Pre-production: 

We began by all of us getting together and having a group discussion about the production and going through the script with each department and discussed what ideas each department had and then we went through the script and noted down which number each scene is and then began by doing a full read through of the script so everyone had heard the script and could ask any questions that needed to be asked after this we then split into each individual departments and discussed what we have planned for our roles and how we imagine it to be, so for this I discussed with Brent what type of props I have in mind. 

Throughout the week I had been thinking further about the props that I want to be included in the scenes, for this the art department all went into the town Centre to look for props and costume and get a better idea of how the characters are going to look and what type of props are going to be needed for each scene, so for this I made a scene by scene list of each of the props that will be needed. 

For the scene which Hayley hits Lyndsey round the face with a mug I was asked by the producer to get a mug which would be safe to use when in contact with skin on someone's face when being smashed, this is known as sugar glass. I had found a mug online that we would like to of used for this but after ringing up the company they had advised that this is not a good idea when  in contact with someone's face and skin as although this type of prop breaks easily it can still be sharp and still looks and feels like an actual mug therefore would still be heavy so would still hurt, overall they said this would not be safe and not advised to be used, so for this reason we decided not to use this idea but instead we would cheat the shots to make them look the character is hitting her sister when in reality the actress is still safe. 

Towards the end of the pre-production week I knew what props would be needed for the shoot so for this reason I went into the town Centre to purchase the items which would be needed. 

 

Production week 1: 

Monday: I wasn’t on set for the first day of shooting as the only thing that was needed to be done was the cups being filled up to make it look like the characters came out of a club with a drink from when they were inside. 

Tuesday: for the second day of filming was a late shoot and a late start time and was also my first day being on set of the filming and for this filming day we was filming on location at a student flat which was the flat of the character of Hayley and in this scene it was the one which she takes her sister hostage by hitting her over the head with a cup to knock her out and then take her to an abandoned house.  

Kettle, mug, bandana  

 

Wednesday: for the third day of filming we filmed again at a student's house although we filmed at a different student house this time and used 2 of the bedrooms one of them was used as Danni’s room and the other was spencer's room for the first room, upon arrival we started by setting up for Dannis scene and for this we used a laptop that was already available in the house that was being filmed in, I knew before getting there that there was already going to be a laptop available to use although sue to this being a branded logo laptop we covered this up to make sure the logo was not visible during filming and all the pictures that was used were personal pictures which were provided by the actress which I then printed to make them all the appropriate size then whilst on location myself and Brent then arranged them to make a love heart looking shape. After this we then left the room to allow the rest of the crew to begin filming and we then began working on setting up the next room for the next scene which was spencer's room. For this we used the photo frame with the picture of spencer and Lindsey in to appear that they are in a relationship, the bouncy ball which Spencer is repeatedly throwing at the wall and the phone which was the phone of the actor or crew member, we then organized the room to how we pictured the room to be and re organized the desk and made sure all the items that were placed on it with logos on were turned around to face away from where the camera would be positioned. 

 

bouncy ball, laptop, phone photo frame, pictures  

Spencer throwing the ball at the wall and catching it  

Danni types out message to spencer  

 

Thursday: for the fourth day of filming we filmed the scene which is the scene which the producer is prepping Hayley for her social media video For this scene I had the camera and tripod booked and sound kit to use as a prop, I also provided a notepad and pen to be used as the producers notes, I also brought a cup to look like Lindsey had been provided with a drink although this wasn’t used on the actual day as we didn’t end up having a table in front of the actor she was just sat on a chair speaking to the camera. 

 

 

notepad + pen, tripod and camera and sound kit, cup 

Producer and camera operator and director scene whilst filming the social media video for the disappearance of Lindsey.  

 

Friday: no scenes were filmed  

 

Production week 2: 

 

Monday: for the first day of the second production week we began by being on location at a student house to film scenes that would be Hayleys bedroom and for this scene we used make up which was make up that was the actors own make up and a hair brush which was all laid out ready for the actor to apply for filming we also had the photo frame with the baby picture in it.  

After this scene we then moved onto our second location of the day which was for the police station scene for this scene I designed and printed a sign to look like a police sign to use on the building door to make it look like it was the actual entrance to a police station. 

