How Fake IDs Are Made For Movie And TV Characters | Movies Insider

Creating truly convincing fake IDs for film and TV requires an obsessive attention to detail — and things can get thorny with the law.

We visited Ross MacDonald, a graphic prop artist in Connecticut, and The Hand Prop Room, a prop house in Los Angeles, to find out what it takes to forge realistic ID cards and documents for fictional characters. They break down the ins and outs of creating authentic-looking IDs for movies and TV shows set in every era. Plus, they walk us through some of the legal issues that this work brings up and explain how they avoid running into trouble with the law.

The artists at The Hand Prop Room demo their process for creating convincing on-screen IDs for movies like "Black Widow" and shows like "Bones." They demo how they replicate specific security features of contemporary IDs, from the embossed numbers on a California driver's license to the holographics found on many modern passports.

Ross shows us how he meticulously recreates historical passports, driver's licenses, and government agency IDs for shows like HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," laboring over details as tiny as the perforated edges on a historical stamp.

The Hand Prop Room was behind the McLovin fake ID in "Superbad" — a prop that was supposed to look unconvincing — but most of the studio's work focuses on making IDs look as authentic as possible on screen. It has created prop IDs for "Sex and the City," "The Hangover Part II," "Zodiac," "The Departed," "Mare of Easttown," "Black-ish," "Ted," and "Two and a Half Men," and other kinds of props for "Mank," "Little Women," "The Mandalorian," "The Hunger Games," "Pirates of the Caribbean," and "Grey's Anatomy."

Ross has created graphic props for over 100 movies and shows, including "The Hateful Eight," "John Wick," "Silver Linings Playbook," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "The Report," "The Adjustment Bureau," "Parks and Recreation," "The Assassination of Gianni Versace," "The Book of Eli," and "The Legend of Zorro." One of Ross' specialties is creating painstakingly accurate historical documentation for period settings. His upcoming book, "Prop Man," is out in May.

For more from The Hand Prop Room:
For more from Ross:

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How Fake IDs Are Made For Movie And TV Characters | Movies Insider

[jasonlovi]

Props to this guy. These props are seen for only a few seconds but the amount of work he puts into each one is amazing.

[FastMellow]

The Dutch passports are indeed pretty accurate. What stood out to me (as a former Dutch citizen) was the missing SSN (called BSN in Dutch)...
Reminds me of the prop money episode where they also had to balance between authenticity, realism and avoiding counterfeiting charges/investigations.

[alap]

I could feel the document creator's heart saddened when Steve Buschemi's character just hands over the prop (without opening). ALL That trouble to be accurate, and the prop isn't even properly visible on screen.

[xoxolovechristielynn]

Prop masters are the unsung heroes of film making. I remember seeing a video all about prop food in film and television and it’s so incredibly complex! Because not only do the props need to look real, they also can’t make any noise otherwise they’ll be picked up by the mics. Example: Instead of real ice or even plastic, they make ice cubes out of silicone or something like that so that it doesn’t clink around in the glass. So many minute details that we never really notice but require days/weeks to create. Even though we don’t really notice these things, they absolutely add to the entire vibe of the scene so these small things like ice in a glass or stamps on a passport are so important. They create an environment where viewers can truly be immersed into a storyline and not be pulled out into reality by a continuity error or distraction. Thank you, prop workers. 👏🏼

[linmyat]

I think film creatives should properly communicate on the details necessary before the artists begin designing the props. The amount of work involved is incredible and the craftsmanship is excellent. But if it's not going to be used for its purpose, I find that it's such a waste.

[markd]

Great skill and dedication to the craft that literally only appears for seconds in a film/show.

[afib]

A very interesting profession. The attention to detail is impressive

[edstella]

I'm glad this video is online! I love seeing behind the scenes work in these prop studios (I love crafting things) and always wondered how they do this! As I just got my renewed license and switched out my expired one, I noticed that my new one felt cheaper in comparison because they changed the plastic, so it got me wondering how they're made. This video is close enough that it scratches the itch without feeling like I'm doing something nefarious.

[ayuu.]

That is why I love to focus on tiny details that no one gives a care about. Because the amount of work that goes through them are often very respectable that made a big difference for the film. Kudos to all the behind-the-scenes staff

[yekaesh]

I had no idea this was even a job. I’ve always been good at counterfeiting and would’ve loved to do this.

[NightOwl_]

I do the same job in London and yeah, it's exactly like that. It sounds very complicated but it's a lot of fun and the best part of the job is getting to find loads of interesting stuff about the past. We graphic designers for the industry don't do just IDs and documents though. We do anything from a handwritten note to any graphics seen on a screen like a news banner or a fake website design.

[jhonbus]

Really interesting! The prop maker seems like he's got some really interesting things to say about his work, It's a shame we barely got to hear from him because of the style of the video, I'd love to hear more. The actual in depth stuff about his work and skills would be great to hear about, and some of the detail about how he stays on the right side of the law. I imagine he documents all his projects meticulously - who ordered what props and why, and how each piece can be distinguished from the real thing. Probably also has to submit to unannounced inspections. Probably on first name terms with the local real FBI folks :)

[caveman]

I respect the craftsmanship that this guy brings to the table, but I imagine for 99% of use-cases this level of detail is completely unnecessary. It would be like having a mechanic meticulously build the engine of a car from scratch just so it’s historically accurate, even though they know the car will never be driven let alone opened up and looked at.

[djdoc]

I could never do this for a living. This attention to detail would be too much for me.

[Ward]

I remember playing the video game LA Noire set in the 1940’s and getting such a kick out of all the old paperwork. From the black California drivers licenses to the super accurate administrative text on a vehicle pink slip - that game really went out of its way to faithfully recreate 1940’s Los Angeles.

[shan]

I kind of love how much (probably unnecessary) detail this man puts into his props. I like to think he’s just having a good time and doesn’t GAF how much is actually shown.

[miss.g-shun-w]

These peaks behind the proverbial curtain and into the real Hollywood movie magic are so much fun! Keep them coming!

[Megaritz]

A decade ago, I did a lot of scambaiting. A lot of scammers would contact me, thinking I was a potential victim, and I would them them on for weeks or months. It was fun. They sent me a lot of fake IDs to "prove" who they were claiming to be, many of them very obvious fakes, though some more realistic. Some scammers do steal IDs from real people to reuse. But one of the scammers, who was impersonating an FBI agent, actually sent me an image of an FBI badge from the X-Files.

[robertalford]

Nice work....I guess even if you don't really see it on screen, remember movie props sell big money depending on the movie and actor....so if the actual actor signs can end up in a man cave or a collection somewhere and someone does get to appreciate the time put into it

[NYCAppl]

I'm completely fascinated by this kind of work!