From beginnings in Dun Laoghaire’s National College of Art and Design to working on hit Netflix show ‘Wednesday’ for its second season, this Irish film legend has become one of the country’s leading talents in prop making and prosthetics for the film industry.
Over the past number of years, the film industry in Ireland has grown from strength to strength, and Limerick has become a hub with the development of prop making and set design studios like Odyssey Studios which was set up by master prop maker Mark Maher.
Maher credits his love of film to the stop motion films he watched as a child in the 80’s. He recalls: “There was a model maker and stop motion artist called Ray Harryhausen, and he did everything by stop motion, it was all creatures.”
After studying model making in Dun Laoghaire, Maher developed a portfolio of sculpting and creature work. His big break into the industry came from renowned makeup and special effects expert Gino Acevedo.
“He was the head makeup guy for Lord of the Rings. I applied to him to see if there was any work going on and he liked my work, he said make your way over here to New Zealand, so I did.”
This opportunity marked the beginning of Maher’s path to becoming an industry icon.
When he returned to Ireland, Maher said there wasn’t much going on which pushed him to look for work opportunities further afield.
“I ended up going over to do Alice in Wonderland and a few other jobs in the UK,” and while working in the United Kingdom, Maher made another connection which would influence his developing career.
“While I was there, I got a call from a guy called Philip Murphy who was a set decorator and he’s a designer now, he asked me would I run the prop making on Penny Dreadful. I moved back from the UK and jumped on that.”
While working on Penny Dreadful, Maher observed that there was a crucial section of the industry missing in this country.
“I noticed there was no model making or prop house in Ireland that was servicing the film industry. Thus, the idea for Odyssey studios was born.”
Odyssey studios launched in 2017 and boasts cutting edge work in miniature models, prosthetics, props, and large set pieces.
“As we’re designing any big job, my role as Head of Department is to make sure we’re communicating with the costume department, the art department, set deck, all of the above, and to make sure we’re singing on the same hymn sheet as them.”
Odyssey’s team has grown to include twenty-five of the most talented engineers, designers, model makers, stunt people, directors and show runners.
For Maher, having an eye for detail is key and he says when working on props he is very hands on.
“I sit down and concept design with my 3D model makers, my designers, I’ll work with them, I’ll change props according to how I feel it’s going to look. If I don’t think the finish is good enough for camera, we’ll start again, or we’ll make the changes to make sure that it’s good.”
This attention to detail also extends to ensuring that the props can be used safely by actors and the stunt crew.
“There might be 25 people sitting around, including directors, actors, everybody, and all the HOD’s (Heads of Departments) and you’re discussing the stunts. They might say ‘I’m going to be throwing this person against this machine, and they’re going to be wearing a weapon but also, that machine needs to be a soft version.’
“When I’m making something, if I feel like there’s a stunt involved, we’ll make the prop that little bit different. We’ll have our hero version, which they can shoot on, our stunt version, which they can fall on, and then a rubber version, which they can throw across the room.”
Having worked in the industry since he left college, Maher has recently achieved another life goal, working with legendary director Tim Burton on his hit show ‘Wednesday’.
“It would be the biggest model making job I’ve ever done. It would be the biggest model making job ever to hit Ireland.
“It was great to be at the helm, even though it was very nerve wracking at the start, everybody gets imposter syndrome, and I definitely suffered from it at the start going, will I be able to do it? But once we got it rocking and rolling, and I got my feet going, it was very good job. I really enjoyed the job, because I do like Gothic model making, you know, horror mixed with gothic.”
Working on what he described as “a very, very, very, very creative job as a model maker,” Maher had the opportunity to create a myriad of visually stunning pieces from the tiny glass hearts used in the forest duel between Wednesday and Morticia Addams to the gigantic sculpture on the campus grounds of Nevermore.
Mark’s creativity knows no bounds, but he had a clear favourite prop to design and create for ‘Wednesday’.
“I love miniatures and bigatures, and we did a lovely bigature on of a tower, like a clock tower from Nevermore. That was something we shot, and a lot of people didn’t know it was a miniature, which was a great thing, because Tim Burton loves miniatures. Obviously being from a very practical background, you know, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and all that kind of world.
“It was great to build a miniature in that world.The glass hearts, that was a lot of fun to build. I love doing the biology lab with creatures and creatures in the jars and all that kind of stuff. And they’re very well received – any kind of the Nevermore stuff that we’d done, like the werewolf busting out of grave. The gravestones, they’ve been really well received online, and people have kind of gravitated towards them.”
For Maher, the huge success of Odyssey Studios has been a dream come true and he says he is “happy now no matter what way it goes”. Having ‘set out 20 something years ago’ to work on all the films that he was interested in, Maher says he is lucky enough to have achieved a life goal and he’s not stopping yet.