PROP RESEARCH

TYPICAL PROPS OF HORRORProps can help us identify a films genre as horror. Typical props include:

• Weapons such as guns or machetes

• Dark costumes often covered in blood or mud

• Eerie juxtapositions such as a teddy bear next to a knife

• Religion icons such as a cross

• Often supernatural costumes or props

• Props splattered with blood

• Mysterious objects such as keys

• Severed limbs

EFFECTS OF PROPS• Props used in films are often used in key

ways.

• One way is to foreshadow events. An example is when Drew Barrymore is touching some knives in scream and later on she is stabbed.

• Another way that props are used is to create mystery. If a certain prop is continuously shown, the audience begins to wonder what its significance is. Also audiences recognise this prop, whether consciously or subconsciously, and associate its connotations with the emotion of terror or dread that the film intended. An example is in the horror/thriller series ‘Teen Wolf’ there is a costume mask used as a prop. The characters wearing the mask are the antagonists and pose a serious threat so when we see the same mask in a box as a prop, the audience questions the why and the how of it getting to be there. This mask in a box frequently makes an appearance as the mystery of the demonic creatures unfolds.

KEY PROPS• Our first key prop will be a jagged piece of wood which will be what the murderer uses to

kill the first victim. We will film it in an eerie setting which we have decided will be a high storey car park building and this will give a good mood for the mise-en-scene.

• For the second murder the killer will put poison in the victims drink. For the ‘poison’ we will use crushed up paracetamol as this is white and will be virtually undetectable in the drink. This is more important if we use a clear cup so the victim would not suspect anything. The paracetamol will be crushed and mixed in with the drink. Close ups will shows the poison dissolving into the water.

KEY PROPS• Pink Trainers will be worn by Nadia, the killer, throughout our film opening. These are a

warning sign as she always wear them in the murder scenes. They ironically symbolize danger though they are pink and feminine.

• Photos will be burnt in the dream like scenes. These photos will be of the killer with the murder victims and the burning of them will foreshadow their deaths. We will use a lighter to ignite these photos will accentuated sounds of the lighter clicking.

ICONIC PROP• Our iconic prop is going to be red lipstick. The killer will wear red

lipstick to connote danger and foreshadow the events. The murderer will also draw something in red lipstick on the victims as a clue and a trademark. She will most probably draw a question mark on the victims. The use of the lipstick is unusual as it is usually a symbol of beauty, not a symbol of danger.