Dominguez holds his personal  favorite creation, the “Monster Book of Monsters” from
“Harry Potter” which opens and close
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard

For some students, college can be a time for major adjustments in people’s lives. Students are faced with huge decisions, such as their future careers.

Some people have trouble making this kind of choice, but freshman art major in graphic design Jacob Dominguez had set his plan for what he wants to do when he graduates. 

“I design and build prop replicas from movies and video games,” said Dominguez. “I do a little of cosplay and I build animatronics and puppets. There aren’t many classes out there that you can take or books you can get and read. You have to experiment and figure out what works and what doesn’t.” 

According to Dominguez, he’s been building props since the 7th and 8th grades. Dominguez obtains the materials for his projects through different hardware stores and electronic shops that help him build his creations.

“A lot of the structural stuff and the mechanical parts of it I would get from Home Depot, Radio Shack and places like that,” said Dominguez. “For the detail work, I go to craft stores like Hobby Lobby. I usually just buy things and repurpose them if I can, instead of having to build things from scratch. Some of the things I’ve had to buy, such as wood burning tools and hot glue guns, but a lot of the bigger tools are just things I’ve had around the garage for a while because my dad used to do construction.”

According to Dominguez, his current projects revolve around moving animatronics. He is currently working on an alien head that will have the ability to move and talk as well as have a Mad Eye Moody replica eyepiece from the “Harry Potter” franchise. Dominguez’s goal is to build something that is wearable but can also move on its own.

“I built a velociraptor over the summer that stands six feet tall,” said Dominguez. “It’s inspired by the one from the ‘Jurassic Park’ movies. It was an interesting project using the upholstery foam and I’d like to explore more things like that. Honestly, if I had the room I’d like to build a full size T-rex.”

While Dominguez has built many props, his personal favored is one of his very own “Harry Potter” creations.

“My favorite would be the ‘Monster Book of Monsters’ from ‘Harry Potter,’” said Dominguez. “Its one of the first animatronic props that I built that worked like it was supposed to.”

The time it takes for Dominguez to build the props can vary. Under those circumstances, Dominguez’s experience with creating props in the design stage can go anywhere from a few days to a few months, depending on how complicated the design of the prop is.

“It depends on whether I want it to move or if it’s just a very intricate piece,” said Dominguez. “As far as building goes, it just depends on the piece. There are some props that I’ve knocked out from start to finish in a weekend and some that have taken a few months to finish.”

Dominguez has taken an interest with trying to become involved with the movie industry and has even set up his own page on etsy.com.

“I’m trying to make connections in the movie industry around here, I’ve met with a few people around here,” said Dominguez. “As far as doing stuff around school that would be great, anyway to get my work out there and show what I can do. I would like to sell more; I actually have an Etsy shop, it’s Wasteland Replicas on Etsy.” 

To learn more about Dominguez’s projects, search his Etsy page by googling “Jacob Dominguez on Etsy.”

Jacob Dominquez's prop design. 
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard

Jacob Dominguez has recreated various model wands from the “Harry Potter” series
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard

Dominguez has also created an original piece of a talking animatronic alien head
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard

Jacob Dominquez's prop designers