I am quite new at this and decided to make some paper props from old TV shows I liked. I am still working on these but thought I would share.
Vintage Paper Props
- Thread starter terryhimself
- Start date
Thanks all. I am still a big fan of the old Perry Mason shows.
Phelyx
Active Member
I've made tons of period props for various TV shows and movies, and usually the typewriter fonts are great for that. I tend to render the text and then nudge a letter up or down, mess with kerning, and just slightly rotate the text so it's not perfect. Perfect alignment is the tell that it was done on a computer. Just a tiny amount will sell it.
If the scene involves a closeup of the prop, then a real typewriter is the way to go. If the camera is close enough to see the pulp and texture of the paper, consider some light grey or offwhite card stock and really hit the keys so you get that nice impact indentation and slightly different ink coloration, etc...
Another trick with vintage props is to simulate the types of printing they did back then. If you're designing in Illustrator, make your color layers separate from your black outlines so you can nudge them just a little so it looks like the press was just a bit out of alignment and the register's off a bit. Not too much.
And with black or grayscale use halftones (the tiny dots like old newspaper photos, etc...). Continuous gradations of gray were really rare back in the old days unless it was a photographic print.
And a lot of times the headlines on items were hand-lettered. Hard to believe but hand lettering was actually used on the originals of many old printed items when specific fonts weren't available from the typesetter. There's a few digital fonts out there that do a nice job of simulating this subtle hand-lettered look.
If you really want molecular detail, there's still a few places around that do old school printing. They can do embossing, spot varnish and things like that.
I have to add that IDs (and other carried items) are often a very important part of an actor's "business" when they're getting into their characters. I like that this focus is being aimed at making accurate replicas of them. I've always compared the attention to detail on set with the scene in "Somewhere in Time" when the whole suspension of disbelief is blown when he sees the penny with the wrong date on it. A similar thing can happen with actors in films and TV shows if their personal props aren't right, and often they will spend time working with the prop department making sure that the things in their character's pocket, wallet, purse or even glove compartment are accurate and "real." For some actors, their character's personal effects are like talismans that place them in the reality of the production in a way that sets and wardrobe can't. I've noticed that actors will ask if they can keep their character's wallet after the show is wrapped more often than any other props. These tend to be the things they feel "belong" to them.
If the scene involves a closeup of the prop, then a real typewriter is the way to go. If the camera is close enough to see the pulp and texture of the paper, consider some light grey or offwhite card stock and really hit the keys so you get that nice impact indentation and slightly different ink coloration, etc...
Another trick with vintage props is to simulate the types of printing they did back then. If you're designing in Illustrator, make your color layers separate from your black outlines so you can nudge them just a little so it looks like the press was just a bit out of alignment and the register's off a bit. Not too much.
And with black or grayscale use halftones (the tiny dots like old newspaper photos, etc...). Continuous gradations of gray were really rare back in the old days unless it was a photographic print.
And a lot of times the headlines on items were hand-lettered. Hard to believe but hand lettering was actually used on the originals of many old printed items when specific fonts weren't available from the typesetter. There's a few digital fonts out there that do a nice job of simulating this subtle hand-lettered look.
If you really want molecular detail, there's still a few places around that do old school printing. They can do embossing, spot varnish and things like that.
I have to add that IDs (and other carried items) are often a very important part of an actor's "business" when they're getting into their characters. I like that this focus is being aimed at making accurate replicas of them. I've always compared the attention to detail on set with the scene in "Somewhere in Time" when the whole suspension of disbelief is blown when he sees the penny with the wrong date on it. A similar thing can happen with actors in films and TV shows if their personal props aren't right, and often they will spend time working with the prop department making sure that the things in their character's pocket, wallet, purse or even glove compartment are accurate and "real." For some actors, their character's personal effects are like talismans that place them in the reality of the production in a way that sets and wardrobe can't. I've noticed that actors will ask if they can keep their character's wallet after the show is wrapped more often than any other props. These tend to be the things they feel "belong" to them.
I really want to thank everyone for the information on how to improve the basic ids that I have done. I am going to continue to watch others on the board and try to learn technique. Thanks...
Any new ideas?
jojomanzo
Active Member
Looking at UFO's avatar... how about Columbo?
http://columboepisodes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Columbo_badge.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1a/Columbo-Signature2-bright.PNG
I would like to do a Sam McCloud New York p.d. I.D.
The cards look great!
