The main purpose of column props is to create scenery or a grandiose effect wherever they are implemented. In addition to theaters at photo shoots, column props are used for television and movie scenes and store floor or window displays. They are also widely used at parties or weddings. Column props can be freestanding, used as a base for floral arrangements or other items or draped with tulle, ribbons, balloons or other materials for a festive touch.
Traditional column styles are some of the most common found in column props. These include the Greek Doric column, with its thin shaft, square ends and no base; the Greek or Roman Corinthian column, both with a ornate leaves or other designs at the base and the Greek Composite column, similar to the Corinthian column but even more ornate. Columns shafts can be smooth, ridged or feature other designs.
Because column props are usually placed somewhere temporarily instead of being a permanent fixture, they are often lightweight, sometimes hollow and easy to move. They can be made of foam, which is a very popular prop material, as well as fiberglass or plastic. Party or wedding columns will usually be plain white, while the outside of columns used for scenery can be painted to fit whatever type of scene they are meant to portray. A column prop for a haunted house, for example, may be painted in a drab, dismal color with lots of pocks and dents to look shabby. One for an ornate castle could be easily sprayed with a bronze or other metallic paint.
Column props work especially well for holiday displays, throughout a shopping mall, department store, business lobby or private home. In addition to a Halloween haunted house, column props can help create a regal feel for Independence Day or presidential holidays, set the mood for Valentine's Day if festooned with heart balloons and include lily arrangements and pastel egg baskets decked out for Easter. White column props may also be found in the Santa displays found in many malls. Rather than leaving the columns plain white, they can be wrapped with thick red ribbon to mimic the stripes of a candy cane.
Although columns are used in architecture to support roofs and other building elements, this isn't possible with lightweight column props. Anything heavy that's supported by the column props is apt to fall over. Foam column props are not only lightweight but especially porous and will often crumble if too many nails or other hardware are stuck through them. Foam column props don't stand up to rain. The best way to attach anything to the foam props is with thin, deep nails or pins. Foam and other column props made of lighter materials can also be sprayed with a sealer, such as polyurethane, so they fare better, if needed, in the elements. Hollow column props can be further fortified in the wind by filling them with sandbags, rocks or other anchoring materials.