Filmmakers

[rapwa12]

Okay,
My bro and I want to make a medieval movie next summer. We thought we'd start planning early so we are looking for props now.

We have battle ready swords for about $15 each w/ no shipping needed so I think we are okay on those. I'm now looking for helmets. Reasonable pricing would be nice. The cheapest ones I have found are about $30 plus shipping. Any type of helmet as long as it isn't greek or roman. Chain mail coifs are also fine. If you know of any place that sells them online cheap please reply!

BTW if you can find a cheap bow that looks like it could be featured in a medieval movie, (Meaning no yellow, fiberglass bows or compound bows). Or if you know how to make an arrow so you can hit someone with it and not kill/severely injure people please reply!

P.S. If you know of an extremely simple design for a catapult that isn't huge or costs lots of $$$$$ to build please post. It needs to be cheap because we are going to torch it in the movie! Fire Arrows!

Nick,

I don't know of any places to get armor, because I make all my own (which isn't very much. So far I have completed a Norman style hemet and a chain maille coif.) The best way to get chain maille cheaply is to make it yourself. Although this takes a really long time, all you need is a lot of 16 gauge wire (A LOT, a full sized coif takes 300 ft), two pairs of pliers, and a winding jig (Also easy to make, mine was a piece of aluminum tubing with a 1/2in outside diameter, and a pair of lockjaw pliers). For more information, visit the Arador Armour Library on the web. They also have instructions and patterns for a simple pot style helm. Another cheap way I have heard of to make fake chain maille is to use small diameter PVC piping cut into rings, spray painted silver, cut open, and assembled. Also, twine, knitted with very large knitting needles and spray painted looks like chain maille from a distance, good for background people (I got this technique from a site about making LotR costumes, and I heard that they used it in the movie. Unfortunately, I cannot remember what the site was called.)

You could also try making scale armour, which is small metal plates riveted or sewn on to a leather or fabric backing. The Riders of Rohan used this type of armour a lot.

As for bows and arrows, arrows are easy to make, you just need a ton of feathers. I have heard that, for low budget movies, you can make an hollow arrow out of a paper or cane tube and thread it onto a length of fishing twine. Attach one end of the twine to your target, and you get the picture, although there is a chance that the arrow will bounce off of a persons armour.

A word about catapults. There isn't really a way to get a "small" catapult, as catapults are huge. They had to be big enough to throw a projectile that would actually do some damage. The smallest ones were ten feet long at least, and the big trebuchet type catapults could be well over fifty feet tall. You could go for Ballista type artillery, the kind that look like giant crossbows on stands and throw javelins. They were a little bit smaller.

Phillip