b'blue skyModern In the world of set and propsReseneResene left: This suit of armour was a collaboration between anResene ColorShop. I rang someone up there recently to make a Canterbury Clay entire class of students in Toi Whakaaris Set & Propsquery and he even did some testing himself to find me the answer Construction programme. Its made primarily of foam and he was just as excited as I was in that discovery.thats been coated with layer upon layer of variousThough Megan took a different path to get to Toi Whakaari, Porsche Resene paint colours to give it a weathered metal look. itsclearthatsheandAlisonsharesometraitsincommon. Megan graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2017 from construction, Resene productsthe Dunedin School of Art with a major in sculpture. From there, magic are at the heart of creativeshe headed to Florida and worked at Walt Disney World as a costumer/entertainerwhich was a dream come true for her.IcamebacktoNewZealandafterthatbutthenturned problem solving. around and went to China to continue to work for Disney English, teaching kids how to speak English through Disney. But I missed being creative, so I came back again and thought Id go back to B oth New Zealand and Australia have long been popularand timber stains, foam, plasterboard, MDF and adhesives areStudentsprimarilylearnthroughhands-onappliedResene Resene studying. Thats when I found the Set & Props Construction filminglocationsfortheirexpansive,breathtakingandall supplies youd expect to be used to build sets and props, lessknowledge,whichFrancissaysisavitalbenefitoftheBlackout Red Planet programme at Toi Whakaari.often otherworldly scenery.expected items like sawdust, biscuits, cat litter and toilet paper areprogramme.Thesearecraftskills,andbeingWellington- Given her background, its easy to see what drew her to it. Aside from its natural beauty, New Zealand is also particularlyalso typical in their arsenals. And the Set & Props Constructionbased, we are able to draw upon the most amazing resources inMy sister is a director and Ive always helped her with doing the well known for its award-winning pre- and post-production studiosprogramme at Toi Whakaari/New Zealand Drama School teachesterms of seasoned art department veterans who are incrediblyart components of her films. Thats how I progressed from loving likeStoneStreetStudios,ParkRoadPost,WetaDigitalandbudding set and prop designers how it all comes together. generous in sharing their decades of knowledge. to sculpt as an art form to wanting to sculpt for film, media and Weta Workshopall of which are headquartered on WellingtonsThe school operates like its own collaborative ecosystem, withWithin an already tight-knit school of less than 200 students,Its a journey that has led her to pick up skills in welding, pottery,One thing thats really fascinated me is that Ive really gottenstage shows as well. I remember seeing a stage production of Billy Miramarpeninsula.Thesetitansarenotonlysoughtafterone programme feeding into the next to assemble all the complexAlison Clark and Megan Gladding are members of a far tighterchain-sawing and pencil drawing. Shes also taken a cooking classa lot out of painting something seemingly small, like an eyeball,Elliot and seeing his house rotate made me think, I want to make fortheirmultimillion-dollarsoundstages;theymaybeevenpieces of the puzzle necessary to produce significant film andfamily. Administration only selects a maximum of eight studentsin every country shes travelled to. If I need something donelikeand layering the colours to create depth. Everything I thoughtthat. Then going to Disney and seeing how their world works, that betterassociatedwiththeirconceptdesign,setbuildingandstage productions. Head of Course Francis Gallop says its farto enrol in the Set & Props Construction programme each year.a wall plastered, for exampleIll often employ someone to do itI knew about painting, which was mostly walls during my time inreally made me want to get deeper into it.manufacturing abilities, armed with artists at the top of theirfrom a typical university experience. We emulate an industryAs far as their year-mates go, Alison and Megan are two of juston the understanding they teach me how at the same time. It mayproperty management, has been thrown out the window. InsteadIt was also the variety of skills that Toi Whakaaris programme game creating props, gadgets, robots, weapons and creaturesmodel, so its a full on 9-to-5and sometimes later. sixwhich shows just how much skill and savvy prospectivecost me a bit more the first time, but I save heaps down the line. of two or three layers, its more