that character in the whole film.
(16:11):
So I don't know that I could reallysay that props have changed a lot
other than I know now when I workwith a lot of younger props, people.
I find that their referencingis probably more likely to be
other films than deeper research.
(16:35):
And that's what worries me, but then,you know, that's life, isn't it.
You know, your references.
Your reference.
I just, you know, make sure that I,when I'm giving classes at the VCA or
whatever, that I really warn peoplenot to just sort of do a navel gazing
to actually go a bit further anddeeper and to try and understand like
(16:58):
one thing as I was growing up, I wasalways really interested in how things
you know, I used to take my,my, uh, bike gears apart and put
them back together again for fun.
I don't know if that's somethingabout my personality, but I really
like to drill down on how andwhy things work the way they do.
(17:18):
And I think that's one skill that'sbeen really useful for me as a prop
master is actually understandingthe how and why of things.
And why people would chooseone thing over another to.
With them as their personal possessions.
You know, I just findthat really interesting.
(17:39):
I remember traveling a few yearsago and coming across a museum
in Berlin that has become mymost, one of my favorite museums.
It's called the museum Der Dinge,which is called the museum of things.
And it is a museum of objects.
And I really recommendanyone going to Berlin.
Go to this museum, cuz it'sabsolutely fascinating.
(18:04):
You can tell a lot aboutpeople by their stuff.
And that is what really interestsme and what I think about a lot
and what informs me when I'mthinking about propping a character.
An art department is madeup of many, many people.
(18:25):
So you have your production designer,who's in charge of the overall look.
And then you have your art director.
Who's in charge of translatingthat, you know, getting the
people on to actually make thathappen and managing the budget.
And then you have your set decorator,which is a person who's in charge
of creating the environment.
(18:46):
Informed by the production designer.
And then you have the props team, whichare in charge of the personal props.
And some of that can just bethings they keep in their handbag.
There's no hard and fast rule abouthow things are divided up amongst
this team in a way there are somejobs where the props person might
(19:11):
say, get a piano for a character.
If it, if they're a pianist, though,you would say, well, that's a
really large piece of furniture.
So why isn't the setdecorator doing that?
But if it's a piano, that is somethingthat is so specific to that character.
Sometimes it gets given tothe props master because it is
(19:33):
something that really portrays thatcharacter in terms of their things.
Every job is different andevery job you have to negotiate
where the demarcation lines.
So say with Muriel's wedding that wasmade back in the days where the art
(19:58):
department was not as, uh, extensiveas it is now in a lot of ways.
So.
In fact in mural's wedding, therewasn't a dedicated props person.
There was basically only threeof us in the art department.
And so we divided up the sets accordingto how it was gonna be shot so
(20:21):
that we would sort of tag team eachother in the order that it was shot.
So.
Say for example, I did the openingwedding sequence and then Glen, my
colleague did the scene, the locationsthat were came up in the story after
that, the way we did it then was that wewould do what's called the set dressing.
(20:44):
So the furniture and alsothe props for that scene.
So we did a bit of both.
in terms of the house, interms of the Heslop house,
we actually did it together.
Cuz there were so manyrooms inside that house.
But what would happen is you wouldhave a location person who would go
out and find the locations required.
(21:04):
There were no sets builtfor Muriel's wedding.
It was all basically shot on location.
And in actual fact, a lot of the filmwas supposed to be on a cruise ship.
And we had a company lined up awell known cruise ship company
lined up who actually pulled outa week before we started shooting.
(21:28):
And so the whole island sequencewas originally set on a cruise ship.
So we had to actually createthat at the very last minute.
I mean, it was a huge spanner inthe works, in the making of that
film for such a main locationto drop out at the last minute.
So basically your, your locationmanager goes out, finds a few locations.
(21:53):
The production designer willgo and have a look at them and
see how they can make it work,
what they can do to it,to service the story.
And then once one's picked theset dressers or set decorators,
go in and furnish the scene, youmight have a bit of construction
go to maybe put in a wall or hidesomething or something like that.
