Summary of Program Content for Journeys Below the Line: ER The PropMasters

“ER” actress Maura Tierney introduces the video and the property masters. This is followed by comments about the characteristics of property masters from John Wells, the director and executive producer of “ER.” The program then sets up the basic job of dealing with props by discussing and showing what prop people do on a regular basis and how they interact with other departments.

You will see how actors are “propped up” (provided their props) and learn how property masters prepare a breakdown once they have read the script. A number of people comment on the various meetings where the writer, director, producer, and department heads (including the prop masters) discuss the needs of the script. The property masters and others discuss the need for having authentic medical props.

The program then shifts to the high tech world of prosthetics, showing how an abdomen for a “pregnant” woman is constructed. You will see how this is outsourced to a company that creates a mold of the actress’ belly and replicates her skin tone.

Following that the program covers how props are stored. One of the prop people shows all the watches and rings that are kept in stock. Another explains the bags made for each actor that contain their main personal props. Still another gives a tour of the hallway used for prop storage.

People involved with the early days of “ER” discuss how they had to build a medical facility from scratch, an expensive process that involved many people. The prop people had to learn a great deal about medicine to accomplish their part. They work hard to make everything, including animatronic babies, seem real so that the actors’ performance will be enhanced.

The next segment deals with specific medical props used on “ER,” such as scalpels and needles that must be made dull, types of blood used, and monitors that are manipulated to simulate problems that “patients” develop.

You will learn the difference between set dressings and props and will hear the on-set dresser explains his job. The props crew demonstrates “normal” props as they set up for a scene in a bar.

The episode of “ER” that this DVD follows includes a stunt of people falling when a third floor balcony collapses. The preparations for this stunt are covered emphasizing the things that the property department does to help make everything safe and the interaction that property people have with other departments in order to execute this stunt successfully. The collapse of the balcony is shown on the DVD.

The next segment, which was filmed the next night, shows the set-up needed for the rescue from the fallen balcony. It involves gurneys, bandages, braces and many other props used as the “wounded” are loaded into ambulances. It includes an interview with a person from a company that makes “dead bodies” look realistic.

One of the people rushed to the hospital is the pregnant woman for whom the prosthetic abdomen was created. The video shows the taping of the lengthy shot of the birth of her baby and includes how the property people have to wear scrubs so they can move materials, including the “baby,” while the shot is in progress.

The video ends with one of the property masters reading his next script and thinking about the props he will need for that episode.