Prop Building (The Book)

In this post, I will explain my process of creating my main prop in Lost in the Pages, the magical book. 

In my mise-en-scene post, I went in-depth about the design of the book and I showed what I wanted the book to look like. I replicated that design, pretty much to a tee. I started by finding an old book I didn't need anymore.

 

                                      

Next, I scrubbed the spine with nail polish remover and q-tips to get rid of the foil to begin painting with a blank book. 

I then took two shades of blue paint that I had, mixed them to get the desired color, and started painting. I did several coats (I lost track) until the paint strokes were no longer visible. I did this for both sides. 

 

I then used the remaining paint to create a darker shade of blue for the spine and the edges of the book. I used several coats of paint and tried to make my lines as precise as possible.

Once the base was done, I used a metallic gold marker I bought to write out the title and draw the flowers that were on the cover. 

After that, It was time to add the finishing touches. I added metal book corners to each corner and added a little bit of depth to the gold with a darker gold pen.

It's done! I am really happy with the result and think I replicated the design I created very well. The only difference is that this book doesn't have a dark blue strip on the edge of the cover but it's a small detail that didn't really add much to the cover anyway. With the prop complete, I can finally begin filming!