By Jeremy Carroll
C & G Staff Writer

ROYAL OAK — Already having made realistic looking bricks and blocks of wood with a plastic mold, Phillip Dominguez turned to a rock.

“I’m a more of a hands-on type of person, so this is the kind of stuff I like,” the Clawson High School junior said before brushing on some paint and using a heat gun to shape the item correctly.

Dominguez is one of the 14 students at the Oakland Schools Technical Campus in Royal Oak finishing up a two-week, after-school program with the Center for Film Studies. The class focused on prop construction.

“It seems like there is more to it than it really is,” he said.

Jonathan Krueger, who owns Scenic Design Group in Fraser and works closely with the Center for Film Studies, taught the class on casting and mold making.

“This has definitely opened their eyes to new opportunities and they can see how it applies to what they’ve already learned,” Krueger said.

The ability to make a real-looking piece of wood is great for props in a set, but that same type of technique can be used in a number of different applications, he said.

“Why do people come to the Rainforest Café? Because it looks like a jungle,” Krueger said. “That was made by specialized builders.”

He said the ability to make a fabricated item look like the real thing is done in construction all the time.

“This is a growing market, and not just in Michigan,” he said. “The products that we make are virtually international because of the ability to ship the products wherever they are needed.”

 Bonnie Crowson, dean of the southeast campus of Oakland Schools Technical, said they were approached by the Center for Film Studies about the pilot program.

She was happy with the way it has turned out.

“The kids love it, and it’s just great,” she said.

Students from both the northeast and southeast campuses attended the pilot class that ran through March 4.

Students come to Oakland Schools Technical Campus from various districts in the county, where they spend half of their day learning career and technical training. The Royal Oak campus has approximately 700 students enrolled.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1110.