1st attempt at muzzle flashes

btownproductions

btownproductions

Well-known member
Here's a rough edit of an attempt at making muzzle flashes in AE. I know it needs work still. It's just something I quickly put together to try the effect out. Let me know what you think, any suggestions/criticisms would be appreciated. Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwfv-ZvXy5U

(The youtube compression, as I'm sure all of you know, isn't the greatest..)
 
it looked pretty good for the rough. I would light up his face a bit more when the muzzle actually flashes. Also maybe blur the flash its self a bit and make each flash completley different. Because when it is the same looking flash every time it gets a little cheesy. Other than that I say great job! Keep it up!
 
Thanks for the tips. I already had a few plans for it, but I didn't wanna mention any before I heard what someone else had to say about it. I plan on making his shadow on the wall after the first shot has already been fired light up a bit, and brighten his face and the tip of the gun a little more. as well as adding a light to the actual muzzle flash itself, instead of just the flash by itself. Again, this was just a test since I've never done a muzzle flash before. I wanted to try and blend the film look as well as the flash effect before I spend the time putting it into an actual movie I'm working on. This shot was set up in about 30 seconds with no script or planning, and 2 home depot work lights and a handheld camera. (which is actually pretty tough to hold onto with my rig since I don't have a shoulder support yet, lol) I told my actor I wanted a shot where I could try a muzzle flash and he said "what do you want me to do?", so I told him "I don't know, do something that involves firing the gun a couple times" and this is what we ended up with lol. Other than the first cut (which I had to cut prematurely because he looked at the camera), I think it turned out alright given the quick setup haha.
 
btown... You're getting close! I'm expecting to see more white light bursts from the muzzle, perhaps with the yellow fire inside. I love the reflections on the arm and face. Most people don't think about that. Tracking will eventually help tie the blast to the muzzle. Don't forget, the sound effect always sells the whole thing anyway. Add more white burst and I think you're getting it!
 
Yeah I've seen that tutorial before. I used video copilot for tips on making the light reflect on my actors' face. Your clip looks pretty good, that's one thing I need is an ejecting shell. Where did you get the muzzle flash? Is that the Action movie essentials one?

Here's an updated version of the effect I was going for; I changed some of the values of the muzzle flash, added some colour to it, to make it look more realistic, and added some more light to the scene when the shot actually goes off. The only thing I might still add is a shell ejecting if I can figure out how to. I'm new to after effects, so I'm kind of just "wingin" all this lol.

http://www.facebook.com/v/142145720009
 
Nice having the flash illuminate the guy's face.

I'd create a slightly larger and brighter muzzle flash. Under those conditions, the flash would be brighter. Also, with movies you have the right of dramatic license on your side.

The ejecting shell is just a yellowish-tan rectangle that's made to look like it's flipping out of the ejection port with the appropriate movement blur applied. BTW, the rubber gun has no functioning parts at all, and the slide had to be digitally actuated.

The muzzle flash is totally made up as per the instructions in Kramer's tutorial. Starts off as a simple irregular polygon. Then it's distorted through various filters.

There's a plug-in that does muzzle flashes. But it costs $100! I couldn't see spending that kind of cash on a one-trick horse. However, if I had to do muzzle flashes for a machine gun battle with wide shots of guys sweeping their weapons back-and-forth, then it's definitely worth the price. Sure looks like fun.

http://fxhome.com/muzzleplug/

On a slightly related topic, there's a beach here that's used by the military for landing craft operations training. That same beach is also open to the public most of the time. To prevent kids from getting hurt by any blank shells that might get lost during training, soldiers have to do their assaults without blanks or any kind of cartridges.

There was a newsclip when this first took place, showing grown men in full BDUs and kevlar deploying off amtracks saying "Pow! Pow! Pow!"
 
Thanks, I know what you mean about the dramatic license, but I'm trying to go for a more realistic look (a la no country for old men) type of movie. In real life you don't always see a great big muzzle flash like you do in most movies, if there's even a flash at all (if you've ever fired a hand gun before you'll know what I mean). I don't wanna over exaggerate the action and make everything seem to cliched, this clip was just trying out the muzzle flash to try and get the type of affect I want to achieve. Thanks for all the tips though. I definitely need to add the shell casing, but I'm glad I went with the blowback gun so I could get a realistic slide without having to construct it with after effects.
 
I had some actual clips of someone firing a semi-auto handgun in low light. If I can find it I'll post it somewhere for reference.

I've done a lot of shooting -- probably more than 25,000 rounds for skeet and hundreds in competitive rifle. The muzzle flash isn't visible in daylight. But in low light the flash is visible.

I also saw a mini gun fired off the nose of a Cobra attack helicopter. The ball of fire is about a foot beyond the muzzle of the guns. That was in full sunlight with a darker background of foliage. I don't have that footage available as I was shooting for a newspaper in black-and-white.

The hardest part to simulate is recoil... that's ACTING! :-)
 
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