(22:17):
And then, basically that, you know,if there's food, if it's like say,
um, the banquet scene on the, inthe island, you know, where the Mama
Mia scene is shot, there was a bigbanquet table with huge tropical
fruit displays and stuff like that.
So you organized someone.
And we actually got a fantastic artist.
We employed a lot of artists onMuriel's wedding, not film people.
(22:42):
And so we got this fantastic artistcalled Pip Playford from the Mardi
GRA workshop to come in and dothat whole fabulous over the top.
Carmen Miranda fruit display,and then you shoot the scene.
Nat Grant (23:03):
You've been listening to the prima Donna podcast.
To find out more about this projectand to hear more episodes like this
one, visit prima Donna podcast.com.
I'm Jane Murphy and I'm in my mid sixties and I have a long career
doing many things, but the main one ofwhich is working in a career in film.
Nat Grant (00:18):
Welcome to season six of the prima Donna podcast, Sonic
portraits of Australian artists.
This audio was recorded andproduced on Wurundjeri country.
I pay respects toelders past and present.
The third episode in thisseries, features props master
and art director Jane Murphy.
To find out more about the projectand to hear more episodes like this
(00:41):
one, visit prima Donna podcast.com.
Jane Murphy (00:48):
My career in film started absolutely accidentally.
And I've felt that , I actuallyshould call my title, the accidental
prop master, because I actuallyhad no aspiration to work in film.
I worked in the arts.
I trained as a graphic artist.
(01:11):
Swinburn in theseventies, pre computers.
And then I swapped overto fine art and majored in
printmaking, mainly because I was
quite disenchanted with commercialadvertising and the world that
I was gonna be pushed intothrough my graphic arts degree.
(01:31):
Part of that meant that I also cameinto contact with community art.
And when I finished my printmakingdegree, I actually went to Sydney and
worked in community arts in Sydney.
And I lived in Sydneyfor 20 years or so.
but for payment, I basically mainlyworked within social issue employment.
(01:57):
I worked within a women's refuge.
I worked within a domestic abuserefuge in Melbourne, and then I in
Sydney, I also worked in a refuge forwomen with drug and alcohol problems.
So, you know, while I was, wasstill working within my community
arts practice, I was actuallyworking in a completely different
(02:17):
field for money because communityarts does not really pay the rent
But one night, I just happened tobe at a dinner party with a friend.
And I was sitting next toa woman who I'd never met.
And, you know, we didthe old, what do you do?
What do you do?
And she said to me,well, what do you do?
And I said, well, I trainedas a graphic artist.
(02:37):
And I was about to launch into the factthat I did nothing like graphic art.
She immediately said, oh,I need a graphic artist.
Can you start on Monday?
So I, I sort of said, well, what doing?
And she said, oh, I'm makinga film about Nellie Melba.
And I need someone to recreateall the graphic props.
So the theater programs, the theaterposters, the newspapers, and I don't
(03:01):
know what possessed me, but I wasjust, I just was in a yes mood.
And so I just said, sure,I'll give it a crack.
And I rocked up at the, um, Sydneyshowgrounds, which was a place
where a lot of films used when theshow, the Royal show wasn't on.
And sat at a desk with my sheetsof letraset and paint brushes, and
(03:27):
basically fake being a graphic artistin film for the next three months.
And everyone was completely fooled.
Some of the most enjoyable jobs forme don't necessarily end up being
the most successful finished project.
(03:50):
But I would say a careerhighlight in terms of really,
really having such a fun process.
Very, very high on my list would be akid's TV series called round the twist.
I've never met anyone who sawit as a kid and didn't love it.
And it was just as much fun to workon a really, really intelligent, funny
(04:13):
scripts, a very cohesive creativeteam, the director, the actors.
The production team, which was theAustralian children's TV foundation.
And of course, Paul Jennings thewriter of the first two series, really.
I mean, it was like everything justcame together in the perfect storm.
(04:34):
The designer, a woman called PetaLawson, who has just retired from 10
years at Neighbours, the absolute joyof going to work every day and working
on those scripts with that team, itwas just a really, really fun project.
