Gamers like Arielle Mananquil go to great lengths to bring video game worlds to life. Mananquil is a sophomore film major at Cal State Long Beach, and she makes homemade movie and video game props.
She has won awards like “best in show” at the Sony Online Entertainment competition in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Arielle is relatively new to the trade of prop-making, but she has already begun to make her way into the industry. She said she was originally inspired to create props because she saw the entrees of the Sony Online Entertainment last year.
She said this prompted her to begin to make her own props from scratch.
“They were filming [at the Sony Entertainment convention], and the whole costume contest thing going on and this one lady actually made a mech suit from the game ‘Planetside 2,’” Mananquil said. “And I was like ‘Oh my goodness, I can totally make something like that from the actual game.’”
She did some research and started drawing. She said the experience has made her realize the hobby requires a lot of work and time.
The up-and-coming prop maker has also started her own prop shop called Ravenwood Props, where she takes jobs on commission. She said the prop shop is mostly a hobby, and at this point in time, and is nothing too extensive. Ravenwood Props has already started taking commissions from a couple undisclosed customers.
Arielle sees her work as an investment for the future. She said most of what she is doing with Ravenwood Props is going toward building a solid resume, which she hopes will ultimately wind up landing her a job in the prop industry of film and video games.
Ravenwood Props takes personal commissions. Currently she is being commissioned to make a prop for the air tanks that are used by the character Pyro in the game “Team Fortress 2.”
To see some of Mananquil’s work visit https://www.facebook.com/propsderavenwood.