Ford Theatre Ticket
Task: Make a movie prop in a 1860’s Horror film
Criteria: Make a prop that would be used in the making of a 1860’s Horror film
Ideation
The beginning was a ton of research. I have watched movies before old and new, but nothing really came up when asked about 1860’s horror. My next step was to think of any historical events that took place in or around this time.
One of the main events that happened in that time turned out to be Abraham Lincoln becoming president but also him being assasinated.
In the early stages of this project I started to think of famous objects of Lincoln’s. What I thought was his top hat, the revolver used in his assassination or a stick of dynamite.
Eventually, I was really looking into his top hat since that is a signature for him. Possibly having a bullet hole threw his hat with blood stains around it.
But with help of my teacher who was Brandon Waybright at that time. He liked my direction but suggested a ticket since it would be in his coat pocket where he was shot rather Lincoln’s top hat.
After that I was researching what theatre he attended as well as what the tickets looked liked at that time.
These colorful tickets were entry level tickets for movie goers. Sadly these people were the witnesses to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
These tickets were special reserved on the lower deck of Ford Theatre. Mr Lincoln would have this ticket on him during his assassination but was seated in the Presidential box.
After some research and sketching I decided to base my prop of off Lincoln’s ticket. I went with the “Orchestra” ticket since he would have this ticket in his coat pocket most likely.
I had to dig through some tickets to find the proper year to match with the time of the assassination.
To replicate the ticket as much as possible I sketched different tickets out and each of the little accidents on them. I also, looked closely to what the proper typography would say and look like.
Eventually I based my ticket off of this ticket above since it has the official stamp like it was stamped in the theatre.
Trial after trial of different fonts and textures I was able to replicate the ticket. I keep the same accidents and typography as the original ticket. This was my final version of the Ford Theatre ticket.
For a nice finishing touch I added on a aging feel to the ticket as well as a blood stain/splatter to emphasize this was Abraham Lincoln’s ticket on his person.
This is the ticket stand alone to give I feel of what this ticket might look like in your hand.
This is a closer look of the detail on the ticket.
I do hope you have enjoyed my journey into the Ford Theatre. I had a lot of fun with this project and learned a lot in the process.