squibs deal?

[alveraz]

Hey guys. I need some squibs for gunshot wounds, pronto. Anyone know of the best deals online, or in LA/San Diego? Thanks.

I googled, but couldn't come up with anything.

[kai]

I believe you have to hold a pyro license in order to buy (in many states at least)...

correct me if i'm wrong.

[alveraz]

Do you know if cops have access in CA? Our set designer is a police officer. Hmm. Back to the drawing board.

[greeches]

use canned air and tubing filled with blood... you can work some magic w/ that..:)

[alveraz]

Thanks. My question however was not about alternatives, or I'd fill condoms with ketchup and a blackjack.

Simply looking for squib deals online, guess there are none. I have a couple local, but expensive deals...I have faith. Thanks, greeches, mucho appreciated.

:)

[Policar]

You need to have a liscence to buy them as they're very dangerous if used incorrectly. You're lucky to be able to get your hands on squibs at all.

[Slimothy]

You can find all kinds of alternatives if you google it. What the others are saying is true, unless you make a run down to Mexico (I've heard of people doing this before) then you need a pyrotechnician or something like that to get them. They are very dangerous also which is probably why you need a pyrotechnician. Tim.

[Brandt_Wilson]

Do you want squibs or bullet hits? They're two different things.

I think it's important to reiterate that for someone who is not a trained special effects technician to try to do this with explosives is a very bad idea. Not understanding the properties of these devices, or of gun powder that you might use in an improvised device, can be lethal, or in the least if there is an accident, dangerous and very painful. Most of the improvised techniques involve constructing a device like a firecracker. If these are used close to the skin with an improper base or no base, the skin can be split or bruised, an eye can be enucleated if you do a forhead hit, or the concussion can cause internal damage.

In high school we did West Side Story and used a wireless remote with a couple electric matches, which are used for flash pots on stage. Not too much different from ignitors for model rockets, just more concussive. While testing the effect I was burned because the material we used as a base separated from the force of the pop, and this is something with far less power than a firecracker. If we had used no base (a really stupid move) it probably would have split the skin on my side.

This is just to illustrate that you never know.

Also, in the event that you do find a resource for a "squib" you also should know that a true squib comes in different rated powers. A full squib is a very powerful device and, to the best of my knowledge, is not designed for body hit use.

I looked into this for a low budget project 3 years ago and used a licensed pyrotechnician, but when he demonstrated his cavalier attitude about safety protocols, I bagged the explosive avenue and went to compressed air, which ended up being faster to reset anyway, in the event we needed to. We ended up needing two takes.

One final point on the implications of using squibs. If you're gonna do it, make sure you're insured. Even the professionals who never have an accident have full coverage for $1 million plus just in case they get a Brandon Lee project handed to them.

The link below shows how to make a cheap body hit that can be made invisible if photographed effectively:
http://www.angelfire.com/movies/nobudgetsfx/bodyhits.html outlines a pump system approach.
http://www.angelfire.com/movies/nobudgetsfx/multiplehits.html outlines a system that uses monofilament and a mechanism used to tear the blood bag.

You can also get really creative by using the monofilament, ratchet system and using it to pull "chunks" out of the bullet hit and simultaneously triggering the bleeding effect.

[braw]

Squibs are explosive devices that require a Clas 2 or Class B pyrotechnicians liscense in California. These are the electric detonated ones. I would only recomend safer alternatives if you don't have this liscense since injury can easily be caused.

[Erik Olson]

We had two licensed SFX / Pyro guys on a network show I worked on in San Francisco and still had our share of squibb and pyro mishaps.

Don't f*** with squibbs or glass poppers if you don't have insurance and full licenses. We had no less than three injuries on our show from debris / shrapnel from tiny D 80 1 squibbs and two burns when using approved backing plates.

That $1Mm single-limit policy is a must have! Good luck.

e

[MatthewC]

Extremely informative post there. I remember reading about a "garden sprayer pump" one that used to be on likeastory.com that seemed pretty damn cool.

Also, whats the rule on squibs for Canadian filmmakers?

Cheers.

[Brandt_Wilson]

MatthewC,
If you look at my post above, I've included the link to the garden sprayer bullet hit trick.

[MatthewC]

MatthewC,
If you look at my post above, I've included the link to the garden sprayer bullet hit trick.

Ah, cheers mate.

Curious, I remember seeing this on an site about budget film making with some stuff by Robert Rodriguez too.

Thanks.