{"id":6504,"date":"2020-11-19T11:55:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T16:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6504"},"modified":"2020-11-19T12:28:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T17:28:44","slug":"episode-173-props-and-sets-making-movies-demands-period-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6504","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 173 PROPS AND SETS… MAKING MOVIES DEMANDS PERIOD SETTINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE  173    PROPS  AND SETS…MAKING MOVIES DEMANDS  PERIOD SETTINGS <\/p>\n

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Alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 2020<\/div>\n

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Machines have  always fascinated  me.  Not because I know how to operate them or<\/div>\n
even want to operate them.  The fascination is  historical.  Years ago  a material  historian<\/div>\n
names John Kowenhaven (sp. is incorrect ) wrote that \u201cmachines reflect the culture in<\/div>\n
which they were created.\u201d  Not his exact words but the meaning is clear.  Machines are  <\/div>\n
historical objects.  They fit into their historical settings.   <\/div>\n

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Half way through my teaching career I applied for a sabbatical leave to study  machine design<\/div>\n
in the 19th century.  The end result was a 300 page tome describing the changes  in machine<\/div>\n
technology in the 19th century.   <\/div>\n

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That was when i started to buy old machines.  Dozens of them.  Hundreds  of them.  Initially there<\/div>\n
was no financial reason for doing so other than the encouragement I got from Marjorie.  Grain cleaning<\/div>\n
machines\u2026fanning mills\u2026really fascinated me because by the end of the 19th century these machines<\/div>\n
were made into objects of beauty by the paint \u2018stripers\u2019 in the factories.  I think I bought 80 fanning mills.<\/div>\n

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Then the movie industry came to Toronto needing authentic sets.  Sets that would transport TV and Movies<\/div>\n
watchers into the past where particular machines were needed as background (sets) or as foreground<\/div>\n
objects actually touched by actors (props)..  They needed our machines.  And suddenly we had a business<\/div>\n
We  were considered a bit eccentric in that Marjorie and I took real interest in each movie that was being made.<\/div>\n

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At the same time, quite a few of the students I taught at Parkdale Collegiate found themselves employed<\/div>\n
in the movie industry.  Some  of those students rented machines from us.   We were the bottom of the<\/div>\n
movie pyramid\u2026no one was lower.  A  role reversal that my ex-students  relished.  One movie I remember well.  A village in Ontario was converted<\/div>\n
into a movie set and rented truckloads of our things.  We drove over, asked the art director if we could take pictures<\/div>\n
of our things. <\/div>\n

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 \u201cNot supposed to let pictures be  taken,  but what the hell\u2026just get your things and not<\/div>\n
the whole set.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGreat.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd move fast while we are on a coffee break.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRight.\u201d<\/div>\n

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We  zipped from store to store snapping digital  pictures.  <\/div>\n

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THEN  CAME THE  VOICE.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat the hell are you doing here, Skeoch?\u201d came a voice from a guy high up on a<\/div>\n
movie ladder.  In the dark.<\/div>\n
\u201cTaking pictures\u2026all cleared.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSkeoch\u2026I heard you were in the business.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the best boy on this set\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWho? How do you know me?\u201d<\/div>\n

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Then Phil Calambakis came down the ladder.  One of my Parkdale students.   Great kid. Taught his sister Anna as<\/div>\n
well.  His mom and  dad were boosters of our school.  Now he had become and I think remains a pillar of <\/div>\n
the movie industry.<\/div>\n

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\u201cRemember the smelly feet kid, Phil?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGod his feet were bad\u2026I had to sleep on the couch. Abandon my own room to his shoes and socks. Rotten.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYour mom and dad were always willing to help music exchange students\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWell, Not that willing, sir,   After the guy with the stinking feet.  I lost my room SIR   (Did Phil say \u2019Sir\u2019\u2026yes he did) \u2026still blame you for it.”<\/div>\n

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I noted  that Phil slipped back into the \u2018Sir\u2019 mode\u2026an expression of respect that I always savoured<\/div>\n
when used by my students.   We had a few laughs that day.  Then the actors began to troop<\/div>\n
in and we were politely ushered out.<\/div>\n

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So here below  are a few of the things we have rented  this  month\u2026November, 2020.<\/div>\n

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A  period calendar from 1945 to 1946\u2026interesting.<\/div>\n

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One ladder is not rentable\u2026movies want multiples\u2026so our collection expands.<\/div>\n

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You will hear about this machine in a story shortly.   Bet you do not know what it is.  It revolutionized agriculture.  Cheap food followed its’<\/div>\n
invention.   We travelled  to England, Ireland, USA\u2026in search of the history of this machine.   Then I rebuilt it in our back yard.;;and  <\/div>\n
shipped it air freight to a museum in Northern  Ireland.   interested?  Are you interested?<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 2020<\/div>\n

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Question:  Which object \u2026 artifact\u2026do you remember best?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE  173    PROPS  AND SETS…MAKING MOVIES DEMANDS  PERIOD SETTINGS  Alan skeoch Nov. 2020 Machines have  always fascinated  me.  Not because I know how to operate them or even want to operate them.  The fascination is  historical.  Years ago  a material  historian names John Kowenhaven (sp. is incorrect ) wrote that \u201cmachines reflect the culture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}