Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

M

Mark_Monciardini

Active member
Aright guys,

What the heck are people going to think if they see you running around with a blank firing gun while doing a shoot. Because the gun looks real, wont the cops kick your ass? In California you can't even get by with a dark colored squirt gun. I'm in Utah. But is there anything we need to be aware of while running around and shooting blank rounds?
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

..get a permit. ..notify the local authorities.. have saftey and medical officials on hand.. have the perimeter secured with private security..    

..or you can just use a location where noone is around :)
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

real guns are more fun... the actors really get the "fear" look down with little to no effort. :)

(JOKING)
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

..i actually have to work with some real guns for a film this summer.. ill probably be checking the chaber, and clipevery 5 secs to be sure thers nothing in there... :-/
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

We're going to have a gun or two for our 10-minute short, coming up. These will be real guns (probably mine) and the procedures will be that at least three people (including the actor using them) check each gun any time it has been picked up. We will not allow real ammo on the set, and will still shoot with camera angles that make it look like our actor is pointing his gun directly at people, but he never will.

When we are running around outside where cops might get called, we're going to notify them beforehand, and post signs around the location which says we're shooting a movie, so some whiny soccer mom doesn't panic and call the police.
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

If you are anywhere near any other living soul, you can guarantee the cops will arrive.

I shot a scene at a bus stop on a busy street (where we had mostly completed a permit application even) that called for a guy to mug another guy using a big knife. Now, we had a camera on a Steadicam, a sound guy, a script supervisor, all sorts of people around, obviously obviously obviously a staged video shoot. But within 30 seconds of our actor pulling that knife, we had a cop on the scene. Somebody driving by with a cell phone reported a guy pulling a knife on another guy, and the response was instantaneous.

If you go around firing guns, you can *guarantee* that the cops will be all over you, wherever you are. Best to talk to the local police department and ask what the requirements are to do it legally. That way the dispatchers will all be notified, and when someone calls in, they can just say "they're shooting a movie" instead of sending out someone to investigate.
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

Hire a GUN SAFETY EXPERT for sure! Even if it is the local Public Affairs of the Sheriff, police, etc. and have them onsite.
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

.. all this reminds me of a shoot i did last summer. although you dont need permits to shoot in madison, or wisconsin in general for the most part, you do need security and al that other stuff for somthing like this..

but anyway in what was the most nerve frazzeling shoot ever for me, i pulled off 30 min of footage at night for a phychological thriler type thing-shot of a guy looking like a ring wraith from LOTR with a 42 inch real sword, and a guy with a gun to someones head apparently beating up, and shooting him, in an alley off of the capitol square dowtown only 1 block from the police station and jail.. very very highly patrolled by the PD..

so anyway we had no money for real security, so i made authentic looking security badges for the crew, and had then block each side of the alley when shooting. i pulled my car in front of the alley on the side you couldnt see to block sight, and we went to town.

the gun wasnt real, and i even gutted all working peices from it so it wasnt a firearm at all. and the sword wasnt sharp, not that that wouldve mattered.. but man.. that was nerve racking. downtown madison is a very busy place, even at night cause its also a college campus, and i was very glad to have that night over with...

anyway,.. that was very un-fun. i had worked out a plan where the lookouts would signal , and all weapons would be dropped in the event that anyone were to get too close.

but to make it worse.. the alley was private property. which the owners would not take the time of day to call me back about usage permissions for it after repeated attempts to speak with them during business hours.. anyhow.. i got my guerilla feet a lot wetter that night. ..a little too wet for my taste.. \

later on that night my car died, and we were stuck waiting for a tow till 1:30 am. it was a long long night by the time we got home.. bah :P
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

Luckily, I know all the cops in my district (was trying to join the police a couple years ago). They've seen me shooting enough movies now that whenever they see me, it's 'oh that's Darryl... no trouble here.'

We definately will call the cops and let them know all the details of what we're up to, and a personal visit down to the district desk would reinforce the idea.
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

Just remember....A unloaded Gun will kill you!
Lots of folks think its unloaded and then...BANG! Be Careful.
JRT
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

And people have been killed by blanks before too.

Either have a real gun safety expert on the set, or do it with fake guns and add the muzzle flashes in post. Using real guns is highly discouraged.
 
Re: Blank Firing Guns and the Cops

I dont know the prices for blank firing pistols, but a good idea is to use airsoft pistols. You can get fully metal ones that look just like the real thing, and use special gas, each time you fire, the slide will blow back like a real pistol.

Then you can add effects in post. I thought off a good smoking gun trick. What if you lit a cigarrette and put down in the barrel? It would let out a little smoke trail that would look great I would think.
 
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