Prop Development and Filming Update

T Hey everyone, filming has concluded! Every shot has been taken, and I could not be prouder of the film and my team. I have plenty of articles to share with you all, but what I currently want to discuss is the additional props I had in the film. There were two props, and they were designed by Luna, my prop designer! The first was a framed photo which was needed for the "light vs darkness" shot, and the second one is an ID for the character of Bakari Durden. It's explained more in the film opening, but it's heavily implied that a party took place the night before, and that Bakari left his ID in the house. I thought it would be really cool if the ID was a prop in the setting, as that way, the audience could make the connection that Bakari is Theo's friend, rather than having the information outright stated.

    Let's talk about the simpler prop first. I had visited a party with my friend Luke a while back, and had this really nice picture of us two posing at the event. Luna downloaded the picture to my computer, and I adjusted its size to be large enough for the scene. Then, I used this neat website, Grayscale Image, to convert it to grayscale, as most pictures weren't in color back then. After that, she printed out the picture, covered it in a transparent film that she found in her office, and put it inside a picture frame. Afterwards, this was the finished product. 

I think the finished product looks super nice!

As for the ID, that was a little more complicated. This was Luna's process!

First, I saved an image of a sample Florida drivers license, 

(She utilized this one which was listed on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_Driver_License.png)

then, opening my editing software with the picture of the character I was making the ID for, I edited the drivers license to remove the current picture and identifying information (name, signature, and date of birth), added in a replacement background to fill what I deleted, and then filled in the new information and added the new picture (which I cropped and removed the background of). Then I saved the new ID, placed the picture on a Word doc, scaled it to exactly the size of a real ID card, printed it out, and folded it over so that it would be double-sided and be more firm and realistic. Then, I cut it out with smooth, rounded corners, and it was done!

After all that, this was the finished project.

I find it funny how similar this looks to a genuine Floridian drivers license.

I think these props came out wonderfully, and I am so excited to show you all how they came out in the film. Before I go, there is one more thing I wish to share with you all. I've teased it for so long, so here is the completed Light vs Dark shot!

I wholeheartedly think these came out wonderfully. The blinds in the background perfectly cause a contrast between Theo's darkness and the picture of Bakari's light. We used a flashlight just out of frame to get the lighting effect, and we had my father go outside to cast a shadow over the right side of the curtains. I am so excited to edit these scenes into something beautiful! Thank you so much for listening, I'll talk to you all soon!