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Ideas For Creative Movie Props? (Page 3)
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subego  (op)
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Jul 25, 2019, 12:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Lot of work there. Assuming the lower layer is the bottom, it's closer to 200 apples than 100.
You are correct, sir! The total there is 156. 108 got “the foot”.

This is actually for a later scene, where he’s thrown most of his apples away. For an earlier sequence, it’s supposed to be like an apple pyramid. So, much more foot to come.

I’m also hoping to throw a few greens in there for variety.
     
subego  (op)
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Jul 27, 2019, 10:59 AM
 
Yesterday was the official first day!



Make your redrum comments now.

I managed to avoid much of the sheer terror of a first shoot by getting only an hour-and-a-half of sleep. All my terror energy was spent trying to wake up. Once we got going I was too busy to be terrified.

It actually went relatively okay though. The big screwup on my part was setting up the slider dolly, which is basically a skateboard on a track. I had never used that much track before, and I did a horrible job of setting it up. I’m worried those shots are useless.

My focus pulling was also shit.
     
ghporter
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Jul 27, 2019, 06:02 PM
 
If it’s a “proper” prop, only the top layer really has to be anything at all....

But I’m assuming that there’s a reason for 100 or so apples. And I kinda think it has to do with “upsetting” that apple cart.

Subego, details please?

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
subego  (op)
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Jul 28, 2019, 02:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
If it’s a “proper” prop, only the top layer really has to be anything at all....

But I’m assuming that there’s a reason for 100 or so apples. And I kinda think it has to do with “upsetting” that apple cart.

Subego, details please?
100 is actually just a single layer.

Since they’re irregularly shaped, whatever’s under them is visible through the gaps, which in this case is cardboard boxes. The extra half-layer is acting as boxouflage.

The original plan was to get a flatter cart, so it would have been fine to see the bottom, and not required even a single layer’s worth. This is all the prop rental place had, so we had to adapt a bit.

Surprisingly, the apple cart never gets upset, except in the sense it’s clearly a poor performer.
     
reader50
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Jul 28, 2019, 12:18 PM
 
Suggest spray-painting the top cardboard red. Perhaps with splotches of green.
     
subego  (op)
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Jul 28, 2019, 02:53 PM
 
That’s a really good idea!
     
ghporter
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Jul 28, 2019, 09:02 PM
 
Yep. Red underneath and nobody will see the gaps.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
subego  (op)
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Jul 30, 2019, 05:11 AM
 
We pause here to quietly consider the numerous ways Adobe can suck it.

After Effects wasted about 6 hours of my life being a buggy piece of shit on Saturday, and I’m still cranky about it.
     
andi*pandi
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Jul 30, 2019, 09:58 AM
 
condolences, been there.
     
Thorzdad
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Jul 30, 2019, 10:53 AM
 
Oh, if I had a nickel for every time the words “godammit, adobe” passed my lips, I could buy the company, take it out behind the barn, and put it out of our misery.
     
ghporter
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Aug 7, 2019, 09:22 PM
 
I get the feeling that "passed my lips" includes a large range of audio volumes. Under your breath, fully out loud, "intended for Adobe to actually hear you curse them.

I've had related experiences using GIMP. "It's pretty much like Photoshop, so it's easy to learn," but only if you know Photoshop already (which would imply that you have (or have access to) Photoshop, and/or you can make sense of the lebenty-skillion icons and function names that seem to have been pulled out of some coder's bodily orifice...

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
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Aug 9, 2019, 08:59 AM
 
Oh, gods...GIMP. Don't get me started. I've been excitedly told by so many geeks over the years I should switch to GIMP because 'it's just like Photoshop, only free!' The perplexed looks I get when I ask if GIMP does cmyk are funny. It's like they can't comprehend that printing is still a thing.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 9, 2019, 02:15 PM
 
Here’s an interesting situation.

One of our potential crew is FtM. I’ve never met him, but I’ve been told he has a body which very clearly betrays the plumbing he was born with.

How do we deal with that?

Obviously, the best course would be to talk to him directly, but that’s opening up a can of worms.

The option which I’m leaning towards is to give everyone a heads-up he uses male pronouns.

Thoughts?
     
Laminar
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Aug 9, 2019, 03:14 PM
 
Basically he presents as male but doesn't really pass as male?

