Final Props

Ok, I hate the quality of this photo, but I can replace it when my camera is fixed. But it gives you an idea of my finished props as a collection. I really like the basket idea, and wish I had time to fill it further, and perhaps experiment with other techniques to make food props with. However I think it will look good in a photo-shoot, depicting civilian life during the First World War. I think that the flag and teddy look really well aged, and hopefully look authentic. I wish I could have taken more time over the teddy, it looks ok in this photo, but I don't like it in reality. if I were to do it again I would follow a tried and tested pattern for a more professional look. I also planned to make cigarettes. I have started to distress a cigarette tin, but didn't have time to finish it, which I am really annoyed at. I will include it anyway, but I hope I have time to finish it at a later date and add to the project. I don't know if it was a case of being too ambitious for the time given, or lack of organisation - Perhaps Both! But I am pleased that I have produced a mixture of props, both from scratch and ones that I have adapted. 

Teddy!

In the beginning of my project I came up with the narrative based around a key I saw at the Imperial War museum. Where a soldier brings home a 'souvenir'  of his time in the trenches for his young son at home. in this case the key from a railway station in Ypres. However on reflection I don't think that a key as a prop will look effective in the final photo shoot we do at the end on the project. So I wanted to represent the child through another prop, and came up with the idea of making a teddy bear from scratch, as that would be how they used to be able to entertain their children, using whatever they could find.


I couldn't find a teddy pattern with the design I was imagining, so I had to create my own pattern. I drew the shape to size with paper, cut out the individual shapes, traced round them onto cardboard, so I had sturdier versions to work with on the fabric.

I noted down what each shape represented and how may pieces I would need to cut out for each. Then I layed the pattern pieces onto the fabric, and drew a seam allowance, before cutting them out. 

I started by sewing the ears together, then sewing the mouth piece onto the face, I did this separately so that when it is stuffed later, it stands out. Once the ears were stuffed, I could sew the onto the top of the head, then I could stuff the head once the back piece was sewn on. 

I then marked onto the front body piece the positions for the arms and legs. These needed to be sewn together and stuffed before being sewn onto the front body piece.

  I found it quite tricky to attach the back body piece once the arms and legs were on, so I ended up having to cut it down the middle, sew on each side one at a time, and hand sewn the pieces together up the middle of the back piece. Although I didn't anticipate doing this I did think that it worked well with the design, and the story behind who's it is, and that they would have to keep repairing possessions, as civilians during the war wouldnt have been able to buy new things all the time. I added the traditional buttons for eyes, again to show repair after wear and tear I chose to use different mis-matched buttons. 

As the fabric I used was new, it needed to be aged. I tried bleach, which didn't work because the fabric was naturally coloured. Instead I experimented with real food, brown emulsion and acrylic, and I personally preferred the dark brown emulsion as it gave a more authentic grubby look. 

And here's the finished article. (apologies for rubbish quality photos, my camera is broken!!)

Polystyrene fail

Inspired by World War One food posters I wanted to use the polystyrene to make some vegetables to fill up some space in my basket. 

I chose to make a potato and a parsnip, just because they, are simple and would have been available to grow in the muddy conditions during the war. 

I first tried to make the parsnip out of polystyrene, but it does get thin at the end, and because the foam isn't compacted, it did just break off. So I learnt that with smaller, more fragile objects stick to the polyurethane in future. 

So I had to scrap that plan, and start again with the polyurethane, with which I made both vegetables.

It was a fairly quick process, as I had already used it before for the cheese. After cutting out the shapes and sanding the edges, I didn't feel that I needed a layer of pva and muslin unlike the bread, because the texture it gave was natural and I didn't want to got rid of that. So the next stage was just to paint them. 

 I added them into the basket, and think it looks much better. I can always add more food as I go along, as it is a fairly quick process. 

Basket

Okay, so a wicker basket could not be located, but I did manage to find a willow one, which is the next best thing. I bought it new, so it was all shiny looking, which I didn't want. 

So I had to age it, sandpaper and bleach wouldn't have worked in this case, so I simply got some mud brown paint and randomly rubbed it all of the willow, just to dirty it up a bit. 

   Very quick, easy and effective!

Naww! I put all the props together and took a picture. I am happy with it so far, and think it will look good in a photo shoot of the home front, however I do think that it looks a bit empty inside a needs more food, so that's what I will do!

Union Jack

Union Jack

Inspired by the decoration in the Antique shop I wanted to make my own Union Jack.

Antique shop window

Originally I was going to buy the materials and sew them together, but I managed to find a Union Jack tea towel, so I bought that instead and decided to age it. This way would be a lot quicker and cheaper, which I think is the point to prop making, to be cost and time effective.

To age it I first of all applied bleach all over, which faded the colour a little, but did leave some really good marks on it. What really faded the colour was sandpaper, which again I had to do all over. The bottom picture shows half the flag as I bough it, and the right side is after the effects of bleach and sandpaper. I chose bleach and sandpaper, because I have used them before for ageing, and they were what I had to hand. I didn't want to go for the obvious tea bags, because I didn't want the smell!

And here's the finished flag!

I thought of how to present this with my props and came up with the idea of a basket to hold all my polystyrene foods, and this could line that basket. So the next stage was to locate a wicker basket, age that and see what it looks like altogether. 

Antique Shop

Antique Shop

I found the Imperial War Museum really useful, so I wanted to find another place to visit  for research where I could also see some World War one objects in the flesh. I found an Antique shop in Rochester High Street where I was able to collect some further images, useful to my project.

I particularly like the last image, even though it was used as decoration, around the time of the war people would have been very patriotic and it made me want to use the Union Jack in my work. Even though my project focuses on Belgium I think it would be a good idea to bring in the British flag to show the interaction between different nationalities during the war.

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum 

So far in my project most of my research has come from books, internet and films, so I thought it would be beneficial to go to an actual museum and see many war objects that I have researched in front of me. This way I know what I am looking at is reliable and authentic. It also gave me a chance to collect my own photographs and gave me a few more ideas as to what props I want to make. Here is a small selection of the photographs I took that day.