On a movie set, loud objects can keep the sound team from picking up the best dialogue. To fix this dilemma, props folks have come up with quiet alternatives to things that normally make noise. For example, racquetballs may take the place of real pool balls and silicone ice cubes are much quieter than the real deal. Imagine you’re on the set of a movie or TV show and getting ready to film an intimate conversation and you can’t hear anything because of the props that are all around you. Then, seconds after you call action, you suddenly realize that you have this problem.
You’ve officially entered the fascinating world of movie props, and the videos were first introduced to all of us by a TikTok star named Scott Reeder, who took a closer look at some of the on-set solutions that people use when filming your favorite movies and TV shows. One example is with a vinyl “paper” sack that looks like a real paper bag but doesn’t have the crunchy, crinkly noise that sacks bring to the table. When you make the bag out of vinyl, it cuts the noise down by about 90%, he explains. In the same video, Reeder explains how they get around the pool balls problem by using racquetballs.
You can actually buy silent bags and props online, as it turns out, just in case you need some. This isn’t something most of us spend a lot of time thinking about, and indeed, it never occurred to me to even wonder about the noises I wasn’t hearing when I’m watching my favorite TV shows and movies. Who knew, right? The company called Prop Trx has a lot of different stuff, including lots of non-paper paper products such as wine bags, lunch sacks, manila envelopes, and even silent cellophane and tissue paper for gifts.
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So if you’re filming videos and want to go to the next level, check out this video below.