{"id":6514,"date":"2020-11-19T12:48:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T17:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6514"},"modified":"2020-11-19T12:48:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T17:48:54","slug":"fw-episode-173-props-and-sets-making-movies-demands-period-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6514","title":{"rendered":"Fw: EPISODE 173 PROPS AND SETS… MAKING MOVIES DEMANDS PERIOD SETTINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTE    MY EMAIL HAS FAILED…I AM USING ANOTHER ROUTE WHICH IS NOT AS  GOOD BECAUSE<\/div>\n
PICTURES ARE GROUPED  AT BOTTOM…MAY NOT MAKE SENSE…NIGHTMARE  TRYING TO FIX COMPUTER.<\/div>\n
NO ONE CAN COME TO HOUSE DUE TO COVID 19.<\/div>\n
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ALAN  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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—– Forwarded Message —–<\/div>\n
From:<\/b> ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com&gt<\/a>;<\/div>\n
To:<\/b> Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com&gt<\/a>;; Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com&gt<\/a>;; John Wardle <john.t.wardle@gmail.com&gt<\/a>;<\/div>\n
Sent:<\/b> Thursday, November 19, 2020, 12:27:38 PM EST<\/div>\n
Subject:<\/b> EPISODE 173 PROPS AND SETS… MAKING MOVIES DEMANDS PERIOD SETTINGS <\/div>\n
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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<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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NOTE    MY EMAIL HAS FAILED…I AM USING ANOTHER ROUTE WHICH IS NOT AS  GOOD BECAUSE PICTURES ARE GROUPED  AT BOTTOM…MAY NOT MAKE SENSE…NIGHTMARE  TRYING TO FIX COMPUTER. NO ONE CAN COME TO HOUSE DUE TO COVID 19. ALAN   —– Forwarded Message —– From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com&gt; To: Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com&gt;; Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com&gt;; […]<\/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-6514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6514","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=6514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}