Messages and calls for the story
Prepare conversations, incoming calls and notifications with the names and content the scene calls for. These are prop screens, not real messages or telephone calls.
Propp · iPhone · Apple Watch
The phone has a part.
Give it its cues.
Prepare the messages, calls and screen action the scene needs. Put an iPhone in the actor’s hand, cue each phase and reset the action for the next take.
Coming soonAsk about Propp
(the screen in the shot)
A. In the working day
Where Propp
comes in.
For prop teams, assistant directors and crews filming a phone in shot, where the timing and continuity of a screen matter.
- 01
Prepare the scene
Set up the device, contacts, screen content and phases. Import a screenplay to review suggested screen scenes and their starting content.
- 02
Cue the action
Run the prop on its own or control it from another iPhone over a local connection. Use a Bluetooth clicker or the Apple Watch companion to advance cues.
- 03
Go again
Step back, reset or jump to the phase you need. Keep the same screen action ready for another angle, another rehearsal or another take.
B. On the prop screen
A call to answer.
A screen to replace.
Previews from the app in development. The phone frame and on-screen controls are part of Propp’s simulated device.
C. The details
A few things
worth getting right.
Action the actor can play
Let a touch trigger the next phase, or use scripted typing to show the intended text while the actor performs the interaction.
A controlled screen in the shot
Use a locked prop view to keep production controls out of the actor’s way. Chroma screens and tracking marks support shots that need a replacement in post.
Start from the screenplay
SetKitCore reads PDF, Final Draft and Fountain files. Propp proposes screen scenes, contacts and starting content for you to review before importing.
D. The practical bit
What you need.
What you get.
(coming soon, without a release date)
- Phone
- iPhone with iOS 26 or later
- Watch remote
- watchOS 26 or later; requires its companion iPhone
- Mac edition
- In development for macOS 26 or later
- Live control
- Local network or direct Wi-Fi connection on set
- Projects
- iCloud Drive; screenplay imports in PDF, FDX and Fountain
Files & privacy
The project travels. The cues stay on set.
Projects and their media use iCloud Drive to move between your devices. Live prop control uses a local connection rather than an internet control service. The Apple Watch remote sends its cues through the companion iPhone.
- 01Projects in iCloud Drive
- 02Local connections for live control
- 03Script imports processed on the device
- 04Watch control through your iPhone
E. A direct line
We answer
our own email.
A question about Propp? Tell us what you need it to do in your working day.
support@parentheticalapps.com(a person at the other end)