Props List: Detailing the props we have used and the different choices behind using them

Gun

The gun (Shown here from Trailer) was used for the pub scene in which the dealer gives the main character Daniel (Brad) the gun to complete a job for money. We decided to use the gun as a prop to show the gritty and dark nature within the film that attracts a specific audience to the film. We also used the gun in this scene to creation tension and suspense as the audience can see that violence will be used in the film by seeing this prop in the trailer which is a convention of a teen drama. The gun we used is a prop that we brought from home, in our first cut, we were able to gain a gun prop from our school’s art department.

Money Package

The money package (shown here from trailer) was used like the gun, in the pub scene when the dealer gives Daniel the gun and the money package for the job he is going to complete. We used this money package to give the authenticity and realism to our teen drama, with realism being a convention of drama as a whole. The money and the package is also to add intrigue to the audience as when watching our trailer they will think, what is in the package and is it going to a character already mentioned. To create this package, Brad printed off the money and we brought the package in and attached the money to the package. We have used this for both of our trailer cuts as it worked well in our first draft.

Phone

The phone prop was used only very briefly in the trailer and was hard to see on the trailer so i found the phone image on Google images. We used the phone to set up a small quick fire shot in our trailer as the phone is used when Daniel is talking to someone asking for there help. This keeps the audience hooked as they want to know who Daniel is talking to on the phone and possibly could sympathise with him as he is asking for someone’s help showing that the character is in a very vulnerable state which is showing emotion which is vitally important in a drama film in terms of making sure emotion is at the forefront of the film’s narrative. The phone prop was brad’s phone so it was easy for us to use.

Glass Bottles

The glass bottles and the mirror on the counter are used in the kitchen scene which is near the start of the trailer. The bottles are used to portray some background information of the story of the film as the bottles are meant to show the mothers battles with alcohol addiction and how Daniel is dealing with that. This prop is important in setting up the story within the trailer and this is one of the main reasons we added these props into the trailer. The props also portray a side characters background and issues showing that the trailer does not just solely focus on the issues of Daniels. This scene was filmed at Brad’s house and therefore we were able to use some of the empty bottles at the house making it easy to attain the props.

Sweets, Food Wrappers, Garbage

Like the glass bottle props, these props are used in the Daniel and his mother scene in which he is trying to help her but she is in a drunk state and does not want his help. This scene is earlier on in the trailer and like the glass bottles, these props (Sweets, food wrappers, bottles again and general garbage) help to portray the life of Daniel and the struggles that his mother is going through which helps portray the emotion of the film which is vital for a drama and teen drama film. These props also help to show the feeling that Daniel’s life is crumbling around him which is important as then the audience can understand why he is going down the wrong path. Again, like the bottles this scene was filmed at Brad’s and therefore the props were already there as we used empty wrappers etc so it was easy to obtain.

Blood, Makeup

The blood and makeup props are used in different sections and throughout the trailer as the blood is used in the Daniel crawling scenes which are used in different parts of the trailer in small clips to emphasise his struggles with his problems. The blood is particularly important as we needed to show that Daniel has been significantly injured which allows the audience to speculate what is going to happen to Daniel in terms of whether he is going to live or going to die, this adds tension and suspense to the trailer making the blood prop highly important. The makeup we used was number of different products such as simply just using a pencil, scribbling on a piece of paper and smearing that on a finger and then wiping it on the eye to create the black eye look. This was important as the black eye is there to show that Daniel’s struggles are worsening. The blood was bought from a local supermarket as it was easy to obtain the fake blood. The makeup was again brought from a supermarket and the pencil etc was from school making it easy to gain.

School Equipment

The folders, reports and Apple Mac laptop are used in the school teacher scene which is split into different sections in order to create a pace for the trailer to keep the audience hooked while keeping a drama convention of having short, quick fire shots. These props are used to keep and show the authenticity of the film as we wanted to make sure that it looked like a school classroom, we also kept the realism by filming it in our media classroom. The reports and folders are more important than the laptop as they are used more prominently as the teacher is holding the reports as he is talking to Daniel abouthis grades dropping. The folders are important as when Daniel storms out he throws the folders on the floor making them a important and active prop in that scene. The use of throwing the folders are for emphasis on how Daniel is growing darker in terms of his methods and personality. These props were easy to obtain as the laptop was supplied by our media teacher who appears in this video and we printed out a copy of a report and used the classrooms folders filled with blank papers to show a realism to our product.

Bar: Hand pull

The bar props and hand pull are used in the pub scene in which the dealer gives Daniel a job and the means as to how to complete it. There are used as we filmed it in the pub and therefore filmed shots with the props in to allow a sense of realism and authenticity (similar to school scene) as when people see a bar, the shots in our trailer is what people would normally expect to see. The shots from over the shoulder of Daniel clearly show the bar surroundings and the bar feel to the scene. We also used the bar to create the intimidation surrounding the dealer character (played by Josh) as he is behind the bar and looking down at Daniel slightly. For these props, we were lucky to use the Victoria pub that Brad’s uncle owns and generously allowed us to use.