And.
I think I always put itat top the top of my list.
(04:56):
Probably the second one in terms of fun.
And when I talk about this, italways comes back to the script.
If the script is good,the project's good.
And so probably number two on mylist would be Muriel's wedding,
which was a feature film, not aseries, but PJ Hogan's first feature.
(05:18):
Very unknown director and writer, butjust the most brilliant, brilliant
script, very kind of shaky start.
It wasn't smooth sailing from day one,but it was just an absolute joy to
work on because of the intelligenceand the humor in the script.
(05:39):
So that would probably be number two.
And if I'm gonna go on tonumber three, I'll do three.
Probably the most recent onewould have to be the dress maker,
which again, an adaptation ofa book, but a very good script.
The director who co-wrote the screenplaywith the the writer of the, um, novel
(06:05):
really took on the job of reframing orframing the whole story as a Western.
And it was such a, an honor reallyto work on that film because.
It really pulled together the creamof a lot of film talent because of
the director and the cinematographerand the designer, people really,
(06:27):
really wanted to work on the projectand it was such a great script and
a great story and didn't have verymuch money, but people just wanted
to go that extra, extra yard to makeit the absolute best that they could.
And I think it, youknow, it looks like it.
It had a lot more money andfunding than it actually did.
(06:55):
Props usually are something thatpeople don't notice and in a way
that means we've done our job.
The process for me, forworking on a project would be.
I would be contacted bythe production designer.
Who's in charge of the overall look ofthe film, or maybe the art director.
(07:17):
And I would go in for an interviewand meet the production designer.
The first thing I always do is I askif I can read the script because for
me, I can't just work on anything.
I have to be able to relate to the storyin some way, I it's such a passion job.
That you can't just kind of rockup to work and do whatever's
(07:39):
handed to you that day.
So I read the script andwhen I read the script, I'm
reading it first for the story.
And I, I don't know what it is,but there's something about the way
that my head or, and I think thisis the same for any props person.
There's something aboutthe way we read the script.
(08:00):
When you are reading it, you areactually putting yourself right
into the middle of the story andyou are almost kind of acting
it out as you're reading it.
I read the script first for thestory, and then I will approach it
depending on what type of story it is.
If it's historical or is somethingthat needs a lot of research.
(08:25):
Of course, I'm always in the backof my mind while I'm reading it.
Where can I dig deeper to researchthe main themes of this story?
So if something's historical, ofcourse, over the years, I've kind
of, I mean, it's not like a blackbook, but I have a file of resources
(08:46):
that I can tap on to get moreinformation about that era or specific
things that might need attention.
You just can't useanother film to research.
You actually have to go to the peoplewho are the experts in the field.
(09:08):
So, for example, this is a reallybasic one, but a film, like a period
film that's set, maybe I don'tknow, 40 years ago, part of what
I have to do is I have to organizeto make all the graphic props.
So if things are on paper lettersor newspapers or whatever that is.
(09:31):
I need to get someone, a film graphicartist to recreate these props.
Now, what people don't realize isthat, you know, 40 years ago, or I
think, I think it was sort of aroundthe time we had decimal currency.
So 1966, we also changed to, tometric paper sizes from Imperial.
(09:53):
So any film set before that?
foolscap and quarter paper, not A4.
And the proportion of a sheet ofpaper is such a subtle thing, but
it's something that if I see apiece of A4 paper in a period film
or TV show, it's the first thingthat jumps out at me because it's
(10:17):
visually not right.
So it's all of those little detailsthat you have to get your head into.
I'm a big lover of books.
I go to libraries.
I don't just researcheverything through Google.
I actually will go into R M I Tlibrary or the state library of
(10:38):
Victoria, and actually talk to thelibrarians, go into the archives,
go into the graphic archive.
Stuff like that and actually reallyresearch the visual period so that I
at least have a benchmark in my bodyfor that project so that I can kind
(11:01):
of make sure that all of these visualclues are as accurate as possible.
