When the Scottish carpenter Harry McNish was chosen to be part of Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914, he brought along his tabby cat - Mrs Chippy.
Mrs. Chippy (who was actually male) lived alongside the crew members on the ship Endurance during their epic journey to Antartica. He caught mice and rats on the ship, and provided a welcome source of company for the crew. Mrs. Chippy took to life at sea - climbing the rigging and winding up the 69 dogs on-board. At one point he even jumped through a port hole into the freezing sea - the ship quickly turned around to save him!
The Endurance became stuck in ice during 1915 and the crew were eventually forced to abandon ship. Shackleton gave the order to shoot Mrs Chippy, along with 5 of the dogs in order to avoid giving them food that might help the men reach safety.
McNish never forgave Shackleton for killing his cat.
Props made:
McNish’s Diary
Mrs Chippy Name Tag Mrs Chippy ID card Newspaper Clipping Sardine Tin Packaging Birds Egg Powder Boxes
Graphic Props made for a fictional diamond robbery in Birmingham - 1960. Including a wrap sheet, newspaper, jewellery receipt, telegram and witness statement.
Special thanks to my Dad for letting me turn him into a criminal!
A 1950s suitcase mock-up decorated with stickers from holiday destinations. When I designed these I pictured that a Miss Marple-esque character owned the suitcase, her adventures taking her across the world but also to some destinations closer to home.
A collection of hand-written letters for the War of the Worlds Immersive Experience by Layered Reality. In Victorian London survivors write to their loved ones in the hope that they can find each other to be reunited.
As these were supposed to be penned by many different people, I experimented with different writing styles & inks to make them as individual as possible.
The art department on-site then aged and dressed the letters for theatre goers to read as they moved through the set.
Set Design by: Tim McQuillen-Wright
Graphic elements for ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Graphic Props made:
2 x Magazine covers for Runway - the magazine in the film.
2 x spreads for ‘The Book’ complete with Miranda Priestly’s stress-inducing notes.
3 x Door Signs for the fictional ‘New York Mirror’
Runway Front Cover - a past issue that is displayed in the office.
A second design for Runway Magazine, this time incomplete as this is the issue they are currently working on.
These pages are part of ‘The Book’ which is a graphic prop within the film. Its a thick scrapbook which contains the layouts for the next issue of the magazine. I designed some pages that might be included, taking inspiration from the 2006 runway trends!
‘The Book’ in physical form & Miranda Priestly’s notes added.
3 x Designs for a small sign to indicate that Anne Hathaway’s character has been for a job interview at The New York Mirror.
Graphic Props inspired by the book ‘Messages from the Sea’. A mysterious bottled note was found in 1869 off the coast of Ireland which stated that ‘Elizabeth Granton’ could find the truth about her birth behind a painting of the Earl of Warwick.
I then made a small package which could easily be stored behind a painting that included 2 letters, deeds and an asylum report. I researched similar documents from the 1800’s to make them as accurate as possible.
