Well this idea is not exactly what you want but its worth a try. Since you don't have any good choices for editing in the effects you could just do it in production. First off, you might have to not show the guns muzzle shooting, just show a part of the gun or the shooter or the victim. Then while the person is supposed to shoot, just have someone flash a not to bright light from the source of the shot. In shorter words, just dont show the muzzle of the gun shooting, just show something else with a small flash of a light.

Kman's idea would work very nicely in a bunch of scenerio's I can think of. Perhaps if you told us more about the exact scene we could tell you more ideas. I could be wrong but I don't think Tarintino showed muzzle flashes in Pulp Fiction when big-brained Brad was shot. I think it was mostly the killers faces with flashes on them and color.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

That is true. In that scene the screen flashes white with each shot fired. I think the flash from a disposable camera and some clever editing will solve my problem. Thanks guys. Now all I need to do is figure out how to make the gun smoke after the shot.

"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

YOu can put a cigarette in the barrel or a stick of incense. Plastic gun might be a melting problem but there's probably a way.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Rjschwarz, you rock! Great idea. I used a cigarette and the shot came out perfect. I loosely wraped it in fold to protect the plastic from melting and it looks like the real thing. I think I need to find some kind of small pyrotechnic for my flash. The pulp fiction method doesn't work for this scene.

We SEE the silhouette of a man on the rooftop. Don exits the building across the street. The dark figure on the roof raise a gun from inside his trench coat and takes aid at the unsuspecting victim. Don notices the small red laser dot on his chest and stops cold in his tracks. He looks up. As soon as his eyes lock on the dark figure, a shot rings out. We SEE the flash of the gun aimed dirctly into the camera. The screen goes black. Fade in on the smoking muzzle.

Please excuse the poor format. It looks better on the script.

"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

Depending upon what kind of editing program you use there is a way to add a muzzle flash. Set up a black dropcloth. Set up spotlight type light on the ceiling so that only a circle of light is illuminated. Get a straw and put flour into it. Blow the flour out of the straw and into the circle of light. Try to match the angle used by the gun in the shot for the best effect (example if we see the gun from the front, blow the flour towards the camera).

If done correctly this will create a white puff of flour in the light with everything else black. You can then add it fairly easily into the scene ontop of the gun in nearly every digital editing program.

The other possibility is to not worry about the muzzle flash. With a pistol in daylight the flash can actually be really difficult to see sometimes unless you're using magnum rounds. Sell the effect with the recoil, sound, and reaction shots.

i have a gun that shoots blanks and you cant see the blast during daylight and I'm using fairly powerful blanks. So rj has a point. If you can't see it in real life then it might be fine not to show a blast on film.

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

Shoalin,

Actually you can do it using pinnacle software.

If you can find a flash saved as a .tga file extension it will work.

On the time line you you find the point where you want the flash.
Go to title editor, find the .tga file....adjust the size of the flash to your liking and move it to the point of the screen where you want the flash to be.

You change the time of the title editor down to about 1/2 a second and when you play it back there will be a flash.

Then drop in the sound effects of the gun shot and line it up with the flash. If you play around with it, you can do it.

One other option (a pain in the rear end for me).

Grab a frame of video with a flash. Move the the frame to paint shop pro or even m.s. paint. Take all background surrounding the flash and replace with a "chroma key/greenscreen" color......save as a pic.

Go through the steps listed above size/placement etc...then the image will burn through with the background of your original video and leave only the flash...

Hope this helps....good luck.

Learn how to do something new everyday!

quote:

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originally posted by robi8886
If you can't see it in real life then it might be fine not to show a blast on film.

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I need it for "dramatic purposes"

ETN Productions, that sounds like a good idea. I'll try that.

"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

quote:

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If you can find a flash saved as a .tga file extension it will work.

On the time line you you find the point where you want the flash.
Go to title editor, find the .tga file....adjust the size of the flash to your liking and move it to the point of the screen where you want the flash to be.

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I've found a flash but it has its own background. When the flash appears on screen, it has shows up in a box. I can make it any color I want but I can't get rid of it. Plus my program doesn't have the chorma key. Anybody have any idea how to either make the background around the flash clear or drop it out completely?

"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

Frame by frame import into photoshop and then remove the background.

Either that or film your own flash in front of a solid background you can remove.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

well all that i do is go onto google look for a good muzzle flash get my video footage open it up on Adobe Premiere save it as a Filmstrip open it up in Photoshop and manually add the muzzle flash on the frame that you want it.