like 15 and the depth just growsoffered that attracted Megan. I consider myself a female Swiss that stretch the bounds of imagination. students need to already possess when they apply just to makeAfter teaching, I had a career in property maintenance, whichwith each layer. Its all about knowing how to get there.When it comes to special effects, its a common misconceptionthe cut. Neither woman enrolled in the programme fresh outwas a sort of gateway in a sense, she says, I spent two yearsShe says the process has shown her just how drawn she is to that computers can do it all. The truth of the matter is, while theyof high school. Alison and Megan each already hold degrees: inbuilding sets for a local theatre and took drama last year. Then,realism. I think thats a really captivating skill that I would love tobelow: One of Alisons creations that shes most proud of so far is this can do a lot, there are still many things in movies and televisioneducation and sculpture, respectively. But its clear that bothI tried a few shorter courses to get a taste for what Set & Propsconstantly develop. Its not easy to do abstract work, but to nailsculpted foam puppet. She used Resene products to paint it to resembleshows that require physical props and sound studio setsandare driven by their passion for the craft and the desire to growConstruction would be like before applying at Toi Whakaari. realism and likeness of humans and animals is very interesting.a skeksis, a fictional character from the 1982 film, The Dark Crystal.Achieving a high level of realism in the puppets eyeball has been her those items do far more of the heavy lifting than people givetheir skillsets. So far, they have been the only two that optedAlison says that she was drawn to the programme because ofAnd rustingI love rusting. I really enjoy trying to emulate thefavourite accomplishment to date.them credit for. One can still watch films that relied almostto undertake internships before theyd even entered theirthe wide range of options for specialisation and the different skillsqualities of something, so taking a piece of wood and turning it entirelyonpracticaleffects,suchasJohnCarpenterssecond year of schooling. that she could gain in the course. There was such a variety underinto a rusty piece of steel, that really fascinates me, says Alison.TheThingandfeeljustasimpressedandfearfulofAs a former educator, Alison has a wise approach toone umbrella, and I still cant believe that people get paid to haveWhatshelovesmostaboutusingResenetoachieveher theconvincingpuppetry,oozingfluidsandlatexlife, one that recognises the strong value in continuousthis much fun. impressive end results is how easy the products are to experiment monstrosities as when it was released in 1982. Its alsolearning. Every year I do something that scares me orWhilesheisdrawntothecarpentrysideofsetbuilding,with,andhowwelldifferentproductsworktogether.Some easy to overlook the incredible effort that goes intois at least outside of my comfort zone, she says. Alison says that given the challenges of that highly physical work,things can have 10-15 layers, so the fact that you can mix them up designing and creating convincing worlds to be usedshes looking forward to exploring more prop and set paintingacross a number of formulas is key. We like pushing the boundaries for the stage as well, where computer effects arentthis year. She recently completed an internship at Royal Newof the products and seeing what else can be achieved with them.even on the table. above: Megan used various Resene testpots to paint thisZealand Ballet where she helped build the frames for the sets forIve always been a fan of Resene, says Alison. I like the The level of artistry it takes to accomplish theseminiature villa sculpture she built. The Nutcracker, which will be shipped to the United States toway the products mix, and of course the colours. Im working on effectsisntawidelyheldskill.Itsaspecialisationleft: Megan (left) and Alison (right) in front of a brick wallgo on tour there. She hopes to return there to try having a gobuilding my own collection of testpots and there are so many that takes a lot of practice and mentorship, and farthey created with their classmates out of polystyrene andat the props side of things, but shes also hoping to get down togreat colours that I sometimes dont even know where to start. I more experimentation. While various types of paintsapproximately fifteen layers of different Resene paints. Christchurch to do some work with The Court Theatre. also like all the cheerful, helpful advice you get when you go to a 22 blackwhitemag.com blackwhitemag.com 23'