You never know what challenging, intriguing assignment will come across your desk when you work in the creative arts– designing props for major motion pictures, theater, music videos, Fortune 500 commercials, nonprofits, and private events. We recently designed “melting sculptures” for the Clio Institute’s “More Heat” campaign to illustrate the devastating effects of global warming.
About the Clio Institute Campaign
The Clio Institute, a nonprofit devoted to climate science education and action, wanted to highlight the impact of rising temperatures in places like Florida, Arizona, Venice, the Amazon, and other places around the world. As they say, “It is up to us to lower global warming pollution and start taking care of our planet, living in harmony with it, not imposing ourselves on it because we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” What better way to drive home this message than to reveal hidden messages beneath melting wax facades?
What We Did
One of the cool sculptures we created was this mother and baby panther, installed at Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park’s conservation building (1101 W. Sligh Ave, Tampa, FL 33604). It took us about two months to come up with the unique design, craft the structure at the shop, and install it.
The top half of the mother panther is made out of wax– which will melt as quickly as any candle, given enough heat. The bottom half of the mother and the entire baby was made out of durable, composite material that will not melt. When the top half of the mother panther melted, a sign revealed that said: “More Heat, Less Wildlife.”
Since the panther is the state mascot, you can imagine the impact it had on local audiences! You can check out people posing with the statues by searching #FLClimateCrisis or @ClioInstitute.org. If climate change is your passion, too, we encourage you to join the fight by signing the Clio Institute’s petitions. Also, our team designed the “More Heat, Less Beaches” melting life guardhouse at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami and the “More Heat, Less Health” melting Florida family at the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando.
Insider’s Perspective
“The wax body was soooo heavy,” Art Director Jerry Blohm recalls. “We had to reinforce the structure with steel.” The benefit of choosing Movie Prop Rentals is our depth of experience– more than a decade in working with an eclectic variety of materials– so we can make quick adjustments on the fly that won’t impact your schedule. “It was a harrowing job when you get right down to it,” Jerry added, “because we were working with molten wax that was over 200 degrees hot, pouring it into a mold.”
Who We Are
Movie Prop Rentals was founded by two Hollywood art directors and prop masters, Jerry Blohm and Graylan Franklin– whose credits include Bad Boys, Step Up Revolution, Jeepers Creepers, and Last of the Mohicans. The friends opened up a 3D printing studio to fabricate any structure, at any scale, in no time at all.
Whether you’re throwing an event, running a campaign, or putting on a production, we’re your dream makers. We offer full-service setup if necessary, with lighting, special effects, installation/teardown, and storage– in addition to the design and fabrication work. Contact us for a complimentary quote on our services.
