How Silent Props Are Made for Movies and Television

In a fascinating piece for Movies Insider, narrator Abby Tang spoke with such renowned movie and television prop masters as Tim Schultz and Scott Reeder to explain how silent props are made so that their sounds don’t affect what’s going on in the scene. Noisy items such as paper bags, pool balls, ice cubes, and plastic wrap make a great deal of intrusive noise, so the prop master must take steps to muffle the sound to ensure that the dialogue can be heard.

Some objects, like paper bags, ice cubes, and pool balls, make an unexpected amount of noise. This can be a big problem on set, as any of these unwanted sounds can get in the way of dialogue. To ensure the sound team gets the best sound possible, the prop team will create silent versions of real products.

Separately, Reeder has been sharing fun facts about props on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.