hehe. a banger is like a mini dynamite stick. it is about the same size as your middle finger. you light it with a match/lighter. in terms of the power,if you dig a little hole in the ground (size of a fist) put the banger in the hole, cover with dirt, light it and when it goes off it looks like a bullet hit. its reasonably safe. ie safe, but if your stupid with them you will get hurt

Does any1 from UK no where to buy bangers. I have looked at markets and cant find any, i know people that go to france often come back with them!!

Rob - UK

quote:

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Originally posted by pond-weed

PS. dont try and talk me out of this, i am serious and i take all the neccessarly safty precousions. to me, that is what film making is all about. finding your own cheap ways to do epic stuff. not just do it they way holly wood does it and spend a ridiculous amount of money on it

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The "way" Hollywood does it can be expensive because the first priority is safety.

For a very quick primer on how SFX Technicians create the explosions FOR CAMERA, look at the book "Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics" by Tom Rogers, chapter 7: Creative Kinematics pgs. 111-112.

Also know that in the US, SFX Technicians are properly licensed and permitted by state and federal agencies precisely because blowing things up, particularly in proximity to real people, can be and HAS BEEN deadly. "Amateurs" without proper training who are playing around with deadly substances is never a good idea. If you need just one of the more major examples, read the book Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego, and the Twilight Zone Case by Stephen Farber (Author), Marc Green (Author)

Yes, finding innovative inexpensive ways to tell a story can be beneficial to the project (see JAWS), but taking shortcuts with deadly substances is NOT a place to skimp. Often on professional movie sets, SFX will not do any more than use air compressors to blast "debris" into the shot. As you'll read in the Movie Physics book I suggested above, you'll find that if you want realism, you wouldn't have/need dangerous fire effects anyway.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com

Yes i agree, pytechnicians have been professionally trained and have lots of experience. Also on film shoots they ALWAYS have a fire crew and paramedics on site for any emergencies. Also if you have ever been to a shoot where they are filming any kind of special effect which cold be slightly dangerous they spend a hell of a long time preparing it, testing it and rehearsing.
I was once at warner bros studios when they were doing a car explosion. We got there and it was already set up, we waited 3 hours untill they did it. This was with people who KNEW what they were doing. They must of rehearsed it at least 40 times - this was just people walking along a street.

I would not advice you to do anything stupid - you know what i mean!!

Rob - UK

you cant buy bangers in the UK. any bangers in the UK seem to have come from france. so really the only way to get them is to ask and ask and ask everyone you know if they have any or if they know anyone who has any.

as for the saftey of explosives. bjdzyak said 'but taking shortcuts with deadly substances is NOT a place to skimp'. for me using my own explosives is NOT a shortcut, simply because i put a lot of effort and time into practicing with these explosives.
a shortcut would be to buy some bangers/ explosives, research them a bit on the internet, and use em on shoot day. that is bad.
but if you start of with buying small bangers, testing them, seeing how powerfull they are. then moving up to somthing bigger, testing them etc. until you find the right sized bang you want. then you keep testing these in every single way possible, starting of very safley. if you want an explosion right behind an actor, then you test that scenario on yourslef 10, 20 times.
by the end of this testing you have to know EXACTLY the dangers and capabilities of what your using on set. you have to be aware of all possible variables.

then just before shooting, you have to show the actors these explosions by testing them on your self in the same ways these explosions are going to be used with them (squib hits, explosions within 5 meters of actors etc). if you are using home made explosives, they are going to be nervous (i would be). they need to see that you know exactly what you are doing.

i do not consider this method to be a 'shortcut'. it is cheaper, but requires a LOT of effort beforhand.
to lower the cost of pyrotechnics, you really raise the effort and time you need to put in.

if you use cheap home home made explosives, without putting in the effort and time i have mentioned above. bad stuff WILL happen.

bjdzyak speaks of air pressure. that seems great. but i veered away from that after i found out how expensive air tanks were.
but i just recently realised you can buy CO2 fire extinguishers quite cheaply, which is essentialy compressed air. i have no idea how to remotly 'activate' them if they are burried underground. any ideas?