The
Prop Master
You could call geologist Craig Kovach a movie buff. But that
would be like calling Star Wars a little sci-fi flick.
A Man and His Maker Hook
Do you LOVE movies? Im not talking about the weekly Saturday
night trip to the multiplex with your significant other. Im
not talking about enjoying movies. Im not asking you if you
have a passing casual interest in the latest Harrison Ford flick,
or if you have a huge collection of DVDs. Im asking if you
LOVE movies. Would you rather sit home and watch Dune again
than go to clubs with your friends because you just cant get
enough of the style, the story, the PROPS. Do you seek out information
about films months before they even start filming? Do you spend
countless hours watching certain films over and over again?
Have you ever spent an uncomfortable amount of money because
you had to have the actual prop used in a film you loved? How
about this: Have you ever sat down and watched a movie frame
by frame, in slow motion, with the intention of building your
own version of a certain prop? And would you ever actually build
that prop, spending thousands of dollars and many man-hours
reaching perfection?
Well, this man has done all of the above. Tampa Bay geologist
and all-around everyman Craig Kovach is a certified film NUT.
He has dedicated a room in his home to the theater experience,
and he has dedicated many shelves and tables to his wonderful
collection of memorabilia and props.
Im sitting with Craig inside his custom-built home nestled
in the countryside along the Alafia River, just a short drive
from the frenzied streets of Tampa. Were speaking mostly of
films and filmmaking. Craig reminisces, I've always been a
movie fanatic, and I am truly a sci-fi buff. When I was a kid,
we used to pile in our old Chevy station wagon and go to the
old 20th Century Drive-in on Dale Mabry (long since demolished)
just about every weekend. I can remember seeing movies like
Fantastic Voyage and Journey to the Far Side of the Sun and
being completely blown away. Some people see movies like Top
Gun and run off and join the Navy. I saw Journey to the Center
of the Earth and ran off and became a geologist.
If you question the mans dedication to collecting and building
props, your doubts are quelled by the seven-foot-tall greeting
just inside his front door. Yeah, thats right, its the alien,
from the movie of the same name. Intruders beware, because if
the alien doesnt get you, you might just be retired like
that poor bastard Leon, or that replicant shot in the back,
Zhora. Craig has built his own firing (as in bullets) version
of the blaster (that cool-looking bad-ass pistol) used by Harrison
Ford in Blade Runner. That was no small task. Reverse engineering
the blaster was the most difficult challenge in building it,
Craig explained, while showing me different raw pieces of aluminum
and steel that fasten to different places on the gun. It would
be like giving you a few blurry pictures of a Ferrari and crappy,
solid hunks of plastic vaguely resembling a car and telling
you, OK, build one of these, and make sure it all runs, drives
and looks flawless like the original. But you can't open the
doors or look under the hood; you can't even look in the cockpit.
Craigs analogy refers to the Blade Runner movie, of course,
and the fact that in it theres a lack of really solid images
of the gun itself. With the exception of a few seconds here
or there, the gun is usually out of focus in the film so that
its user, Harrison Ford, can be in focus. Damn those filmmakers.
It took me two years to build. Don't ask how many hours. For
a long time my wife went around saying, I wish I was a Blade
Runner gun! It's since become an inside joke in prop-collecting
circles. Everyone knows exactly what it means. Craig then smiles,
and shakes it off. Janet is a wonderful person. She was actually
very understanding, and continues to be so. After handling
the Blade Runner gun, anyone can see the years of work Craig
has put into it. Its quite a stunning masterpiece, one in which
Ridley Scott himself would be proud. Craig also has on display
a plastic-and-resin version of the gun built by a couple of
friends, Richard Coyle and Phil Stienshneider, with his help.
This is the most available replica of the gun for purchase online.
Craig is also the proud owner of the Maker Hook used by Kyle
MacLachlan in the aforementioned Dune. Yes, once again Im speaking
of the actual prop from the film. Its sitting in Craigs living
room, propped up next to the fireplace. No, he doesnt use it
to stoke the fire. Its here because once he saw it, he had
to have it; its a testament to how much he enjoys the film.
The Maker Hook is still my favorite (prop). Dune is just an
amazing film. Craig hefts the all-steel piece in two hands
as he talks about the prop, Most of the sets and props were
destroyed (at the films Mexico location, after shooting) but
someone smuggled this back into the country.
For the record, Craig also owns a small piece of the Tyrell
building from Blade Runner. He has previously owned the hero
guns and some set dressing used in Alien: Resurrection. The
complete trio of furry alien suits from Earth Girls Are Easy
(that must have hurt his wallet) as well as some of the more
deadly weapons from Alien, Blade and Forbidden Planet. Craig
adds, Some other props I've owned or traded over the years:
the Armadillo (six-wheeled vehicle), crashed shuttle and nuclear
detonator Bruce Willis used in Armageddon; the hero and stunt
knives Kevin Costner used in Waterworld, Predator 2 stuff
I can't say how much I've actually spent on props, because
my wife will undoubtedly read this. We have a kind of don't-ask-don't-tell
thing about that. Craig smiles again, and hangs the hook up
on the fireplace mantle. Regarding marriage in relation to his
hobby: It's funny. Janet has always been very tolerant, but
when I started getting heavily into expensive original material,
she started to get a little worried. You know, little looks
and comments; somewhere between humoring me and wanting to strangle
me. Then, whenever money got tight, I'd feel guilty and would
sell this or that prop and she would freak out. What did you
go and sell that for? That was the coolest prop you had! I loved
that thing! Go figure.
