Saving dry leaves -- am I stupid?

[camarade]

I would love to have a bag of dry leaves at home... :violin: No but really. For studio shoots, commercials etc. I see two problems with this:

1. Dry, crisp leaves will probably (?) break apart.

2. Small animals and stuff. Saving this sack of leaves for a year in my apartment, it might turn into a nasty horror show (??)

3. I'm just assuming there are expensive cinema rubber leaves or something like that... as well.

 

[David G. Smith]

There are decorative paper leaves available. I would check craft stores and such for them. My roommate is a costume designer and art director with mad art and craft skillz... She is not here right now, but I will ask her about that and post back. I would not keep real leaves around in doors. Besides the reasons you cited above, I would be afraid that after a while microbial action would start to work on them and turn the whole thing into a pile of compost; not good!

 

[dwiener]

You can get cheap plastic leaves seasonally at craft stores or the christmas tree stores. Among the other problems you mentioned the real thing is flammable, not what you want around hot lights. You don't even need to buy them as many prop shops will rent them to you though honestly I think buying them is cheaper.

 

[clang]

Making sure they're completely dry would definitely be essential - damp rotting leaves would be a Bad Thing. So long as they are dry:
- if undisturbed, I doubt they'll fall apart by themselves
- and stored somewhere like a closed cardboard box, they should be relatively inaccessible and unattractive to insects (so long as they're insect-free when you store them, of course)

Yes, fake leaves probably would be more practical for most purposes - although only real ones will give you wonderful scrunching noises when walked on

At the end of the day, only you know how likely you are to actually need a big pile of leaves before next autumn...

 

[tom_wise]

Like everyone mentioned, plastic, craft stores~

 

[David G. Smith]

Here are some links:

http://www.amazon.com/Autumn-PETALS-Wedding-Decorations-Supplies/dp/B0051MNUYA/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_8

http://www.amazon.com/1000-Wedding-Autumn-Leaves-Petals/dp/B002BBWUJ0/ref=pd_sim_hg_2

 

[camarade]

Hmmmm yeah but I need them light... so they can blow across the scene. Bah... guess picking good & dry ones and leaving them in a shoebox will work... BUT rubber leaves would be good to put in corners and such of a scene.

 

[clang]

Silk ones should blow around fine. A combination of silk and rubber/plastic would probably be a sensible investment, giving you the control of 'mobile' or 'fixed' leaves as required. Neither will be as realistic as real leaves, but that won't matter unless you need real close-ups - can't hurt to keep a small box of 'perfect' dry real leaves for those special shots.

 

[dwiener]

Hmmmm yeah but I need them light... so they can blow across the scene. Bah... guess picking good & dry ones and leaving them in a shoebox will work... BUT rubber leaves would be good to put in corners and such of a scene.

The plastic ones are not that heavy, a good fan can blow them across the scene, just make sure you start out high enough