Other Props

        While I was preoccupied with the props already mentioned, Fiona very helpfully put together some of the larger props, using clay and modroc. Among the props she created were a sink, some barrels, a clocking in/out machine and a reel of hose. She then passed them on to me to paint (keeping as much continuity between the props and characters as possible). I used a palette of blues, greens, greys and whites for the most part, mixed in various proportions and pasted on fairly haphazardly, to achieve a dirty, unkempt look. For the hose, I deviated and used a dull shade of red. I was worried at first that it would look out of place, but in the set, with lighting, the colour is dulled and does not stand out. Besides, there are also splashes of red elsewhere, on the pigs and the blood which has been painted on other props.

Fiona had the idea to make the hose from a shoelace
threaded with wire, allowing it to be wound and unwound.

        The other major props which needed constructing were the fence of the holding pen/corral and the rail from which the carcasses and stunned pigs would hang. In our set designs, we had two separate hanging rails: one suspended from the ceiling along the entire length of one wall and another free standing framework with three or four rails for hanging vast numbers of pigs. In the interests of being economical, we decided we could make one rail,which could be moved between frames if necessary. Also to fill the free standing rail would take many more pigs (we have a total of 15, 10 of which are hanging) and many more days casting them. Again, we judged that if we needed to give the illusion of more pigs we could move them between fames or tracking shots. Another suggestion we were given was to shoot a pig against green screen, before compositing as many as we needed into the set. However, it struck me that this solution would create issues with matching the light between the composited pigs and the set.

        As the pigs are very lightweight, the rail itself did not need to be particularly strong as it wouldn't be under much pressure. I thought that wooden dowel would be a good material to use, as offcuts are available cheaply, and in a variety of diameters. It could also be quickly and easily spray painted to give the illusion of metal. The main conundrum was the best way to attach the various pieces of the rail and the fence together. I considered making joints out of clay or plasticine, but was worried that under the heat of the lights plasticine would become soft and be unable to take the weight of the dowel itself let alone any pigs. I could abandon my desire to make the joins flush, and bind the legs and cross-rails of the fence together. In the end though, my dad suggested gluing the joints, and spray painting any glues residue once dry, which would then resemble welded metal.

        At first we tried Evo Stik wood adhesive. However, after leaving the framework secured to dry it became apparent that the adhesive was not going to hold securely. We then tried Araldite, and to be certain it was as secure as possible left it to dry by the fire over night. This seemed to do the trick, as all of the joints seemed solid and capable of bearing the weight of the pigs. One joint was broken by a falling set wall, but fortunately it was reparable.