Propmakers are the core personnel of virtually all studio construction, either on the lot or on location. They can be found swinging hammers, welding metal, using nail guns, cutting with saws and torches. They build anywhere -- underwater or in a tunnel, suspended from a telephone pole or atop an office building -- from the low seas to the high skies, and everywhere in between.
The Property Master is responsible for the design, selection, acquisition, placement and disposal of all Props required for a specific motion picture, television show or commercial production. Once the camera has rolled, the Property Master maintains the integrity of the set, with the intention of making the set function as efficiently as possible.
The Set Decorator is the Department Head responsible for the design, selection, budgeting, acquisition and placement for all Set Dressing items. The Set Decorator also supervises and staffs the Set Decoration Department. Once the sets are built and painted, or a location is chosen, the Set Decorator decorates the sets by selecting the objects known as "set dressing" -- which contribute to telling the story and support the vision of the Producer, Director, Writer, and Production Designer.
In the field of entertainment, the old saying has been adjusted to read, "Where there's smoke, there's a Special Effects man." Whenever the production requires that a certain physical, natural or elemental condition be reproduced in a controlled manner, a qualified Special Effects person is called in.
The Special Effects Coordinator staffs and supervises the Prop Shop. The versatile Special Effects/Prop Shop combination is responsible for handling any mechanical effects, constructed set dressing and prop needs required for film production.
A veteran member once defined Property accordingly, "Anything on the set that isn't nailed down -- other than the actors -- is Property." His definition points to the fact that the skilled Property members in Local 44 actually work within several specialized classifications which literally "cover" a wide area: Property, Upholstery\Drapery, Carpeting/Floor Covering, and Greens.
PROPERTY PERSONNEL
Set Decorators, Property Masters and Prophouses staff their crew with "Property" persons.
The Construction Coordinator -- who schedules, supervises and coordinates the construction of sets for motion pictures and television projects -- is essentially the equivalent of a general contractor on the "outside." Like a general contractor, the Construction Coordinator estimates, budgets and builds. The major difference is in what Coordinators are asked to build, which could be anything from a typical American household, to a West African jungle, to a 1645 Pilgrim village, or an intergalactic space craft.
