Film props

Props for the short film

The props for our short film is extensive and therefore we had to research into the appropriate costumes, props, etc in order to portray the genre and to make our film professional. In our first year we researched our props only briefly which resulted in us not committing to certain props and having to improvise. With the five minute film we have collectively decided to buy each prop before production starts to ensure we have an organised and successful production. 

For the playback technology we wanted to produce a prop that would be visual for our audience and become recognisable throughout the film. However, the films narrative states that the playback technology is illegal and therefore we needed a prop that is subtle. We got inspiration for the playback technology from the two films named Strange Days and Brainstorm. Strange Days features a floppy disc. The disc contains the experiences of other people and in order to play it, a tape deck is used. The visual aid to watch the floppy disc within Strange days is a gadget that is placed on the head. We decided to emulate the idea of placing a technology of some sort on the head/temple area to elicit the fact it is cognitive. However, we felt that the tape deck was obvious and hard for the characters to discretely used and found that as it is the future, it would be plausible for the characters to attach the tape itself to their skin and it responds with the ECG tabs.

I wanted to convey a futuristic prop, however due to our low budget I decided it would be unique to have a prop that is considered to be outdated in present society and therefore the cassette tape will be the source for the Playback experiences. I feel the contrast of the outdated cassette set in a futuristic world adheres to the development and changes to influences on the future. This prop will feature throughout the short film and will be an iconic image in the making of our film, it may even feature on the Poster. I felt that it should be a cassette as a Videotape was large and a CD/DVD would be a familiar product with teenagers viewing the film and wanted something that they recognised but perhaps had never used. The tape also allows us to reinforce this idea of playing a scene/experience. 

The ECG tabs is the technology that makes the Playback tapes work concurrently with a persons cognitive neurons in order to experience the contents of the tape. The characters will place them on each temple and hold them into place to portray the act of them convulsively reacting to the technology.





For the characters costumes we went to charity shops and purchased the suitable items for each character that appears within our short film. The protagonist, Vera, is a professional at what she does and therefore we thought it would be suitable for her to wear a business like suit along with a briefcase to make her illegal sales look professional. However, we realised that the outfit would alert the Henchmen within our film of Vera as her appearance would cause them to investigate her. The briefcase would be intriguing to the Henchman and therefore we opted for a causal bag and a smart yet causal outfit .

Example of professional outfit

                                                                                                                                                              We will also need money for the exchange scenes to present to the audience that the Playback tapes                                                  are in high demand and this is how Vera makes her money. 

To present the dictator we will need posters and framed photographs of a stern looking man that can be printed off in large quantities.