This document summarizes the results of a props survey conducted to inform the use of props in a student film project. It discusses 10 questions related to props, including whether a briefcase or binoculars would be effective, if too many props cause confusion, and what props are associated with action films. Key findings were that a briefcase and binoculars could work well and too many props may confuse viewers. Boats and passports were also discussed. The survey helped the filmmakers decide which props to feature in their opening sequence.

1. Props Survey
By Katie Reed

2. Question 1
Question 1 was based on one of
our main props being a briefcase
and whether it would be effective
or not. Using survey monkey I
collected 32 responses from
different people. If rounded, 81%
of people would agree that a
briefcase would be effective.
However 19% of the responses
disagreed that a briefcase is
efficient in a film, with the genre
being an action. I asked this
question as the briefcase in ‘The
adjustment bureau’ is effective
throughout the film.

3. Question 2
My question 2 was, Do you think an
excess amount of props would lead
the audience to be confused?
Our responses evidentially show
that more people said yes than no.
With the responses being yes, 73%
would agree that an excess amount
of props would lead to confusion.
Although 27% said they would
disagree to this question.Taking
these answers in from the 30
responses I got, In our film we
haven’t used a large amount of
props, however enough to know
what is going on.

4. Question 3
My Question 3 was, Do you think key
props such as binoculars will help
give ideas to the audience due to the
military connotations of them?
Collecting 29 responses 72% of
people would agree that binoculars
would be effective within our film.
Due to the large amount of
responses which were yes, we used
binoculars as one of our props.

5. Question 4
Question 4- Like the film 'Killer', boats
are evident, if boats were used in our
opening sequence what do you think
this signifies about a character?
The comments on the right are my
responses to the question 4 above. I took
action to the comments and as a group
we decided to go ahead with using a boat
as one of our other props. Someone’s
comment was ‘On a mission’.This is
indeed the plot of our film, someone after
another. So the connotations of a boat
can show the representation of
somebody, maybe through wealth,
hobby, mission etc.

6. Question 5
Question 5 being on the right
with the results,
demonstrates that 75% of the
responses would agree that if
many passports were shown
on the screen, the audience
would believe that they were
fake. Having 20 responses, 5
of them answered no to the
fact that they could be fake.
Considering over half agreed
that they could be fake, we
used only a couple of
passports.

7. Question 6
The responses that I collected through
survey monkey show that 95% of
people would agree that props are a
significant part of a film. Due to this
high number, we added extra props in
our film to make it more effective to
watch, however not too many as this
may cause confusion for the audience,
evidentially shown in question 2. Only
5% (if rounded) of the responses said
no, due to the other 95% of people
saying yes to the question, being a
significantly high number, as a group we
took action upon this to make sure we
had the right amount of props.

8. Question 7
What props do you associate
with an action/adventure
film?
From my question 7 I asked in
my survey, many answered
that guns would be a
appropriate and are well
associated with the genre of
an action film.Any form of
weapons were also another
response given which is
evident on the right of this
page.As we aren’t allowed to
use any dangerous weapons in
our opening sequence, we
instead decided that some
appropriate props included a
briefcase.

9. Question 8
What would you associate
with lots of crumpled paper
within a briefcase, in an
action/adventure film?
These are some responses that
I gathered from this particular
question.The top answer (on
the right) is very useful for my
group as we can gather what
people would think of lots of
crumpled paper in a briefcase.
Some have said that the
person who is carrying this
information is within the
business industry and another
said that they are looking for
something. In our opening
sequence it is based on spies
looking for somebody so this
type of response was useful for
us.

10. Question 9
The question (shown on the
right) shows that out of my 20
responses 35% of people said
yes to the fact that boats are
used to much in action films.
Although as 65% disagreed
and said that they weren’t
used that often, I have taken
on board these responses and
as a group we decided that
we would have a boat scene
in our opening sequence.
However only a couple of
shots would be shown, so the
prop of a boat doesn’t look
over used.

11. Question 10
How would you feel about an
unexpected event saving a
character from a hopeless
situation (deus ex machina) in
an action/adventure film (For
example- Shaun of the dead)?
This is another question I
tested in my survey. Some
people said that it is cheesy,
but others disagreed and
commented that it would be a
good idea. From these
comments our plot has a
surprising situation, however
not to the extreme of a
hopeless situation.