Some of you readers may be scoffing. You might think Craigs
love has reached the point of obsession. Hey, so what. Craig
doesnt care. The props adorning his mantle, side by side with
trophies won by his daughter, Holly, his wife and himself, make
him happy. They are the ultimate keepsakes of experiences that
changed him sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. Almost everyone
has had a similar movie experience, and can probably recount
when, where and under what circumstances they first viewed the
film.
Prop collecting for me was a natural outgrowth of collecting
movie paper, Craig says. I'm not exactly sure, but Im guessing
I have around 3,000 pieces of movie paper, consisting of original
theatrical posters, photos, press kits and press books going
back to the 1950s. Mostly sci-fi, of course. My first movie
poster was from the 1985 Bruno Lawrence movie, The Quiet Earth.
That's now my daughter's favorite poster because it has a cool
quote from Albert Einstein on it: The creations of our mind
should be a blessing, not a curse to mankind. Al's her hero.
I had to ask him about his all-time favorite film.
Craig admits, Picking favorite films is tough, because new
films come out all the time that are so incredibly good. And
different types of films evoke different nostalgic responses.
That having been said, Alien is probably my all time favorite
film. It started with the best marketing campaign of any film
I can remember. They stapled little black, In space, no one
can hear you scream posters all over Tampa without leaking
any of the details about the movie. I saw it the day it came
out, of course, and I'll never forget the chest-burster scene.
My girlfriend screamed and threw popcorn and coke all over me
and five other people who were too freaked out to care. We left
the movie theater with 150 other profoundly catatonic moviegoers.
Now, two of my favorite pieces of memorabilia are a rare Alien
print and an unpublished picture of H.R. Giger, the designer
of the alien, both personally signed to me.
The Saga Continues
The storytelling medium of film has become such a deeply ingrained
part of our modern culture that we shell out more money to watch
films than to help charities. We spend more on movies than we
do on healthcare. But Im not passing judgment. I love movies
too. I spend tons on DVDs, and Saturday night trips to the multiplex.
The fact is, we all need to be entertained. Some of us need
entertainment like we do oxygen and water. Movies just happen
to be one of the most popular ways in which we choose to fulfill
that need. Wrong or right, we want more. We cant wait to see
whats next, whats new and how theyre going to make us smile,
cringe, hide our eyes or cheer for the good guy.
To that end, maybe Craig can help: He is now taking his love
of films to the next obvious level: Hes started making them
himself. Craig is currently writing and funding a sci-fi film,
which he plans to start shooting next year. He also recently
had a role in a local film production titled PAIN (covered in
previous issues of TooSquare). Craig plays the role of Kovac
(imagine that), a hitman called in at the last minute to help
dispatch the films main characters. Craig was asked to use
the Blade Runner gun, which he calls Model-SL, in the film.
He did, ordering several .44 blanks and firing as many as the
films director would allow. Working on PAIN was a gas, Craig
says. I provided all the stunt castings and much of the firing
weaponry for the film. We got to play with guns and bloody effects
and blurt expletives endlessly. And I got to actually use the
SL-DAPAS. That's pretty hormonal stuff. And working with Noeland
Collins (friend and contributor to TooSquare) was a real treat.
A great friendship and cinematic collaboration sprang out of
that experience.
Craig Kovach is a man whose life has been forever changed by
some of the worlds greatest filmmakers, and even more importantly,
by the guys who built weapons, tools, ships and other props
for those filmmakers. And we know hes not alone. One search
on eBay, or Yahoo shows you just a percentage of the folks out
there building replicas of props from films, then selling them
for profit. Were talking everything from the pulse rifles in
Aliens (which no less than five companies around the world reproduce),
to the guns used in Japanese cartoons. You can find the ID card
used by Carter Burke in Aliens, the ID used by Rick Deckard
in Blade Runner, the sword used by Maximus in Gladiator (as
well as his helmet) and model after model after model out there
for your consumption and enjoyment.
In Closing
There was just one more thing I had to ask Craig: Is there any
prop you havent had that youre still looking for?
It's probably not surprising that I think Deckard's original
hero blaster from Blade Runner is the hands-down cult Holy Grail
of sci-fi movie props. The original hero pulse rifles and smartguns
from Cameron's Aliens are definitely a close second, though.
But when it comes to the Mother Icon of sci-fi props, I'd have
to say the original Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet would
be my choice.
I ended our session by shaking Craigs hand, taking one more
look at the firing blaster, and saying farewell to the alien
by the door.
John Rosen