AS Media Homelessness Props Practical

Homelessness Props Practical

Brief

In my deconstruction of mise-en-scene in urban dramas, I explored how props are used to portray a character. As a group, we would like to convey the protagonist as young and vulnerable. However, I would also like to show the poor conditions the character lives in by overlapping props usually used to show disrespectful characters as 'dirty' e.g. empty beer bottles.

Firstly, to portray the character as vulnerable we decided to base our film around homelessness. To denote a character as homeless, many films heavily rely on mise-en-scene like locations of alleys, subways and busy city streets. This was discussed in my survey analysis.

Another part of mise-en-scene is props. Many homeless characters have an unkempt and dirty appearance to show their poverty, time on the streets and lack of necessities let alone luxuries. The character is usually clothed in heavy, dirty brown or faded colour coats, hats and trousers with obvious holes and rips to show its wear. This is used in many films including brief glances in "Maniac" as well as discussed clips in "Shameless".

***

Similar props are used like blankets and sleeping bags. In the short film "DIFFeRENCE", cardboard is used to act like a base for the makeshift bed. This cardboard was also used as signs, this is used in "Shameless" by characters like Frank who con people with false sad stories. However, like in "DIFFeRENCE", it is used to gain sympathy and support from not only pedestrians in the film but also the audience.

There is normally no other props to show the lack of property the homeless character is. When there are more props it is usually, like said earlier, empty beer bottles or miscellaneous litter. This usually makes the character seem 'dirty' or disrespectful as they lack care.

Production

I first started to depict the homeless character through a makeshift bed by buying a cheap sleeping bag and fleece blanket. The sleeping bag was a turquoise blue, which made it seem childish and new, so I reversed it to the grey side later.

To show its wear and the awfulness of living on the streets, I used the researched ways of distressing fabric. I first started with the blanket, as it was easily replaceable and can therefore be used as a 'test piece'. Initially, I cut off the labels that deemed the idea as recently purchased. I made sure to be harsh and cut roughly with a blunt pair of scissors to produce a well worn look. Cutting fleece meant that it cannot really fray, however, it did look like the blanket was well used and torn. Consequently, I experimented with this and cut away the majority of the seam.

As shown above, sometimes the scissors would cut the fleece really jagged due to its bluntness. I thought this was not successful as it looked obviously cut, rather than moth bitten or worn. To combat this, I tried stretching the fabric and even ripping it.

I felt this was slightly better. I decided to use this cutting and stretching technique to create more prominent areas of wear in places like:

• Around the corners - Where the character would most likely hold the blanket.

• Near the end - To symbolise where the character's feet would be.

Influenced by the photo of the grey moth bitten jumper I researched, I wanted to present these worn areas by similar holes. This was done by cutting holes and ripping them like earlier. I also used tools like a scalpel and a compass to try and snag the fabric, however, I did not feel this was the most effective technique.

After this, I tried making the sleeping bag and blanket dirty by smudging it into dirt. This didn't produce a proper stain as the mud brushed off the plastic like coating of the sleeping bag, I tried using coffee on the sleeping bag but this ran off the surface. Nevertheless, the effects are shown below:

Outcome

In the shots I filmed experimentally with my brother acting as Emma's character in the sleeping bag, the props can be seen.

Personal Comments

I felt the props still remained new which sadly affected the impact on the gritty and dirty conditions of living on the streets. Nevertheless, having these props increase understanding that the protagonist is homeless, however, affects the believability.