My general rule is "be kind." Respect him and his wishes, but also expect him to be understanding if there are mishaps because he doesn't quite pass. People in "the arts" usually lean a bit hippy-dippy-liberal, no?
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 9, 2019, 04:18 PM
 
Most of them are lefties, and most of the ones who aren’t realize it’s not the place to rock the boat. By far, the biggest problems I’ve experienced with boat rocking come from senior citizens.

If the description is accurate, one would presume he gets misgendered often. There’s nothing I’ve heard which would lead me to believe he’d be a prick about it.

The thing is, if he gets misgendered, it’s still awkward for everyone involved. In theory, we’re all happier without that.

My instincts tell me the reality is a bit more cognitively dissonant. If everyone on the production gendered him properly without any prompting, that would make him happy. If he came to realize it was engineered, it might very well piss him off.
     
andi*pandi
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Aug 9, 2019, 04:21 PM
 
well it's a lose lose then, if telling people to be considerate would piss him off.

I would err on the side of alerting people but not making a big deal of it.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 9, 2019, 05:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
well it's a lose lose then, if telling people to be considerate would piss him off.

I would err on the side of alerting people but not making a big deal of it.
You saying this just revealed a funny wrinkle.

I’m in total agreement about being low key. I had imagined stripping it to the bare minimum, which is “[X] uses male pronouns”.

The thing is, in writing my agreement, it finally dawned on me [X] in this case is an exclusively male name. The sentence comes off as totally nonsensical. Still needs some finessing.


I shouldn’t have said pissed-off. Maybe “not as happy as intended”. My life is full of examples where my earnest attempts to be considerate had the exact opposite effect. They almost all could have been avoided by more direct communication.

“Passing” is a complex, fraught and deeply personal issue. Direct communication about it with someone I’m not close to frightens the shit out of me.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Aug 10, 2019, 08:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
The option which I’m leaning towards is to give everyone a heads-up he uses male pronouns.

Thoughts?


Why not ask if he would like you to notify the crew in advance or prefer to tell them himself?
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 10, 2019, 09:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
Why not ask if he would like you to notify the crew in advance or prefer to tell them himself?
That’s a good question.

Because I’m not sure if he considers himself transgender or male.

With the first, then the question works fine. If he considers himself male, there’s nothing to notify anyone of. It’s supposedly self evident.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 11, 2019, 07:58 AM
 
Gutted 12 phones.

8 are perfect candidates.
2 are lesser.
1 requires extra building to work.
1 probably won’t float right no matter what.

1 phone had cockroaches, 2 had spiders. All deceased.
     
ghporter
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Aug 11, 2019, 10:28 AM
 
Hopefully the residents of those phones were deceased prior to your disassembling them... It's an "ewwwwww" kind of job to clean out deceased residents, but it's worse when they ain't quite dead. I won't go into it, but I will just say that I don't rebuild computers from estate sales anymore.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 11, 2019, 05:08 PM
 
Some looked dead longer than I’ve been alive.

We actually scouted out our beach location, just outside of lovely Gary, Indiana, and tested out a bunch of stuff with the floating phone.

You can see the string.

The sun hits it right, it turns into a friggin light pipe.

Other than that, things went well. We’re a little worried the Indiana Department of Natural Resources is going to shut us down, but it seems like if we claim we’re film students they’ll leave us alone.

They’re not going to like our drone. We’re going to have to move quick with it.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 12, 2019, 10:51 AM
 
Here’s a test frame.

     
andi*pandi
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Aug 12, 2019, 12:17 PM
 
no lines!
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 12, 2019, 03:11 PM
 
That’s just a frame I thought was fun, and it’s been doctored. I’ll put up one which shows the problem when I get home.
     
reader50
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Aug 12, 2019, 04:41 PM
 
Does the script require the water to be clear, or could muddy or polluted water fit the story? (food coloring, or someone upstream dumping baking soda)
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 12, 2019, 04:42 PM
 


Here’s a frame straight out of the camera, showing the string, failure of my not so great coating of Rain-X, and the massive barrel distortion from the GoPro.
( Last edited by subego; Aug 12, 2019 at 05:03 PM. )
     
reader50
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Aug 12, 2019, 05:15 PM
 
Alternative idea: film with clouds present. From the pic, all you're seeing is sunlight reflection. When the angle isn't right, the thread vanishes.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 12, 2019, 07:27 PM
 
The real deal is happening on Tuesday, so we’re stuck with what Mother Nature gives us. We also wouldn’t be able to swing another attempt until September. Unfortunately, the lake temp falls off a cliff then.

