3am coffee, pom poms and googly eyes.


I've been the prop stylist a little over a year now for the "how to" craft videos on Family Fun Magazine's website, www.familyfun.com. They can also be found at www.disney.com. We shoot these every 2 months or so.

They have reworked the videos in time and style. They are shorter now, so more segments can be shot in the usual production schedule. The trade off is less time for "step by step" instruction. Now each segment will showcase several projects with a theme, as in "things to do with a toilet paper tube".

I have to make the "things to do with a toliet paper tube".

They narrowed it down to three projects per segment. We shot 12 , one minute episodes in 2 days. That's 36 finished projects I had to make! Oh! Did I mention I am also responsible for installing and dressing the set as well?

They finalized what projects to do on a Tuesday... and wanted to see all 36 finished "heros" by Friday for approval ...I first thought they were joking, they were not.

Everyone realized there was only 24 hours in a day. Help was given and some finished projects trusted to look good by shoot day without approval, but I still had a few long nights of work to get everything done.

At 3am with blurry eyes the cute crafts, the mess and the atmosphere take on a Diane Arbus / Twilight Zone / David Lynch kind of feeling...












3 comments:

  1. The best thing I ever saw, made of toilet paper rolls, was a nativity scene (just the big three) my nephew made in preschool.

    Probably not suited for your project, but it was hilarious. :-)

    -- Vicki in Michigan

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  2. Okay the first black and white is sad, weird and just creepy, i love it. But the final black and white is the best. From a composition stand point is is beautiful, everything is at an angle, the long rod cutting the picture in half...all the bits and pieces are at an angle forcing your eye to flow through the picture from bottom right to top left (or vice versa). But the only thing that does not fit this are the eyes, they are the only things in the photo that are horizontal. Which makes them the focal point. You might ask yourself why give those items such prominence? Is it a creature coming out of the floor? Is it a creature that has just melted away? Are all the things on the floor just bits and pieces of something that has exploded? Very thought provoking Dave. Who knew that a late night toilet paper roll project could create a wonderful fine art photo!

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  3. I am now 110% jealous of your career! Your toilet paper tube guys are so. freakin'. cute. Wonderful job, should be a real inspiration to little kidlets.

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