First Stunt/SFX Coordinator Gig!

[Doc Bernard]

Granted, it wasn't for a feature, but it was for the UCLA Film Festival 2008.

What a great group these guys were! This short is going to get some real attention at the festival!

I had 5 SWAT team members (including me) and 1 FBI agent on the team. Stunts were "death shots" and I went ahead and did the most complex, since it involved a hard fall to the concrete. The Director gave me full control of the SWAT scenes and I called the shots on those. Gave me a warm a fuzzy feeling! LOL

As to the SFX, that was fun, throwing broken stage glass at people, and my favorite.....blood work!

FYI, for those of you that want or need a fake blood for something, find "Bottle of Blood". Very impressive color, consistency, and it dries the right color! It about 8 bucks a pint (yes, they sell it in pints), but worth it!

1st Pic: One of my SWAT members (Ruth Camarillo) dead, she was so beautiful *sniff*
2nd Pic: Me, getting ready to have my foot shot out from under me then a head shot.
3rd Pic: Me inside the car ready to throw crushed stage glass onto the actor (Mike McNamee) to simulate bullets through glass

*****More detailed pics to come*********

Photo's by Scott Dee

 

[stage_armament_solutions]

That's great - congratulations! Looks like a job well done, and fun - what more could anyone ask for?

What can you tell me about the weapons? Airsoft, blank-firing, solid replicas? Anything you can share would be great - I'm trying to get an idea of what would "fly" for the indies in my area.

Thanks!

 

[Doc Bernard]

That's great - congratulations! Looks like a job well done, and fun - what more could anyone ask for?

What can you tell me about the weapons? Airsoft, blank-firing, solid replicas? Anything you can share would be great - I'm trying to get an idea of what would "fly" for the indies in my area.

Thanks!

Primarily modified airsoft. I had a blank firing pistol. You might want to check with your local PD (since you are in DC, weird gun laws there).

The mod's were that I disabled them so they are not technically airsoft guns any more, that way I can repaint the orange tip gunmetal black (some places, you can get in a lot of trouble doing this!). I spoke with my local PD, and they are cool with it, as long as they are handled responsibly (packed out of sight, no handling of them off-set, no horseplay with them on set) and I declare them if I get pulled over. I also have my company logo on the back of my vehicle, so that helps too when I transport them. If they are my weapons and/or I am the set armorer, all "armed" actors get a very stern warning from me on set etiquette and a briefing on how to hold/use the weapon. Since they are my weapons, I stand to lose my investment if the cops are called for people acting stupidly on/off set with them.

Ten years ago, this wouldn't have been much of an issue, but with all the crap that came out of 9/11, people freak out easily, especially when you have a bunch of people walking around with what looks like automatic weapons. Which brings up a good point, if you are doing an action film using prop weapons where the public can see you, get a film permit and post signs on your set! It will save you a lot of grief later on during the shoot.