This post shares this list and for each prop I have put why exactly we have chosen that particular prop item. All of the images displayed are just an example of what our props will look like.
Necklace
We wanted the girlfriend, Alice, in our film to be an innocent christian girl, somebody very sweet and pure looking. The symbol of a cross on a delicate chain seemed fitting for her characteristics, and the silver colour itself represents her innocence. Furthermore, after a little research, we found that Christians don't were gold much as it seems to have connotations connected to greed and mixes with the devil a little.
We also wanted this necklace to seem dear to her - a present off her boyfriend, Richard. Through this we are going to have her clutching it a lot, and in her death scene we are going to draw attention to it a bit more. Furthermore, we want Richard to be holding it near the end of the film while he is waiting to go to the funeral, and also have a match-on-action as he drops it to the floor before he leaves.
Engagement Ring
The engagement ring was a new development in a narrative, however we think it really works well. We want the ring to again be silver because of the whole innocent look and the connotations of gold. The reason behind the ring in the first place is to show that Richard had actually been out late buying an engagement ring for Alice, but she thought he had been out late cheating on her: hence the argument. The idea of the engagement ring gives that extra twist at the end because it looks like he meant the ring for Alice, but he could actually have bought it for the female friend that we will have enter at the very end.
Watch
We wanted Richard to have a watch not only to make him look more manly, or to finish off his costume but to add a sense of irony to the fact he is late. With a watch on, there isn't really any excuse for being late - not really, so to the audience at first glance it seems like guilty is charged, until later you find out that he was actually out late for a nicer reason - or so you may think.
A shot of Richard looking at his watch may be shown at some point during the film - most likely the at the start of the argument, or at the very end while he is waiting for the female friend to show up.
Book
A minor prop that we felt actually had a strong impact on the film; if you noticed it. The front cover is a foreshadow of what is to come in the film and we wanted Alice to be reading a book while waiting for Richard to come home. The front cover of a man fallen down the stairs foreshadows to the audience that Alice at some point also falls down the stairs.
We also thought about placing the book at the bottom of the stairs during the argument so that when Alice falls down the stairs, the book is laid upwards revealing its cover once again; making the subtle foreshadow a lot clearer.
Plates
Although these are more of a set piece rather than a prop, I felt I'd put it on the prop list also because the characters throw them during the argument. Richard mostly does this as he loses his temper. This display of shattering plates is typical during arguments, along with photo frames etc, and we felt the shattering noise the plates would make against the wall would be perfect during the argument as it sound violent and angry itself.
