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How Noiseless Props Are Made For Movies And TV Shows | Movies Insider | Insider - YouTube
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[ice clicking]
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[quiet thudding]
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Narrator: Look at these two paper bags.
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They don't appear very different,
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but they sound different.
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One of these is a real,
everyday paper bag,
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[bag rustling]
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and the other one is a silent prop.
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[bag quietly unfolding]
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This fake paper bag was an innovation
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thought up by prop maker Tim Schultz.
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Props is always about solving a problem.
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Narrator: And one of those problems
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is everyday objects that
don't look distracting,
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but sound distracting.
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I often say that a sound guy can hear
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grass growing when you're on location.
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Narrator: Silencing
some props, like drums,
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can be fairly simple,
like adding a drum mute.
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[drum booms]
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[muted drum thuds]
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[drum booms]
[muted drum thuds]
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But others require getting
a bit more creative,
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like with pool balls, which were too loud
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for these two bar scenes in season one
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of "Friday Night Lights."
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Man: Nice shot!
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Narrator: Property master Scott Reeder
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needed to find a ball that would create
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a softer sound on impact.
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First, he experimented with
plastic balls from a ball pit.
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They were much quieter,
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but he couldn't get paint
to stick to the surface.
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Then he remembered a trick he used
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on 1991's "Necessary Roughness"
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during a shot where a character is thrown
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onto a pool table in a bar fight.
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Reeder swapped real pool
balls with racquetballs,
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so the actor would land
on something softer.
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We didn't really clue in at the time
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that, oh, you know, these
would be good for sound.
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Narrator: Listen to how
real pool balls sound.
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[balls clacking]
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It's too noisy.
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Narrator: Compared to the racquetballs.
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[quiet thudding]
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Much better.
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Narrator: To get it to
look like the real thing,
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Reeder added a layer of primer
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to make sure the paint stuck,
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followed with a glossy spray
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to give off the signature
shine of a real pool ball.
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Reeder: You gotta pick them up
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to tell that they're not real.
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Narrator: And Reeder also had to know
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when to swap the props in.
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Reeder: If actors are playing in a scene,
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we'll typically do real
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if the camera's going to
see them hit the ball.
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And then when the camera goes
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to where it's just on their face,
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we'll throw the fake ones on the table
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so they can actually play pool.
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That way, the sound man
can catch the dialogue.
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Narrator: Prop masters don't always need
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to find a replacement.
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Some silent props are made
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by just modifying the real thing.
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For example, in this scene in "Tammy,"
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actress Melissa McCarthy needed to wear
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a paper bag on her head
to hide her identity
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and another one on her hand to hide a gun.
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Schultz said it was important
for her to use the real thing,
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but a real paper bag would
sound something like this.
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[paper rustling]
Tammy: You want some pies?
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[paper rustling]
Worker: I like pie.
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[paper rustling]
Tammy: Well, get a pie,
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[paper rustling]
you get a pie for --
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Narrator: Quieting these real bags down
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meant adding more weight to them.
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So Schultz sprayed the bags
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with a mix of water and glycerin,
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which is typically used
to add the appearance
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of sweat or water droplets
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on anything from human
skin to beer bottles.
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Schultz: Takes quite a bit of --
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well, it takes time and finesse,
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'cause you don't want to overdo it.
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Narrator: He also taped the bags inside
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to hold them together and
prevent them from crumbling.
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But this fix was only temporary,
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since the bags would
eventually lose their color
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and fall apart over time.
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And this wouldn't work for when actors
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have to handle bags consistently.
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So for other projects, Schultz developed
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a quiet, durable, alternative
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using fibrous nonwoven fabric.
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This is actually the same
material as coffee filters.
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To make it look like the real thing,
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Schultz wraps the fabric around a mold,
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then he glues and folds the sides by hand.
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Schultz: We're trying to copy the bottom
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of a standard bag that's
really made by a machine.
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It's important to get the
corners so that they're square.
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A lot of times we'll,
when we're using them,
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we'll crinkle them and
make them look more used,
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so they have a more realistic look.
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Instead of cutting it smooth,
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it's going to cut it with
a little jagged edge to it.
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Narrator: This fabric can be used
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on other paper products as well,
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like when this butcher
in "The Kominsky Method"
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talks to Alan Arkin while grabbing
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a handful of cold cuts.
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That butcher paper?
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Fake.
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[paper rustling]
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It's these small handheld props
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that give prop masters the most trouble,
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especially in scenes with dialogue.
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For example, an actor with a drink
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will likely hold it near their midsection,
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where microphones are often attached.
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It's especially important to make sure
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whatever is in that drink
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doesn't produce any unwanted sounds.
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So if you're watching
a show like "Entourage"
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with lots of scenes at parties and bars,
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it's safe to assume that
these ice cubes are all fake.
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But not all fake ice is the same.
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Plastic cubes don't melt,
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which is great for continuity,
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but they're still really loud.
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[cubes clicking]
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So when sound is crucial,
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Schultz often opts for
another type of fake cubes.
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These ones, made out of silicone.
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These rubber cubes can
either be molded in trays
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or ripped apart.
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Since the final product floats in a glass,
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they look more convincing.
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[ice softly clunking]
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And, best of all, they're
completely silent.
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Schultz: Background actors
can move this stuff around
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without having to worry about the sound.
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Narrator: So when this waitress walks by
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with a trayful of cups with ice,
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you can hear ...
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Turtle: What time's dinner?
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We're starving.
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Narrator: And not ...
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[ice clinking]
Turtle: What time's dinner?
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[ice clinking]
We're starving.
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Narrator: While ice cubes only
pop up in certain moments,
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other loud materials are everywhere.
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Like plastic.
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Everything from sandwich
bags to potato-chip bags
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make loud crackles.
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So Schultz will create
fake ones out of vinyl.
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So, this material,
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[dull crackling]
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it's that dull sound.
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Narrator: And it comes in handy
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for other places you might not expect,
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like flower bouquets that
are wrapped in cellophane.
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Take this moment from
"The Kominsky Method"
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where Michael Douglas' character
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brings flowers to an ailing friend.
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If Schultz had used real
cellophane for the bouquet,
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all the sound team would hear is ...
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[plastic crackling]
What kind of flowers
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[plastic crackling]
are those?
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[plastic crackling]
I have no idea.
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Narrator: So, he used a
transparent vinyl material
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to replicate the look
without all the noise.
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What kind of flowers are those?
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I have no idea.
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Uh-huh. So your daughter bought them?
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Yeah.
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Narrator: But no solution
is one-size-fits-all.
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[tissue rustling]
Noisy tissue,
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but a quiet bag.
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[tissue rustling]
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Still doesn't solve the problem.
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Narrator: Some objects
need multiple layers
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of silent material to
effectively kill any noise,
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like with these gift bags.
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So, quiet tissue.
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Quiet bag.
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Done.
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Narrator: So, next time you see a scene
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set in a grocery store, a bar,
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or even just around the office,
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look twice at the everyday objects
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you can see, but can't hear.
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We can all thank the prop makers for that.
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