Gun fire flash

[Andrew Carter]

hi,

I've been trying to buy a revolver pistol for a film i'm making, but in the UK now there's laws against buying blank firing guns. You can still buy them if you have a legit reason....however the guns for sale are very few and far between....

Since i've been having trouble finding one. I mostly will have to settle on a replica pistol, which i wasnt keen on, but anyway.
How hard is it, to put a fake flash on the gun, when it fires? Will my medicore editing skills be able enough for this task

(p.s. If anyone knows where i can buy a revolver for under 100 in the UK, please let me know!)

thanks
Andy

[Kevin Lewis]

Check video copilots site, they have lots or prekeyed actions shots that may help:

VIDEO COPILOT | After Effects Tutorials, Plug-ins and Stock Footage for Post Production Professionals

[Jon Fairhurst]

We use Particle Illusion for gun flashes. They last for a single frame of video.

[Andrew Carter]

I'll check those out, do you need to direct your actors in any specific way. Since the replica gun will not 'fire' as such?
Thanks again
Andy

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Andrew Carter

I've been trying to buy a revolver pistol for a film i'm making, but in the UK now there's laws against buying blank firing guns.

ANY firearm on a set should be accompanied by a licensed armourer.

Period.

Too much is at stake, even with airsoft or blank capable firearms.

I put my money where my mouth is and turned down a shoot a couple of weeks ago as there would be no armourer on set. Even on pro sets, stuff goes wrong. Just ask Brandon Lee's family and the crew that were working that day...

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Andrew Carter

do you need to direct your actors in any specific way...?

Make sure that they don't say, "Pyew! Pyew!" when they pull the trigger. Tommy Lee Jones has a habit of doing it. Some of his outtakes are hilarious.

The only thing they need to do is recoil. Good marksmen ease into the trigger gently so they are smooth before the shot. They aren't immune from recoil though. The more skilled and serious the shooter, the less motion. The less skilled and more comical, the more uncontrolled motion.

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Shaun Roemich

ANY firearm on a set should be accompanied by a licensed armourer.

Yes, on a couple of short films I directed we had guns firing in vision and we had an armourer. Something about guns make people act in a crazy way, so you do need that person to keep control of the weapons. As mentioned, even blanks can be dangerous if fired, Brandon Lee was killed by a "blank" round on "the Crow" due to a fatal combination with home brew dummy rounds that still had the primers fitted, which some how got fired, lodging the bullet in the barrel. Also, you also need to protect cast and camera crew from the wadding.

You could check out on a local armourer and see if they're willing to do a deal for your film.

A starting pistol might be possibility, although the flash comes out the top, rather than the front of the barrel. Also inform the police, otherwise you may have them arriving thinking there's an armed robbery in progress.

[Jason McDonald]

Fake guns and how to get your actors to use fake guns

YouTube - ‪freddiew2's Channel‬‏

How to add the effects

YouTube - ‪freddiew2's Channel‬‏

[Jon Fairhurst]

We've always used plastic firearms and airsoft guns that are disabled.

When filming outdoors, it's always good to let the cops know what you are doing. Your gun might be fake and unloaded, but theirs aren't!

[Andrew Carter]

I've done a shoot before with a deact shotgun, so i know the score with informing the local plod (police). I do have a very experienced shooter who helps me as and when i need it.

The shotgun i used was not intended to fire in the film, so ive never done the effect before. It was only meant to 'scare' the characters victim.
thank for the helpful tips though. ;-)

I'll check those links out. Thanks again.

[Battle Vaughan]

If you have access to Adobe After Effects, it can be done there with a motion-linked flash effect. There is an excellent tutorial somewhere on the internet --- I apologize that I can not find it now to link to it --- showing exactly how this is accomplished with gunfire effects. A little more googling would turn it up...

Edit: this is not the tutorial I remember (it's been a couple of years) but one you might find useful: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial...ated_lighting/

[Jim Andrada]

And remember that real pistols don't have a very dramatic flash at all - in years of shooting in pistol league I frankly never noticed any significant flashes. Of course we didn't use ultra short barreled pistols for target shooting.

Place I used to work decades ago tested 5 inch and larger naval rifles - up to 16 inch diameter. These produced marvelous flashes indeed.

[Bruce Foreman]

Modern "propellants" (gunpowders) are specifically formulated to reduce or even prevent significant flash "signature". This is especially true of most "duty" loads for law enforcement and defensive personal protection loads for legal licensed/permitted "civilians".

Common practice loads still show some muzzle flash at night but none in the daytime.

[Jim Andrada]

Well put. Key point I think is that all the flashing we see in the movies is just for visual effect - it isn't real by any means.

[Brian Drysdale]

Watched "Heat" last night, huge amounts of visual flashes during the bank robbery fire fight. Much wild shooting by both sides, which would've resulted in huge casualties amongst passers by and the guns would've have long run out ammo. Definitely for the effect rather than any reality.

Interestingly, "Falling Down", which was on the previous night, was much more realistic in its LA gang drive past shooting.