Who says only God can make a tree?

Gotta love the art of salary, I am also salary in I would do it anyway for the art of it in getting it done no matter the pay.

Still gotta at some point thus in beyond the joy of it in getting too booked up and not able to get it done attribute an hourly Man/hour price to what gets done in the end so as for scope of project and estimate of at least how much in the end its worth it getting done yet you even if salary working day and night for something that's needed and perhaps done well but at some point stilll is best left to a man/hour concept even if salary in that trade off in done well, budget and timeline to get it done. Magic for the theater is one thing and once in a while sure in being worth it sure, but there is also the burn out factor that prevents workable gear or retaining people willing to do so. More than once had to send home an assistant tasked with the impossible that was not up to it in leaving more on me.
 
How to build a tree!

DAVE LOWE DESIGN the Blog

On a blog that I follow, this fellow is building a tree for an event. He is currently doing a step by step and posting it with great commentary and pictures. I thought there would be a few people on here that may be interested, and he does plenty of other props so it's interesting to see how he did those also!

(Currently on step 3, just scroll down to start at step 1)
 
Tips on how to build a fake tree

Hi, I and the assistant TD for a student run theater group over the summer. This summer we are putting on Children Of Eden. I was wondering if anyone had any tips and advice on how to build a rather larger sized fake tree. last year we build a tree out of a 4x4 trunk, strapping branches, and chicken wire and paper mache bark. It turned out ok, but it wasn't as large as this tree needs to be. I've done some poking around and I've found some information but not a lot. Also, it would be good to have the tree build in two sections, one being the trunk, and the other, the branches and leaves, so we can fit it out the door of our build site. Thanks!
 
Re: Tips on how to build a fake tree

Of course there are many, many ways.

Here's one way I've done it. This was not a free-standing tree, but hung from a track and could only be ~8" thick. I cut the profile of the trunk and 2-3 major branches out of 3/8" plywood, and backed it with a simple frame of 1/2" box steel. Glued 4" thick of white bead foam on the front, cut to the profile, and used saws, rasps, grinders, etc to carve the foam into a half-roundish shape. Then dipped strips of muslin in a mix of paint and white glue and applied them to the foam, letting folds in the fabric create the bark texture. We bought silk leaves online, glued them to scenery netting, and hung this from a batten just in front of the trunk.

With some good scenic painting, these look great, and have survived hundreds of performers and several truck trips, with minor repairs.

The photo is with a previous incarnation of the foliage (a blacklight painted cut drop). DSC_0431.jpg
 

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