My thought is as the phones are farther back, it’ll stop being a problem, and/or something easy to doctor. So, I manually herd 3 or 4 of them, which isn’t that big a deal, and anchor the rest. What I’m trying to get away from is needing to herd all of them. Not enough people for that.

I forgot to mention, of course my anchor line broke. We had an interloper though, and they may have broken it. She mentioned stepping on something.

It was otherwise pretty adorable. She’s taking her kids to see all 50 states, and everyone has to take a photo of something “weird” in each state. As she walked by, she saw the opportunity to nab “floating phone” for Indiana.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Aug 13, 2019, 08:41 AM
 
What sort of string are you using? Have you tried transparent fishing line or black cotton to see if they show up?
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 13, 2019, 10:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
What sort of string are you using? Have you tried transparent fishing line or black cotton to see if they show up?
I haven’t tried black cotton, but this test used the thinnest (10#) transparent fishing line I could get my hands on.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Aug 13, 2019, 06:30 PM
 
Transparent line is quite shiny and can refract and internally reflect light. Maybe a nice matte cotton will be less conspicuous in the shot. Bit flimsy though. Failing that could you disguise it as seaweed?
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
ghporter
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Aug 13, 2019, 08:19 PM
 
Fishing line is pretty close to "cheap fiberoptic," so that's part of your problem.

Heavy black cotton button thread, on the other hand, may just do the job. It's cheap, non-polluting, and easy to manipulate. Did I mention cheap? That could mean that a few experiments won't bust the budget...

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
andi*pandi
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Aug 13, 2019, 10:49 PM
 
I think black would show up. why not blue or green thread? grey?
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 14, 2019, 11:16 AM
 
One issue with thread is how thick it would need to be. It already snapped my monofilament 10# test, and that actually takes a lot of effort... way more than 10 pounds of tug.

A secondary issue is the GoPro viewfinder is so tiny, it’s of no use for seeing if the thread shows up. I didn’t find out until I got home. We’d have to bring a laptop, upload all the footage, and go over it with a fine-toothed comb. I could do a test somewhere else, but unless the lighting and water conditions are exactly replicated, it’s not telling me anything.

A bigger, unrelated problem is I dug up the rules for filming at the Indiana Dunes National Park. This location is in the Indiana Dunes State Park.

The National Park’s rules says “non-commercial” filming is okay, and our plan is to fib and say we’re film students. I mean, we might make money off of this, but that’s neither the point or the plan, so we’re not lying that much.

The State Park rules I think are trying to make the same distinction, but they fail to actually word it that way. In fact, if taken literally, the State rules say filming your kid at the beach with your phone requires a permit.


Edit: here are the Indiana Department of Natural Resources filming rules if someone’s feeling legal-eagle.

https://www.in.gov/dnr/files/Instruc...IDNR_Lands.pdf
( Last edited by subego; Aug 14, 2019 at 01:01 PM. )
     
Waragainstsleep
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Aug 15, 2019, 08:38 AM
 
Strip and twist some fine copper wire, then leave it outside for a couple of days to dull the shine?
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 21, 2019, 01:15 PM
 
Beach was yesterday. Totally got our asses kicked. Phones were too difficult to wrangle, we got rained on, and an understandable but incorrect decision to end the day was made. It stopped just as we finished packing up.

Even now, this needed a wetsuit. It’s not that cold, but I was sitting completely still in the water. I started doing wind sprints between takes to warm up.

The three good bits were the IDNR didn’t shut us down, the cyanide dump from Gary only closed the beach next to our location, and I decided to splurge on a pair of wheelbarrows with dune buggy wheels. I can’t imagine how much this would have sucked without them.



Interesting observation about the Rain-X. It perfectly stopped the camera dome from breaking the surface tension of the lake, and it would come out completely dry, but splashes would leave drops that stuck.

Ultimately, I don’t like what little footage we have much. I want to get a wetsuit and go back.


