To do this stuff on the cheap and safely try to accuire a program that does masking ie. After Effects or Shake. Masking takes a bit of practice but I got the hang of it quickly. Set the camera up on some sticks and make sure it does not move at all then have your actor walk along and if he's supposed to blow up get him to act accordingly. Next place your explosion near where the actor was and start the camera up again...DON'T MOVE IT!!! explode the bomb and then use the masking to put the two clips together so you have a guy walking and the bomb going off. Masking can get tricky but once you try it a few times you will get an idea on how to set up your shots so you can save time and get some good effects. Bullet effects are super easy with masking too. Shoot your actor and have him fall down. With the camera exactly where it was have your set guys walk up with a hose full of blood and a bysicle pump. The guy with the end of the nozzle stands where the actor was and they squirt the blood out. All you have to do is mask out the set guys and the nozzle wich is not that hard. Basic masking can take around 20 minutes to complete and the more complicated ones can take hours but in the end you can acchieve some high quality effects for your movie. Using masking I have been able to slice and stab someone with a sword, crush a guy between 2 cars, hit someone with a car, and many other little effects that don't look cheezy like some other methods.

What? $1000!! That's crazy talk!!

thats pretty cool, but if you want a more "real" solution, its got to be squibs and maybe some sort of pneumatic system in the ground to make the ground smoke up at points. But digital effects like using after effects is the only no-budget way to do it that i can think of.

OK, here's a tip that I've used in the past that works 2 out of 3 times (w/ misfires or duds the third): Go to any photographic store and purchase some flash powder. Then go to a hobby store and buy rocket igniters. Then buy a roll of shielded wire. And don't forget a pack of unlubricated condoms, karo syrup, red & green food coloring to make the blood.

Now, you will have to get a small piece of tin or metal that is, say, 6" x 6" to tape to the actor for his/her protection. Then you'll need to find a small 1/2 inch cone shape to pack with the flash powder (by the way, flash powder is the same stuff the old time photographers used as a flash for their subjects) and then some thin plastic taped over this to hold the powder inside the cone. Take one of the rocket igniters (These are used to fire a model rocket and can easily be found in most hobby stores) and insert it thru the plastic into the black powder. Now tape this cone to the actor w/ the plastic opening w/ the igniter in it facing outward. Attach one wire to one of the metal wires on the igniter and the other on the other (The negative and positive). Then tape the blood filled condom on top of the charge. Now, cut a slit in the wardrobe so the blood and charge will blow thru it. Now, run one of these wires to the the negative connection of a car battery or those big block batteries sometimes used in flashlights. Now when you touch that other wire to the posotive side of the battery: BOOM.

Now, do a test BEFORE you place it on the actor and before the shoot day. Let me say it again: DO A TEST W/O ACTORS TO INSURE THE CHARGE IS CORRECT.

"DO A TEST W/O ACTORS TO INSURE THE CHARGE IS CORRECT."

And after you do the test, stick it on your own body and blow it up :). I can't help but feel that if a director isn't happy with doing that, then they shouldn't be sticking explosives on their actors...

?? If i was one of your actors, i'd demand that you have a 2 million dollar liability insurance at least.

You are attaching fireworks to people?
They are letting you do it?
Make sure the camera is running so that you send the results to kontraband.com
Surely you can blag some squibs from an effects house rather than putting people inharms way.

ww2 movie excellent if your not too far away from our tiny studio in upstate ny we had a scene in our last movie we cut out befor filming and in our prop room we have a few cummunist russian uniforms and a modle 911 army colt ww2 hand gun replica that fires blanks plus a german officers hat a russian flag an army air core uniform and russian/ nazi jack boots plus ofcourse we also can do fake wounds ect and we have a nice camera mini dv dvc if ya need some help.

william cheney of cheney productions film co www.cheney2004.50megs.com