Directions: Prop Build

Today I spent some time making two props for my shoot.

Los Pollos Hermanos Air Freshener

In Scene 2, one shot shows that in Gus's car he has a Los Pollos Hermanos Air Freshener hanging from the rear view mirror.

A screenshot from the original scene

This tells the audience that this is Gus's car, and so I want to include it in my own scene.

I started by recreating the Los Pollos Hermanos logo in Photoshop. I had to do this because I could not find a version of the logo where the two chickens are inside the circle, without their legs layer over the outside of the circle. Here is an example of what I mean.

BEFORE

AFTER

I then used the screenshot to estimate how big the air freshener was. Once I had done this I resized the logo and printed it out. I then cut it out, traced the circle on a sheet of cardboard, cut that cardboard circle out and stuck the logo onto it. I stuck a logo on both sides, so I could position on screen how I wanted to without having to worry about showing a blank side.

Finally I punched a hole in the top and tied it onto a piece of black string. Here it is:

Walter's Gun

In Scene 1 Walt has a gun. The gun is only seen on screen for a matter of seconds but I felt I better include it as it is important.

A screenshot from the original scene

Because the gun is only included for a matter of seconds, I didn't want to go out and buy an expensive prop gun. Instead I decided to create a fake one.

I started by printing out two images of the same gun (one reversed). I then cut them out, traced around them on a piece of cardboard and then cut the cardboard out. Finally I stuck the guns onto the cardboard (one on each side), and it was finished.

Although the gun is just an image stuck onto cardboard, I believe if I film it right, and add the right sound effects, I can make it look real. I also think that because it isn't on screen for long, the audience may not even notice that it isn't real.