5 Categories From Your Favorite Movie To Build Into Your First Themed Project
The biggest "Maker unlock" I experienced is when I stopped just trying to solve problems and started theming my projects.
Star Wars is my favorite property to theme with. Theming also works for projects for my family, whether it's Small World for my wife, Frozen for our kids, or Haunted Mansion for our Halloween decorations. But even if you know exactly what movie, show, or theme you want to start building with, how do you know where to start?
Let me save you some time—and hours of pouring through Pinterest boards—and share the 5 categories I've found helpful to focus on when starting to theme your build projects.
Category 1: Accent Lighting
Highly stylized movies have amazing lighting, and it doesn't hurt that I cannot stand traditional overhead lighting either (even before I started Making things).
Look for interesting lighting that makes you think about the movie next time you watch it. Don't worry about starting out with permanent lights or lamps, but focus on smaller pieces that you can fit a battery-power LED puck light in and focus on the theme (plus, no wiring if you haven't done any before).
Category 2: Front Embellishments
Most items in your home likely have a flat front, but movies have layers to objects that make them more interesting.
By working on what you can add on the front of existing items in your home, you can focus on how you want things to be layered and cut. If you don't want to fully commit before cutting, cut some basic shapes out of cardboard and see how it looks first (then use it as a template later).
Category 3: Boxes And Crates
Storage boxes, crates, and bins are usually pretty boring in the "real world", but not so in movies.
Tons of stylized films ditch the rectangular boxes for more interesting shapes, but you can also add designs on the outside of a regular box too. The key here is it's still going to help you with storage and organization, but it will now be an interesting piece you want to show off instead of hide away in a closet.
Category 4: Colorful Shapes
One of the biggest categories in entertainment is color pallet and how the color is used within shapes.
Small World has bright colors everywhere in all kinds of patterns and shapes. Ditch the "millennial grey" and reintroduce color back into your life.
Category 5: Electronics Components
This one is more specific to sci-fi properties, but most things will have some kind of panel, indicator lights, switches, or wires that you don't see often in the "real world."
Droids and control panels are an easy example, but how cool would it be if instead of a boring light switch you had a panel you needed to move a lever and it had LED indicators? Plus, for dystopian projects, you can leave your wires exposed instead of hidden for that worn look.
