Elements and Performance Criteria

Props may include:
hand props, eg food and beverage, blood, gore
furniture
vehicles
equipment
costume props, eg armour, weapons, jewellery
pre-production prototypes
mechanised props
cable controlled props
electrically controlled
pneumatically controlled props
special effects props

Relevant personnel may include:
designers
other technical specialists
carpenters
production managers
stage managers
external suppliers

Production documentation may include:
set design
scripts
costume plots
lighting design
sound design
venue specifications
paintings
photographs
drawings

Practical construction problems and limitations may relate to:
size of performance space
building regulations
construction risks
safety considerations technical and performance personnel
durability
timelines

Props are constructed from a range of different media and may include:
timber
timber products, eg plywood, particle board, craftwood
masonite
metal products, eg bars, tubes, sheets
moulded or cast metal
fibreglass
fabrics
plastics, eg moulded sheet
fabric
leather
paper products
plaster
mouldable materials
thermoplastic
polystyrene

Methods and techniques within this unit could be quite broad in nature and may include:
moulding
painting
sculpting and other shaping methods
gluing
metalwork, eg cutting, welding, brazing
woodworking

Safety and legal requirements include fire proofing of all set and scenic elements:

Occupational and public health and safety legislative requirements may include:
Commonwealth, State and Territory occupational health and safety regulations
relevant national and international standards, guidelines and codes of practice, eg the Building Code of Australia
relevant local government legislation and regulation

Underpinning skills and knowledge

Assessment must include evidence of the following knowledge and skills:

techniques for creating technical plans from designs or other sources, eg painting, photograph, drawing, description
construction methods used to achieve a range of commonly required props effects
features, formats and contents of construction specifications and how to develop these
costs of materials typically used in props construction
organisational and legislative occupational health and safety procedures particularly in relation to planning and completion of props construction work
analytical skills particularly in relation to the evaluation of information that impacts on prop construction planning
communication and negotiation skills particularly in relation to working with creative personnel to realise design concepts

Linkages to other units
This unit has linkages to props construction units and to general drawing units. It is strongly recommended that this unit be assessed with or after those units.

Critical aspects of evidence

The following evidence is critical to the judgement of competence in this unit:

effective communication skills to liaise with designers/directors
ability to translate design concepts into creative and workable construction plans
ability to develop accurate construction specifications and drawings on which construction tasks can be based

Method and context of assessment

The assessment context must provide for:

practical demonstration of skills through the creation of construction drawings/plans for props for more than one production
involvement of and interaction with a team to reflect the collaborative nature of the props construction process

Assessment may incorporate a range of methods to assess performance and the application of essential underpinning knowledge, and might include:

evaluation of props for which the candidate has made the construction plans
case studies to assess ability to develop plans for a range of different props designs/production needs
evaluation of specifications and drawings produced by the candidate
oral and written questioning to assess knowledge of props constructions issues and techniques
portfolios of evidence and third party workplace reports of on-the-job performance by the candidate
Assessment methods should closely reflect workplace demands and the needs of particular groups (eg people with disabilities, and people who may have literacy or numeracy difficulties such as speakers of languages other than English, remote communities and those with interrupted schooling).

Resource requirements

Assessment of this unit requires access to:

props designs from which the candidate can develop construction plans

Communicating ideas and information
Analysing the props design to inform the construction process (2)

Collecting analysing and organising information
Presenting construction ideas and options to the designers (2)

Planning and organising activities
Considering workflow issues in the development of plans (2)

Working with others and in teams
Liaising with designers and props builders (2)

Using mathematical ideas and techniques
Working with complex measurements and dimensions (2)

Solving problems
Developing a construction solution for an effect which is difficult to achieve (2)

Using technology
Using a CAD program (1)