 

photo frame with picture of new born baby, phone, police sign 

Hayley applies make up in her mirror as she then sees a post about her missing sister 

Danni considers going into the police station on her way home from work but then doesn’t. 

 

Tuesday: for the second day of filming we were on location at a flat which was located above a cafe which had a spare empty room that we was allowed to use which we used to look like an abandoned house that Hayley takes Lindsey to, we had a lot of props that were used in this scene, we had the rope that was used to tie Lindsey up, the children's bowl, spoon and porridge which Hayley tries to feed to Lindsey in almost a childlike way as if she was a child, the bandana which is used to be placed around Lindsey’s mouth as a gag to stop her from talking and then a cup and a straw which she holds up to her mouth to get her to have a drink and then the baby photo was in the background on the window sill as if that room was set up to be her babies room, to give the room more of this effect we had a crib in the room as well which was all decorated with teddys and blankets to give it the look of it being intended to be used and finally we then had children's toys which was all scattered all around the room to look like she has placed them there as if for Lindsey to use. 

rope, children's bowl, children's spoon, porridge, bandana, straw, cup, baby photo, phone, speaker, crib, teddys, baby blanket, toys. 

The scene that reveals Lindsey has been tied up in an abandoned house  

 

Wednesday: for the third day of filming we filmed in where the café is only this time we filmed in the actual café as this was the scene which Hayley and Danni are discussing the disappearance of Lindsey and in this scene they are both sat with a cup of coffee and a piece of cake so for this I brought 2 cups, 2 plates and 2 spoons and then bought a sponge cake and some napkins. 

 coffee, cake, plates, mugs, spoons, napkins 

Eating cake and drinking coffee and discussing the disappearance of Lindsey 

 

Thursday: for the final day of filming we filmed the scene which was spencer and Liam talking about the night of the disappearance whilst Liam is eating food and for this I had got a pack of NON-ALCOHOLIC beer to give the appearance of it looking like real beer as they came in bottles that would contain the contents of real beer and as the logos were visible we removed all the labels so no branding was seen in the shots. I also bought 2 burgers and a bag of chips that was then put into a take away box to give the appearance that Liam had ordered a take away for his tea, after this shot, we then set up spencer's room for a reshoot and for this I brought the photo frame with a picture of Lindsey and spencer in. 

bottles of beer, burger and chips and a take away box, photo frame. 

Spencer joins liam as her is eating food and they begin talking about the night of the disappearance. 

 

 Friday: no scenes were filmed 

example of props list (which changed as we got onto the actual production week)
Monday 25th March 2019: 

Outside of club scene. 

Minimal props needed actors could be holding plastic cups that they would of brought out of the club with them. 

Tuesday 26th March 2019: 

Location 1: 

Danni’s bedroom scene. 

Laptop (could be actors own laptop) 

 

Spencers bedroom scene. 

Laptop (can be actors own laptop) bouncy ball will be moon ball provided by James Johnston  

 

Location 2: 

Hayleys apartment flashback scene: 

Kettle, mug (normal plain mug) 

 

Wednesday 27th March 2019: 

Location 1: 

Liam and Spencers house flashback scene. Lyndsey and spencer arguing  

No props required for this scene. 

 

Liam and Spencers house flashback scene. Lyndsey runs outside. 

No props required for this scene. 

 

Thursday 28th March 2019: 

Location 1: 

Interview room. Missing persons speech 

Travel mug or normal mug, notepad and pen x2, camera and tripod, sound equipment. 

 

Location 2: 

Park bench. Lyndsey crying to Liam. 

No props required. 

 

Monday 1st April 2019: 

Location 1: 

Hayleys apartment.  

Photo frame, photo of new born baby, phone (actors phone), baby crib still to be confirmed. 

 

Location 2: 

Old fire station. Danni leaves café and walks to a police station. 

Police sign 

 

Tuesday 2nd April 2019: 

Coffee shop. Hayley and Danni are in the coffee shop 

Coffee and cake, plates, cups, cutlery, napkins. 

 

Wednesday 3rd April 2019: 

Liam and Spencers house. Talking in their kitchen about Lyndsey. 

Bottle of beer, burger and chips. 

 

Thursday 4th April 2019: 

Empty flat. Where its revealed that Hayley is gagged.  

