I'm putting together a little movie for a school film festival. It's not at all serious, in fact, the plotline is basically "anything and everything we thought was cool put into the same movie."
So, obviously, it has sword fighting, gun fights, explosions, bangs, and smoke.
Most of these I have figured out. Fireworks, firecrackers, Airsofts, touched-up toy swords, and Works Bombs (a two-liter platic bottle with some Works toilet cleaner and some tin foil, makes a huge explosion with smoke).
However, I have a couple problems. One of these is making some smoke. Yes, Works Bombs make smoke, but it's from a chemical reaction, and I'm pretty sure it can be quite harmful (don't worry, we take every procaution... saving them for last and then getting the hell out of there ?:D?), so that's out. I mean something like, the kind of smoke you see when a wizard does a spell, and his minions appear out of it. Any suggestions on safely producing that?
Secondly, how to realistically make a gun look like its firing? We have Airsoft guns, so they look very realistic and register properly, but there's no muzzle flash or anything. We experimented with putting a single fire cracker in the barrel, but you obviously have to light that, and then have about two seconds before it goes off. ...Neither reliable nore safe.
Finally, how can I make the swords more realistic? I bought them at a toy store, so they're obviously pretty fake. Metallic spray paint makes the "blades" themself look pretty realistic, but they break notoriously easily.
Thanks all. ?:)?
Add the muzzle flashes in post. You can shoot a small explosion in front of a green screen and drop it into place, or you can shoot flour blown out of a tube (again in front of a green screen or black dropcloth with the flour properly lit) and drop that in. Or you can just do it digitally with a downloaded muzzleflash. I wouldn't worry about it on location.
There is a great extra on the Once Upon A Time in Mexico where they had Banderas shooting a rubber gun, naturally with no kick or muzzleflash. He was bang-banging with his mouth like a kid at first. Anyway
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
if they break easily i would say just don't really hit them together then add sound effects later. It should look real enough. Also, it could help if you could get your hands on a real sword and only shoot it during close up shots when its not being used. Like if you have somebody holding it and the sun shines off of it. Then when you cut away and start to fight with it switch it with the fake sword. That way you have planted in their mind that you are using a real sword. Just make sure that when you shoot with the fake sword you use the right angles and are far enough away so you can't tell its fake. If you can't get your hands a real sword then just use tricky angles and add sounds in post production. I would also suggest that if you have one thats already broken try to use the handle to make it look like it is stabbed into somebody. Tape the handle to a belt then strap the belt around wherever you want it to be sticking out of. Cut a whole in the shirt so the handle sticks out and you have an instant stabbing wound. good luck
"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
"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
