Prop Ideas

Props are a significant and important part of any type of media; they contribute to the realism of the piece, for example a woman answering a phone or holding an inanimate object all helps for the audience to feel like what they are watching is real life and the possibilities of it happening to them all become very real, which of course is the desired effect we as a group hope to achieve.

The Screwdriver

Weapons are a typical and conventional prop that are needed in any successful horror movie. The weapon of choice in our horror will be a screwdriver. A screwdriver is quite a brutal weapon to use rather than a knife, the idea of stabbing another person with a screwdriver to stab and torture someone with. A screwdriver is better than a knife because it is unconventional and therefore perhaps more effected than a knife. By using a screwdriver we will be shocking our target audience and adding to the fear factor. We have also chosen the screwdriver to create a symbiotic link between the weapon of choice and the main predator in our trailer; Dennis, is ‘screwed up’ so it seems to make sense for him to choose a weapon which isnt exactly a ‘normal’ weapon of choice for a killer to choose as he is ‘screwed up’ and not ‘normal’.

The Wall of Photographs

A very effective prop we have decided to use is a wall of photographs that Dennis has in his house that he has taken of Mary-Anne and her family, he often sits at home and stares at these pictures. This is an instant warning to the audience that the menace in this film is clearly insane as the shot we show of him looking at the wall will be very intense in the trailer. By the audience viewing this in the trailer they will be able to instantly see the horror in our trailer and recognise that it belongs to the psychological sub-genre.

The Bunch of Flowers at The Grave

There will be a scene in the trailer where Mary-Anne lays flowers on her mother’s grave. Her mother has recently died under suspicious circumstances and Mary-Anne is overcome with grief. The flowers and scene in general will allow the audience to sympathise with Mary-Anne as she will be sobbing and look very distressed (The beginning of her mental state deteriorating) the audience may form a relationship with Mary-Anne and become protective of her and this will affect them when the torturing begins. The laying of the flowers on the grave does in a way represent the goodbye of purity and happiness in the film; Mary-Anne lays down a beautiful bunch of flowers and then will leave the flowers and from then on the trailer will lead into darkness; the flowers symbolise the happiness the woman once possessed, and the fact that it is now gone.

Dennis’ van

Another prop that will feature in our trailer will be Dennis’s van; it is a van that is blue with darkened windows. This reflects Dennis as a person; he is blue with depression and has a black soul. The van will be wherever Dennis is, whether he is in it or not. If the car is just parked outside it will be a warning to the audience that he will be appearing soon, and also a warning to Mary-Anne as she soon starts to notice the car parked outside of her house and then she begins to realise something creepy is happening around her. Dennis lurks in his van constantly watching the house; the fact it’s a van will unnerve the audience as he can just take anyone he likes whenever he wants, shove them in the back of his van and drive off to the destination of his choice; which may not be a nice one. This may create dramatic irony for the audience as if they catch on to what he is capable of they may guess that Mary-Anne will eventually be kidnapped. Dramatic irony is important to our target audience as they like to know what’s happening in the film constantly in order to keep their mind exercised.

Other less significant props will be used in the trailer that add to the main effect of the trailer such as a telephone that will ring and no one will be there and a wine glass that will signify the fact that Mary-Anne turns to alcoholism. What we hope is that the props above will create the unnerving, intriguing and sick to the pit of your stomach feeling about Dennis and his plans for Mary-Anne.