Props

Movie props are generally anything physical used on a movie set. This can range from clothes, background items, jewelry, or even a key part of the scene.

Green Screen Props

Avatar used a subtle specialized version of props. Most of the props used were created as green screen objects or sensors for the green screen.

While computer animators can create almost anything in Maya and other 3D programs, actors still need something to interact with.



Classic Props

But then there are the classic props used in most, if not all movies. Great time and effort can be put into them, or they can be put together quickly depending on what they are needed for.

Make-Up Effects

Make-Up In Movie History

From the 1920s to the 1950s monster movies took full advantage of the movie make-up industry. Most of the materials and basic concepts for these make-up styles are still used to this day on movie sets.





Green Screen Make-Up
Modern movie make-up has become more detailed and realistic. Often times combining with digital media to create monsters that could walk right off the screen.
And example of this is in Pan's Labyrinth. In creating several of the monsters the make-up artist included green patches so that later digital animators could go back and remove/animate certain parts of the creature's body.




Interesting Links
Make-Up Tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNPz8xdvBpw
Monster Movie History:
http://www.famousmonstersoffilmland.com/tag/make-up/

Sets

Titanic Flood Set

Models

Titanic: Behind the Scenes (Models)

Research: Part 1 Animatronics and Puppets

Jurassic Park Animatronics



How Animatronics Are Made



Jim Henson's Dinosaurs Behind The Scenes: Puppets and Animatronics Combo



How Jim Henson puppets were made and the various terms used for puppet making:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/muppet1.htm

Outline

Introduction

1. Practical effects are a tool film makers use to make their stories more realistic, some of the effects used are puppets, models, sets, make-up and props.
   

Body

1. Puppets and Animatronics
   

• A creature or character that is created to be controlled by a person. These creatures can vary from being fully robotic with a remote control to a hand puppet.
• ---------Examples:
• ---------Jurassic Park
• -------------- The life size dinosaur puppets featured throughout the film
• ---------Jim Henson
  
• --------------Muppets and various other creatures that have been featured in films since the 80s.
• ---------The Thing
  
• --------------Ground breaking creature design and robotics for horror films.
  

1. Models

• Models are often built when it is simply not possible to create a real life size object or world. Some models are simply one aspect of a story, while in other cases an entire world is created in model form. In some cases models are used when a stunt is to expensive or impossible to be done full scale.
• ----------Examples:
• ----------Titanic
• --------------A smaller manage version of the Titanic was made to film scenes featuring the boat.
• ----------Nightmare Before Christmas
• ---------------The film features a world and characters made small enough for a film maker to handle.
  

1. Sets

• Sets are the world in which a movie takes place. When a world does not exist in reality, or it is simply cheaper, a director will have a set built in a movie studio for the actors to walk around and interact in.
• -----------Examples:
• -----------Wizard of Oz
• ---------------While parts of the world were made from matte painting others were full blown sets, such as the forest, which were built by hand.
• -----------Dark Crystal
• ---------------This entire film, including the creatures, was make up of puppets and props. Sets were built to scale with the props to create a whole new world.
  

1. Make-Up

• Actors are often asked to play characters that don’t naturally exist. Special effects make-up is used to help the actors become the creature they are portraying. Various waxes, paints, and latex are used to create these effects
• ------------Examples:
• ------------50's Horror
• ---------------Special Effects make-up boomed and was used to create monsters that could otherwise not exist on the silver screen.
  
• ------------Terminator
• ---------------In parts of the film, in other to make the Terminator look more like a robot special effects were used to create metallic features on the actors body and face.
  
• ------------Wizard of Oz
• ---------------The Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin man all required makeup that covered their entire face to integrate with their costumes.
  

1. Props

• Props can be nearly anything in a movie. Props can be clothes, weapons, or objects. While often times a prop is a background item, other times it can play a key role in a film.
• ------------Examples:
• ------------Nightmare on Elm Street
• ----------------The clawed hand Freddy is known for is an important prop that makes this film.
  
• ------------Constantine
• ----------------Props are the driving force in this film. Such as the Spear of Destiny and the Holy Shotgun
  

Conclusion