Filming a gun being shot, suggestions? settings?

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blair apple

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I'm shooting a gun being fired at a bullet proof vest in a small chamber.

Any suggestions? So far i have researched for settings:

Scene file:24P, 1/200 shutter and lots of lighting.

Anything else? I want to slow down the bullet when hitting the vest. Is this the best way to go about it?

Is it even possible to slow down footage enough to capture the bullet in midair?

Cheers!
 
No capturing the bullet in mid air.
Not with this rig.

However- you might get a glimpse of it a s it impacts the vest- in slo-mo.

Do a search for slo-mo here (slow motion), and there's one called 'butter smooth' which has a lot of detail in it.

If the result of your footage is to show the vest's ability to stop the bullet- that's an 'after the fact' shot.
The impact (at normal muzzle velocity in a chamber) will be hard to catch with video.

You might consider 60i, a fast as you can get shutter speed, and then some manipulation in the NLE with Twixtor (sp?)
That was said to be the best overall affectation of slow motion for the 100's.

Good luck.
 
Great! Thanks all have a look at 'butter smooth'. Ya I guess some sort of animation would be best for the effects on the vest. Maybe I can download some sort footage. cheers!
 
if it's a scientific thing- where you're trying to reflect what happens to the vest in the cold, hard light of day- then you can't be messing with the footage.
it has to be shot "as is".

BUT- if you're attempting to depict the results in a dramatic way- then you can do all kinds of cool things to it.

Your POV (point of view) for the taking needs to be determined first.
Do you want a 3/4 off angle of the full vest, or just the impact point?

Is the vest on a form (dummy)? or just hanging in the booth?

As long as you're in the booth getting shots of the vest, try some swoops and parry's.
that's where you either move the subject or camera in a dramatic motion, for affect.
do two or three 'moves', and maybe change the lighting and do it again.

you'll be putting down possible vantage points and actions, for later use in the editing.

again, depending upon the POV, and if you can get a wide enough view to show the bullet being fired (pistol or rifle), you might want to get a couple of shots (no pun) of muzzle flare and smoke- if possible.

Impact to the vest might cause the subject to move out of frame- which can be useful, or not.
if it's on a form, then it'll be 'locked down' for the impact.

in After Effects (AE) there's all kinds of really cool things you can do to 'animate' the sequence.
Even just little bits, maybe less than a second (30 frames).

This is YOU acting as ILLUSTRATOR.
so, use the tools and amplify a bit.
because it ends up being all about the affect you're trying to carry across to the viewer.

AGAIN- it's only if you have the room to be creative.
the scientific approach might be too restrictive for this kind of 'latitude'.

good luck. let's see some of the work when you're done.
 
Good suggestions,

Ya the test is super scientific, special effects are kind of a no no.

I found I needed alot of light, although I was in a small chamber. Didn't have a problem with the camera and light being so close to the gun. There is no way to have caught the bullet slow mo with this camera atleast.

Here it is here if you want to download it. Just a clip.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBTTG01Qk5ZY1IzZUE9PQ
 
Sorry to bore you with a story- but this topic reminds me of something I experienced once.

Was in a foreign country, working on a project (film).
Spent a lot of time at an FBO at a major International airport (fixed base operation- private operator of charter rotor aircraft).
They had a lot of things going, and were quite successful with great connections (gov.)

One day I'm hanging around the lounge, waiting for our evening flight for some coverage of the downtown area.
I see these guys talking in the hangar, overlooking a box on a table.
in it is a newly finished kevlar vest, intended for 'bulletproof' use.

Except, they hadn't tested it yet.

One of the guys steps out and brings back this hapless looking ground crew guy.
There's lots of discussion, some arguing, gesturing.
Ends up the hapless guy has to put the vest on.

They go outside the hangar.
There's a shot.
Some wailing and shouting.
Then silence.

In comes the group.
One of the guys slipping his 45 caliber semi automatic into his holster.
Two guys holding up hapless- who is in a lot of pain.
Not a very happy camper!

But, the vest worked!

We don't do 'tests' like that here, do we?!
 
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