Edit: kudos to Apple. Went in the water with my phone in my pocket a few times.
( Last edited by subego; Aug 21, 2019 at 01:59 PM. )
     
reader50
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Aug 21, 2019, 01:54 PM
 
Rain usually brings cloud cover. Which doesn't vanish if the rain stops.

So you may have had perfect filming conditions (no fishline reflections) just as you left.

Don't buy lotto tickets for the next few days.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 21, 2019, 03:11 PM
 
It was cloudy all day, which would have helped with the lines, but we didn’t even really get to that part.

Took us about 3 hours to cart everything over, we spent 2 hours not really getting just one shot, and then another three hours carting it back and packing up.

The part I’ll take responsibility for is my “two-step” plan for the rain. Start with bringing the bare minimum in rain protection so we could get going ASAP. Then, if rain threatened, go get the rest.

Unfortunately, when the rain gave us the warning, we hadn’t gotten shit, and were just starting to make headway. I decided to keep shooting, and the rain hit us square with no protection. I had to wear a space blanket, since my raincoat was still in the van.

That’s just an irritant, though. Where it went off the rails was nobody realized I had big umbrellas I could set up, and I was totally willing to watch the gear while everyone else got to shelter until it passed.

Since I didn’t know they didn’t know, I didn’t really have an adequate defense for staying, and the day got called.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 25, 2019, 11:45 AM
 
I think yesterday gets top honors for the most exhausting shoot I’ve ever been on.

It was 21 hours from door to door, an entire 8 of which was hauling gear through sand, 4 of those in the dark (like, country dark). Phone says I walked 19.9 miles.

Edit: looking at the time stamps on the files from the camera, we were actually shooting for only 4 hours. FML.


This was pretty. That’s home on the right.

( Last edited by subego; Aug 26, 2019 at 02:40 AM. )
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 26, 2019, 04:32 AM
 
I need to make a battering ram by Wednesday, like cops use to bust down a door. It’s part of the same gag as the guns.

My plan is to make something like this out of PVC, and paint it fire-engine red.



I haven’t worked much with PVC. Any tips? It’s going to melt if I take power tools to it, isn’t it?
     
Laminar
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Aug 26, 2019, 08:50 AM
 
Blades are fine, friction cutters or super high speed devices will melt it. So a bandsaw, hacksaw, jigsaw, sawzall, etc. will be great. An angle grinder or Dremel will melt it. Make sure your paint is plastic rated, like Krylon Fusion.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 26, 2019, 11:46 AM
 
Good deal! Thank you!

Hole saw wasn’t a problem. I’ve got Rustoleum “paint + primer”, which at least claims to work with plastic.

The problem is my garage is the only place I can spray paint, and it’s about 115% humidity in here right now.
     
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Aug 26, 2019, 01:16 PM
 
Or stop at a tool rental. Neighborhood hardware store might work. Rent a "post hole pounder" - ideally with permission to repaint it. This might be what the cops use anyway.

google images

If you can't get permission to repaint, run off a sticker to plaster over the real product name. Something like "Master Door Key".
     
Waragainstsleep
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Aug 26, 2019, 05:27 PM
 
Drainpipe
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 26, 2019, 07:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
Drainpipe
That’s the idea!



My drill holes didn’t line up very well... hopefully no one will notice.
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 26, 2019, 08:18 PM
 
I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.



( Last edited by subego; Aug 26, 2019 at 08:29 PM. )
     
subego  (op)
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Aug 27, 2019, 10:35 AM
 
Looks like I have an overspray problem.

     
subego  (op)
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Aug 27, 2019, 03:56 PM
 
Well... far from perfect, but I assume the biggest problems won’t be visible in the shot.

     
subego  (op)
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Aug 29, 2019, 09:04 AM
 
Well, Wednesday put a bunch of my props to the test.

Whipped up these ID cards. Acceptable for only taking an hour.



The one thing which I wish I had time to do was print the photo on photo paper and glue it on.

Here’s the full package. Unhappy with the photo on the ID with this one.



Gorilla Glue did a great job holding the clock to the wallet, but the bead of hot glue didn’t hold the minute hand perfectly. It’s supposed to be at 10 to.

Battering ram mostly held up. The cocked handles weren’t noticeable. One half slipped out of the collar holding them together, but we just jammed it back in.

Lastly, I’m pretty sure the gun gag was a total success. I’ll grab a frame later.
     
 
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