Rope, childrens bowl and spoon, porridge, gag (bandana), straw, mirror, baby photo and frame,  bluetooth speaker. 

Reflective document- Last thing I heard 

Stacey Jackson 

Email: s.jackson12@edu.salford.ac.uk 

Word count: 1064

 

Last thing I heard is a short film about a girl who goes missing after going on a night out with her best friend but ends up walking off after an argument breaks out between them after finding out her boyfriend had been messaging her best friend. 

For my crew role in last thing I heard I took on the role and the props and set designer and this was a challenging role for me as I had experience in doing this for my previous film when props needed to be set up and the set needed to be arranged I took on the role.  

Although I went into the pre-production week with an open mind and felt ready to begin as I had started making notes from the first full cast read through and as we were going through each scene, I was making notes of potential props that could be used, as the week progressed I then began to think about which props may could be borrowed and which ones would have to be bought and then the ones that had to be bought I then went out to buy and then got the approval of the director and head of art department when buying things to be sure that they was happy with what I was purchasing for the production. 

In order to plan for this role, I made sure I made clear notes on what was needed for each scene and what days they were planning on being filmed on by looking at the shooting schedule that was made available during pre-production, I then used the shooting schedule as a guide to create a complete scene by scene props list of what was needed and on what days they were needed on and this then helped the producer when she was making the call sheets as she could the put the props needed for each scene on each day and what was needed and for what scene they was needed in. 

During the pre-production week I tried to look for a sugar glass mug to use for the scene which Hayley hits Lyndsey over the head with a mug so we could make this scene look as realistic as we could although upon speaking to a company who created the type of prop we were looking for I rang them up and asked them about the safety surrounding this subject and they recommended that we not do this due to safety reasons as the cups are make to break easy and not cut people whilst doing so but they still have the weight of a real mug and look and feel like a real cup they would hurt when coming into contact with the skin and can cause serious damage so for this reason we had to come up with another option and this was to work with the camera angles to create the effect of what the character was going to do but she wouldn’t actually be doing it. I also think this scene was edited well to also give this effect it looks realistic that someone was going to get hit over the head. 

Most of the props that was needed for this were props that could easily be accessible as they were house hold objects such as plates and mugs or something that most people use every day such as mobile phones and laptops so when they were needed as props the actors could use their own phones in the scenes. 

One of the props I had to make and that was the police sign which is seen on the red door when Danni is considering going to the police station to inform them of the situation that she is aware of but backs out and changes her mind at the last minute as she is about to press the button. The sign says on it ‘metropolitan police station’ ‘headquarters & enquiries’. This sign is something that had to be made in order not to cross any copyright laws or break any rules in anyway so for this reason we had no logos on the sign either. 

For this film I worked closely with the director and the head of the art department to think of how the set could be designed and for this we knew that we wanted Dannis room and Hayleys room to look neat and well-presented and knew that for spencer this would be the opposite we pictured his room to be messy and unorganized and have things cluttered around the room. 

For using the props most of them had to be borrowed but some things had to be bought as well, the props that was borrowed was: the rope, the plates, spoons, cups, the baby bowl, the crib, the toys, the bouncy ball, notepad and pen, tripod, camera, sound kit and the teddys in the crib. 
'depending on the needs of the props designer/manager will pull from storage, purchase, or make the props for the production'(2019)  this is the job description of the props designer and shows the wide variety of jobs the props manage has.

The props that had to be bought was the cake, napkins, the burgers, a bag of chips, the bottles of non-alcoholic beer, the bandana, which was used as a gag on Lyndsey, the baby blanket, the baby spoons, plastic cups, photo frame, porridge. 

Overall, I am happy with the film and the way it looks and the props that were in the film all work well with the scenes that they appear in and I happy overall with the different rooms and the way they were organized or the film. 

I enjoyed the film and think it works well and has a clear story to it I also really like the cliff hanger at the end as it leaves the audience wanting to know more and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. 

I don’t think that props and set design was the right choice for me but having said that I took on the role with full positivity and made sure I had all the planning all ready for the days we were filming and the days leading up to the filming. 

I personally think all the cast and crew all worked well together to create the film and made a great team.

Refrences:
university of oregon, department of theatre  arts 2019

last thing i heard 2019 Green.A (producer), Thiara.J(director)