Props

As the foundation of this short film will be set in a psychiatrists meeting room it is important that we meet the normal requirements of this set. As exhibited below it seems as though the general stereotype of these meetings seems to happen in a room with three main props: a chair and table for the psychiatrist, and some sort of sofa for the patient. The vital difference between the stereotypical mis-en-scene of this room, and the room we will be setting up is that we want to create a sense that this is not a conventional meeting - to give the impression that something isn't right here. Through soft lighting, and minimal props we hope to achieve this goal. For example the room we have chosen to use has a white wall and dark flooring which in contrast to say the image below, gives off the sense that this is not really a place to feel comfortable. This is to reinforce the idea to the audience subtly that this scene may not be real.






Other, smaller props will be vital as mis-en-scene in this psychiatrist meeting. Within this scene we have Johnny - a mentally unstable character who spends a lot of the scene unfocused and apparently manic. We have decided to convey this idea through this character focusing briefly on random objects in the room which may be creating some sort of minimal diegetic sound. We have chosen these objects to be a clock which shall be hanging above the psychiatrists head (ticking can be exaggerated),a stand alone fan, and a pen and notepad which the psychiatrist will be holding (emphasis on the diegetic noise created when the psychiatrist rhythmically hits the pen against the pad when waiting for johnny to respond). 

The first flash back scene will be set with an office set up (as shown on the right). This means we need to carefully pick and choose the mise-en-scene with accommodates this need. In contrast to the psychiatrist meeting, it's the detail of the props which will make this scene believable. The image on the right was chosen because we believe it encapsulates all the standard office conventions - conventions which we wish to stick to. For example having two chairs face the larger more empowered chair will work well with the concept of Johnny being held up waiting for a big shot business man to arrive. The desk also holds all the ingredients which we wish to also use: the phone, the pens in cup, the writing pad, the computer, the file holder, and even the plants -  which will add the touch of believability that someone works because they want to create a more homely atmosphere. 

However, there are also a few other prop ideas we have for this scene which are not shown on the image above: firstly - Post-it notes because we think putting them next to the phone would also increase a sense of reality, files and papers that we can put inside the desk drawers, and a few oddments such as elastic bands, staples, and paperclips - all working towards the impression that someone do indeed work in this office daily, and therefore leaves behind personal marks.     


The second flash back see's the decline and break down of Johnny. In his living room he hits his girlfriend over the head in a moment of insanity. This whole scene therefore requires a very strategic placing of props. For Johnny to set up an area to immerse himself in equations, he needs a large piece of paper or whiteboard to write on, and blue-tack to stick it one with. He also needs a breakaway glass which he can smash to the ground in annoyance, and a object which he can hit his girlfriend over the head with. Initially we played around with the idea of getting a separate breakaway glass object to kill her, however after exploring possible safety risks, on top of the believability of there being another glass, we have decided to use a TV remote controller to stage the murder.  


The third and final flashback of the short film is of Johnny in solitary confinement inside the metal asylum. In many ways this is the most simplistic scene as there isn't anything in a confinement cell, however we want to create the affect that the cell has padded walls (as exhibited on this right). To create this sort of affect we hope to set up two mattresses to line the walls of the room the shot will be in. We believe creating this affect will create a greater sense of how lost in reality Johnny's character really is.  

The ending scene of the short film see's Johnny waking up from this nightmarish dream; but still leaving the sense that somehow Johnny's real life character has the potential decline into insanity. On his bedside table are two extremely important props: one being the clock which matches the time of when he committed suicide in his dream, and also a framed picture of him and his girlfriend seemingly in a very normal happy relationship. Here are some examples of the pictures taken of the actors in the picture frame:


We chose this particular image in the end because it seemed to convey the most genuine realism of these two people being in a relationship.




Prop list   

So after taking the entirety of the short film into account, it is evident what props we need to complete this project: 

Meeting          

-Small coffee table
-Chair for psychiatrist
-Sofa for Johnny 
-Pen and notepad for psychiatrist
-Fan
-Clock
-Lamp
-Rug on floor between two characters
-Simplistic picture/poster on wall 


Office flash back

-Desk
-Chair for officer worker
-Two more inferior chairs for colleagues 
-Plants
-Laptop
-Pens and pen holder
-Elastic bands
-Paperclips 
-Phone
-File holder
-Files and papers
-Notepad
-Pencils
-Post-it notes 
-Stapler and staples
-Fan 


Break down flash back

-Living room table
-couches
-TV in background
-Breakaway glass
-TV remote
-Large piece of paper or white board
-Board pens 
-Pens/pencils


Asylum flashback

-Two mattresses 


Wake-up final scene

-Bed
-Side table
-Lamp
-Framed picture
-Alarm clock




Preparation for film props

In the scene  where Johnny's character wakes up from the dream, we wanted to create a sense of his mental capability. To give off the impression that the real Johnny actually has the potential to become insane we wanted to put some crossovers from his dream and his real life. One of the main ones being a picture of him and Claire together in real life. This prop will be positioned on his bed side table so when he wakes the audience get the increasing sense that this may have not just been a dream - but perhaps a much deeper point made about humans having the potential to not only decline into insanity with an obsession, but also hurt those who we love.
The images surrounding are examples of some of the pictures taken to create the believable affect that Johnny and Claire are a couple. As you can see, we chose to put them in a very green and rustic setting to imply that their relationship is natural. Furthermore, directing Johnny's character to put his arm around Claire emphasises their natural intimacy as it suggests a photo taken on a holiday or day out.

After deliberating on all the images taken from different angles and positions we made a joint decision to use the middle image of the three shown. We chose this because we felt that their body language was very natural. Also, the zoomed in affect of the photo will make it a more believable girlfriend/ boyfriend that one would expect to see on display.

Setting up the studio to give the impression of the psychiatrist meeting was an interesting test in terms of mise-en-scene.As shown on the image on the right we used a sofa, rug, chair, fan, lamp, glass of water, notepad, and pen all to add a greater sense of realism.

The image on the left is of the sofa we managed to obtain and have moved into the studio room. We added to cushions to the sofa to heighten its sense of realism and believability as a room in which comfort in yourself is found.

The image on the right is of the stand-alone fan we managed to obtain and move into the studio room. After researching other films we found that having a prop fan was a conventional aspect in the set-up of a professional room, and we therefore acted accordingly.

The image on the left shows the small coffee table we had moved into the studio room and some other visible props which we thought heightened that sense of realism. The clock was to continue the brand identity of the matrix effect we intend to use in post-production. The lamp is to parallel the lamp in the final scene to indicate further the nature of Johnny's dream. The glass and the notepad were to be used as added aspects of realism, and to possibly capture a moment of improvisation as the actor may lift up the notepad or take a sip of the water.

The image on the right is of the psychiatrists chair we managed to obtain and move into the studio room. We chose this particular chair for two reasons: firstly it is believable that a professional man would sit in it, and secondly for the pragmatic reason that we had a limited choice within the area where we filmed.

The image on the left is of the rug we managed to obtain and have moved into the studio room. The nature of the rug was to purely enhance the overall sense of realism that this was indeed a psychiatrists meeting.

The image on the right is of the clock we intend to use in a cut away shot from the studio scene. It will be a close-up of the clock in slow motion, to symbolise the lack of continuity in Johnny's mind.

This image on above shows the set up of the scene with the psychiatrist in shot. Note how the lamp is on to indicate further a sense of warmth and reality.

 

 

The image above shows the final set-up of the props whilst filming the short film.