Props/Fabrication

Props and Fabrication: beginnings

Azrai sitting in their film space, approx. 2016

Azrai started fabricating for their local larp games in the garage of their shared California living space in 2013. For immersive events, their work needed to be easy to replicate, low cost, incredibly sturdy, and quick to apply. They spent 2013-2017 formulating their own unique processes to achieve these outcomes while taking workshops from local institutions in Los Angeles such as Stan Winston School of Character Arts.

They now specifically design to facilitate the unique needs of live immersive/roleplay environments. They've worked fulfilling prop requests from game masters as a visual designer, as well as improvising to fill on-site requests made for players. They continue this work to this day at events around the world.

2013-2016

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Sculpting

Even when they're handed over to other moldmakers for the rest of the process,
Azrai enjoys sculpting for prosthetics, puppets, creature suits and other props.

Accessible Armor

Azrai created two amour-crafting methods, designed to make armor-wearing characters easier for chronically ill and disabled people. One was created to be replicated for multiple sets using their own blend of polyurethane and fiberglass, giving the armor a durability necessary for the physical requirements of battle games while remaining incredibly light weight. The fully armored arms and shoulders (shown here as the black/iridescent feathered armor) weighed less than five pounds together.

The other method was created with players in mind who don't need to make more than one set, using (mostly) craft foam, foam clay, roof sealant and cloth strips. Both types of armor are relatively low cost to make, incredibly durable, and light weight- making armored characters more accessible for people who need to mitigate physical fatigue.

Various Props

Hover or click on images for descriptions

Repurposing

Even a simple lantern is an opportunity to add to the visual language of a world, and Azrai will take these opportunities whenever possible.

Azrai likes to prove that even a cheap halloween-store costume can become a well loved piece of a game world in the right hands.

A "salt gun" that actually shoots salt, intended for bugs, repurposed to be used for "demons and ghosts."

When creating the visual language of a world, it's important to be able to use what's already available to you. Making it easier to visually populate an interactive world means a more convincing and immersive environment.

Azrai physically cannot look at something without thinking about what they could use it for if they could only give it a "makeover."

A WIP of some props Azrai repurposed for their "students" to use at an event.

Wyllt's crossbow, said to have fired a variety of bolts- including silver and gold.

An "infernal battery" and an "empathy gun" - two glowing props Azrai created specifically for their students at an event to "steal" and use to create story how they wished.

Azrai pictured as their gunslinger character, with a NERF cannon they repainted.

A "Holy Water Gun" repurposed from a pump-action water gun, created with assistance from Hog And Dice

Xephyr Zian- An Alien Creature Suit

Azrai was cast as an alien character to work an event called Marked: A School For Heroes. (England, 2018) This was a 'superhero school' event based on stories like X-Men and Umbrella Academy. The character's name was Xephyr Zian, and Azrai designed her to be an "Ichthiosaur sapien"- a dinosaur/fish person. From space. Crafted over a few months on their bedroom floor, the Xephyr suit is fully waterproof, breathable, flexible and "bioluminescent."

Each scale was individually laid, the fins were hand sculpted and molded, and it was given an iridescent finish. The suit zipped up and was (with some effort) able to slip on and off in a short amount of time. The detail and blending of the suit left room for the rest of the makeup application to be fairly simple, making the entire process of getting ready and into costume each day take less than an hour.

Watch The Event Video

Event photography by Oliver Facey and Tom Garnett

Other Props:

The Fae Heart

For an event Azrai worked, playing a professor at a wizard school in 2018, their assistant played a magical synthetic life form called GENESIS. GENESIS was powered by a glowing, remote controlled "Fae Heart" that Azrai crafted for the occasion. Azrai cast the resin jewel themselves to create the proper diffusion for the LED light, molded the ornamentation from cake molds with sculpting putty, and coated it with their own mix of color shifting paint.

The heart could change colors depending on what GENESIS needed to communicate. Azrai also created and sourced several other small "magical/technological artifact" props for their students to use at the event.

The Unicorn Horn

Azrai was cast as a unicorn-turned-human to work a fantasy holiday event. (College of Wizardry: Winter Banquet, in Poland 2018) They cast a crystal horn and attached it to a remote controlled LED light, so that it could change as the character performed different magic. More about the makeup design and facial prosthetic can be found on the makeup page.

The Nome King's Hand

The Nome King was created for Asunderland, the collaborative storytelling series run by Azrai and their team through TikTok and Discord. This was a remote event created to be played through quarantines and lockdowns.

The universe is an apocalyptic fairytale version of Oz and Wonderland, and the Nome King is set up as the main antagonist of season 2. He lives deep underground, his kingdom is made up of caverns full of noxious fumes. He wanted to see the surface world when he was young, and as punishment, his hand was replaced with one that corrupted anything it touched. Azrai created this hand with foam, foam clay, paint, and whatever accents they could source in quarantine.

Setting the Scene

A film set in the corner of one of Azrai's temporary living spaces

Through carefully chosen practical effects, props, found objects, and lighting, Azrai is practiced in creating immersive atmospheres- even in small spaces with minimal materials.

They have done this at live events as well as in small corners of whatever living space they find themselves in.

A wizard's study created using printed backdrops, lighting and Azrai's personal posessions to create an atmosphere for their video work. This set can be seen both on YouTube and TikTok.

At an event where Azrai found themselves without any set dressings whatsoever, they created a magical classroom using only what could be scavenged from the hotel (with the help of incredible friends) and their film equipment; lights, projections, video effects, and musical soundscapes. Students sat on blankets and pillows to look up at Azrai's class presentations, giving them the feeling of looking into space.

A concept artist workspace, staged in a friend's kitchen, completely made of art that Azrai themself has drawn for immersive play events in the past. Created for a video that was never published.