And that that's kind of the stuff thatyou won't, you won't notice unless you
know it and you can see that it's wrong.
I don't sort of storefilm facts in my head.
(11:24):
because, you know, my head's fullenough and I, and I can't . Recall
that sort of stuff very often.
Now that people can streamcontent there are a group of
people who will freeze frames andpick the eyes out of something.
(11:45):
You know, there are whole websitesdedicated to film faux pas, and
of course, props are often oneof them that people pick on a
lot because they're so obvious.
One thing I can say is I can go tothe movies and watch a film and even
(12:07):
though I know how something is done,and I, I remember one instance going
to the cinema to watch chopper, whichwas such a brilliant film and feeling.
So I.
At the violence scenes, even thoughI know exactly technically how
that's done for film, I nearlyfainted with the horror of it.
(12:32):
Like I still get really, reallyaffected, even though I know the
technology and the techniquesI can suspend my disbelief
when I'm an audience member.
And look, I have to say, eventhough, you know, you strive
always to make something accurate.
You may be working on something.
(12:52):
It's not a documentary, it's a drama.
So of course there's always licenseto bend the truth or, you know,
change the reality of it or whatever.
And at the end of the day, you arethere for the director and the,
um, and the designer and the actor.
I mean, part of my job, younever ever see, there's a
(13:15):
lot of props that, that you.
That you never end up seeingon screen because the shot may
just be head and shoulders.
But the fact of the matteris you are making the prop
for the actor to help them
portray their character.
And so, you know, one of the thingsthat I do when we go back to talking
(13:36):
about the process is after I've readthe script and assuming I've then
been chosen for the job, once I'vedone my research and everything.
One thing that you always do is makecontact with the actors and talk to them
about props that they're gonna have tohandle within the story and help them
(14:00):
to become familiar so that they're,they're just appearing effortless
with their props, if they have aspecialty tool or something that
they're supposed to be really familiarwith an example, being for, you
know, obvious ones, Kate Winslet,with her singer sewing machine.
When, on the dress maker we organizedthrough the produce or the producers
(14:25):
organized cuz she was still inEngland for her to have sewing
lessons on the machine that she,
which was purchased in, in England.
And she then brought out with herwhen she came out and is the hero
machine all the way through the film.
In fact, she became so, so adeptat that machine that when it
(14:45):
broke down, she would be the onewho would, um, fix it on set.
we'd all be standing around.
She'd go, oh, I know what's wrongwith this and changes the tension.
And.
All that sort of stuff on, on thisancient singer sewing machine.
So, you know, you, part of my jobis, is to just make sure that the
(15:06):
actors are completely familiar andcomfortable with their own props.
And that often will involve organizinglessons or training with something long
before they ever get to shoot the scene.
I mean, one thing about working in filmis that you actually very rarely get
(15:26):
time to go to films or see films soI actually do a lot of catch up, but.
One of the most recent films I saw, Isaw probably one of the most beautiful
props I've ever seen, which was innomad land, the love interest guy.
They had a close up of hismobile phone in one scene and
(15:49):
stuck to the front of the phone.
It was just an old Nokia orsomething like Americans always
seem to have these ancient phones.
Stuck to the front screen on alittle bit of paper with sticky.
was the pin number for the phone.
And to me, that was the mostinformative thing I saw about
that character in the whole film.
(16:11):
So I don't know that I could reallysay that props have changed a lot
other than I know now when I workwith a lot of younger props, people.
I find that their referencingis probably more likely to be
other films than deeper research.
(16:35):
And that's what worries me, but then,you know, that's life, isn't it.
You know, your references.
Your reference.
I just, you know, make sure that I,when I'm giving classes at the VCA or
whatever, that I really warn peoplenot to just sort of do a navel gazing
to actually go a bit further anddeeper and to try and understand like
(16:58):
one thing as I was growing up, I wasalways really interested in how things
you know, I used to take my,my, uh, bike gears apart and put
them back together again for fun.
I don't know if that's somethingabout my personality, but I really
like to drill down on how andwhy things work the way they do.
