Post 24: Working from a Script - Props

There aren't many props mentioned in the script, only the hankercheif with 'Lucy Pevensie' sewn into it, and the 'fish and chips' that Mrs. Beaver makes for them, which is in fact a fish and some wood chippings. Plates and cutlery are also mentioned in the Beavers' house.

More props that are not mentioned in the script are fake snow for peoples' shoulders, around their shoes, and in their hair. The inside of the Beavers' house may also have extra props, such as books on a book shelf, wood piled up for the fire, and maybe even lanterns on other surfaces or from the ceiling.

Props to purchase or bring:

• books

Props to make:

• Fish & 'chips' - replaced with the box of 'Woodeos'
• Fake snow
• Beavers' Portrait

Types of Fake Snow

1. Baking Soda & Shaving Cream

The Result:

2. Baking Soda & Conditioner

Result:

3. Baking Soda & Water

Result:

We ended up choosing the last recipe, as we thought it looked the most like snow, however, we did not end up using it as it looked more like laid down snow, as if it had set already, so we thought that sprinkling it on people's shoulders and a little in their hair wouldn't look as realistic as it could.

The Beavers' Portrait

In the Beavers' home there will be a family portrait of them, possibly resting against the mantelpiece as part of the set. It's painted on a canvas and is painted with acrylic paint. We thought it would be good to have a portrait of the Beavers in their house as it shows that they have been with each other for a long time and are happy together.

I painted the background in a dabbled way to make the Beavers stand out and signed the painting with the word "Tumnus" as if Mr. Tumnus had painted it, because if he gave them the handkerchief of Lucy Pevensie, he was probably a close friend of theirs.

The process:

The Props on Set

Here are the props arranged in the set, set up on the log mantlepiece and on the table. Most props were set up on the mantlepiece, however, as it was a place that they could be seen in the different takes, but also doesn't get in the way of the actors.


















We decided to have different pottery objects about the dam, because this felt homely and all the pieces are close to orange in colour, adding to the other warm colours of the beavers' dam.

This photograph shows an old jug which we thought could be appropriate for their home, as it has a use as well as adding to the Mise en Scene.

Other pottery items we put in there were a clay conch and ocarina, these were both orange/red in colour and were there mainly for aesthetic purposes.

 We also had a selection of old hardback books, these included a volume of Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales, Grimms Fairy Tales, a collection of Rudyard Kipling's short stories, a book of poetry by Percey Bysshe Shelley, and a copy A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. These were added to make the Beavers' Dam look more lived in, so that it looked like they had something to pass the time with. It is not just one or two books either, a small collection makes it look like they are books that the Beavers have picked up over the years, maybe before they started making their new home.

We also used a box of 'Woodios', these were the replacement of the fish and (wood)chips, as we would have found this prop hard to create. The Woodios box was a cardboard box, wrapped in paper, with a design glued to the front. It reads: "Woodios / The best woodchips in Narnia! / Competition: Win a tour of Cair Paravel!"