Prototype 9
Complete Production Bible: 1-Day Call Sheet, Hero Props & Art Department Specs
| Timeline | Production Milestone & Action | Departments |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 - 09:00 | Art department dress garage-lab, place shelves, tools, cables, laptop, prototype, and workbench dressing | Art, Props |
| 09:00 - 10:00 | Rig fluorescent practicals and prototype blue glow, test flicker and spill | G&E, Camera |
| 10:00 - 11:00 | Block actors at doorway, workbench, and laptop positions; rehearse dialogue beats | Director, Cast, AD |
| 11:00 - 12:30 | Shoot dialogue setup and investor confrontation coverage | Camera, Sound |
| 12:30 - 13:30 | Shoot memory replay inserts, laptop screen inserts, hand sensor activation, waveform shots | Camera, VFX, Props |
| 13:30 - 14:30 | Shoot climax: cable disconnect, memory drive melt, device death, final silence | Camera, G&E, Props, Sound |
Set Design & Location Specs
The entire set is a compact garage-lab at night, designed as a hybrid of domestic clutter and experimental futurism. The room should feel narrow enough that all three men are forced into each other’s emotional space. Use cool fluorescent tubes overhead with visible practical fixtures, slightly uneven spill, and a strong blue source from the prototype on the workbench. The workbench should be crowded with a laptop, soldering iron, memory drive, cables, circuit boards, and small tool trays. Shelves in the background should hold old tools, spare parts, boxes, and tangled wires, creating layered depth and visual noise. Surfaces should be worn: scratched metal, stained wood, dusty plastic bins, and taped labels. The lab should look like a family garage that has been repurposed into a failing startup’s last stand. Keep the doorway visible for Eshan’s entrance/exit framing, and ensure the workbench is the emotional center of the room.
Dr. Pranav Mehta
Lab coat over a casual shirt, slightly rumpled and practical, with signs of long hours. Shirt should be muted and work-worn, not stylish.
Ink-stained fingers and grease marks must remain visible throughout. Lab coat should stay open and slightly disheveled as his stress rises.
Eshan Mehta
Hoodie with wired earbuds, casual youthwear that reads skeptical and detached.
Earbuds should be visible at the start and removed by the end. Hoodie should remain consistent and unglamorous, reinforcing his outsider stance.
Ritesh
Polished suit with an expensive watch, crisp and controlled, signaling investor power and social distance.
Suit must remain immaculate in contrast to the lab’s mess. Watch should be visible in key moments as a subtle status marker.
Lighting Schematics
Tier 1: Establishment — cool fluorescent overheads create a flat, clinical base while the prototype emits a strong blue practical glow from the workbench. Tier 2: Activation — when the device powers on, increase the blue intensity and add flicker, screen spill, and sharper contrast on faces and hands to make the room feel electrically unstable. Tier 3: Breakdown — after the memory drive is melted and the device dies, let the blue source collapse, leaving only the fluorescent buzz and a more honest, softer ambient exposure that reveals the room’s human texture.
Sound Design & Foley
The room should carry a constant fluorescent buzz and a low electronic hum from the prototype. Add subtle laptop fan noise, cable rustle, hand contact on metal, and the sizzle of soldering iron on the memory drive. During activation, layer a rising device hum with waveform-like tonal pulses. The replay moments should feel slightly isolated, as if the room acoustics narrow around the device. After destruction, strip the sound back to fluorescent buzz, breathing, and the quiet of a dead machine.
- ✓ Use a single real garage or compact workshop and dress it heavily instead of building a set.
- ✓ Practical fluorescent tubes and one programmable blue LED source can create the entire sci-fi look.
- ✓ Shoot the memory replay as laptop-screen inserts and reflected light rather than full VFX-heavy visuals.
- ✓ Keep the prototype mostly off-camera except for key inserts, glow, and hand interaction.
- ✓ Use sound design to sell the device hum and activation.
- ✓ For the melted memory drive, use a safe prop duplicate for the close-up and a separate heat-safe version for the soldering effect.
- ✓ Limit company branding and avoid extra cast or extras to keep the scene focused and affordable.