(17:18):
And I think that's one skill that'sbeen really useful for me as a prop
master is actually understandingthe how and why of things.
And why people would chooseone thing over another to.
With them as their personal possessions.
You know, I just findthat really interesting.
(17:39):
I remember traveling a few yearsago and coming across a museum
in Berlin that has become mymost, one of my favorite museums.
It's called the museum Der Dinge,which is called the museum of things.
And it is a museum of objects.
And I really recommendanyone going to Berlin.
Go to this museum, cuz it'sabsolutely fascinating.
(18:04):
You can tell a lot aboutpeople by their stuff.
And that is what really interestsme and what I think about a lot
and what informs me when I'mthinking about propping a character.
An art department is madeup of many, many people.
(18:25):
So you have your production designer,who's in charge of the overall look.
And then you have your art director.
Who's in charge of translatingthat, you know, getting the
people on to actually make thathappen and managing the budget.
And then you have your set decorator,which is a person who's in charge
of creating the environment.
(18:46):
Informed by the production designer.
And then you have the props team, whichare in charge of the personal props.
And some of that can just bethings they keep in their handbag.
There's no hard and fast rule abouthow things are divided up amongst
this team in a way there are somejobs where the props person might
(19:11):
say, get a piano for a character.
If it, if they're a pianist, though,you would say, well, that's a
really large piece of furniture.
So why isn't the setdecorator doing that?
But if it's a piano, that is somethingthat is so specific to that character.
Sometimes it gets given tothe props master because it is
(19:33):
something that really portrays thatcharacter in terms of their things.
Every job is different andevery job you have to negotiate
where the demarcation lines.
So say with Muriel's wedding that wasmade back in the days where the art
(19:58):
department was not as, uh, extensiveas it is now in a lot of ways.
So.
In fact in mural's wedding, therewasn't a dedicated props person.
There was basically only threeof us in the art department.
And so we divided up the sets accordingto how it was gonna be shot so
(20:21):
that we would sort of tag team eachother in the order that it was shot.
So.
Say for example, I did the openingwedding sequence and then Glen, my
colleague did the scene, the locationsthat were came up in the story after
that, the way we did it then was that wewould do what's called the set dressing.
(20:44):
So the furniture and alsothe props for that scene.
So we did a bit of both.
in terms of the house, interms of the Heslop house,
we actually did it together.
Cuz there were so manyrooms inside that house.
But what would happen is you wouldhave a location person who would go
out and find the locations required.
(21:04):
There were no sets builtfor Muriel's wedding.
It was all basically shot on location.
And in actual fact, a lot of the filmwas supposed to be on a cruise ship.
And we had a company lined up awell known cruise ship company
lined up who actually pulled outa week before we started shooting.
(21:28):
And so the whole island sequencewas originally set on a cruise ship.
So we had to actually createthat at the very last minute.
I mean, it was a huge spanner inthe works, in the making of that
film for such a main locationto drop out at the last minute.
So basically your, your locationmanager goes out, finds a few locations.
(21:53):
The production designer willgo and have a look at them and
see how they can make it work,
what they can do to it,to service the story.
And then once one's picked theset dressers or set decorators,
go in and furnish the scene, youmight have a bit of construction
go to maybe put in a wall or hidesomething or something like that.
(22:17):
And then, basically that, you know,if there's food, if it's like say,
um, the banquet scene on the, inthe island, you know, where the Mama
Mia scene is shot, there was a bigbanquet table with huge tropical
fruit displays and stuff like that.
So you organized someone.
And we actually got a fantastic artist.
We employed a lot of artists onMuriel's wedding, not film people.
(22:42):
And so we got this fantastic artistcalled Pip Playford from the Mardi
GRA workshop to come in and dothat whole fabulous over the top.
Carmen Miranda fruit display,and then you shoot the scene.
Nat Grant (23:03):
You've been listening to the prima Donna podcast.
To find out more about this projectand to hear more episodes like this
one, visit prima Donna podcast.com.
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