Self inflicting gunshot to the head - best way to do it before post production

L

LightupChoiceFry

Active member
I'm directing a short soon that I wrote, and there's a scene where I have a character shooting himself in the head with a Berreta 92-FS (9mm bullet), and right after the gunshot occurs, we quickly pan to someone watching near by. So, I just need the shot to last very quickly before the camera turns, and later we see the entry wound in the head which can be done via make-up, prosthetic, etc. But for the gunshot, I don't want to do it off screen or add too much in post. BUT, I am fine having the blood and flash in post, but I'm debating if I need to have the blowback filmed.

I have researched a lot and read posts, and I am tossing ideas around of the best way to do it. I've seen amazing post work where people just use a realistic looking airsoft gun and then add the flash, blood, and blowback in post, so if that's all I need, then it'll just be about the actor's actions. I know I am not using a blank gun for obvious reasons, but I am debating about an airsoft gas gun, b/c it has a blowback, so then in post I'd just need to add the blood, flash, and casing. But airsoft gas shots may not be safe either correct?

The scene has the character in an office chair by a computer, and he has the gun pointed at his head, and the camera angle will be from behind him at a medium wide shot.
 
yeah I thought about doing it like that, but I really want to go with the one-take thing and then quickly pan off screen, but just get enough in there. It's supposed to be a shocking site to the person watching so I felt doing it without any cuts would show its affect more with the audience.
 
You do NOT want ANYTHING coming out of that gun! With the proximity to the actor's head even an airlift can be dangerous. Look up the sad fate of actor John-Eric Hexum. He was shooting an ABC TV series and had a gun with blanks in it. He messed up a line and in a foolish moment put the gun to the side of his head and pulled the trigger before the prop master could stop him. The blank in the gun pushed out the explosive gas with enough force to turn Hexum's skull into a bullet that killed him. Awful.

The effect you want to achieve can be done safely and as grisly as you wish by way of an exit would rather than the entry wound. The entrance point of a bullet is generally quite small and the bullet is moving so fast at that point that there is usually only a small amount of damage at that point. But as body mass deforms and slows the bullet, the exit wound can be horrific. For photographic purposes, this means that you can have an empty gun and use a safely applied squib on the far side of the actor's head to blow a bloody mess onto the desk, computer screen, etc. The sound effects and actors' natural reactions will do the rest.

There are various examples of this out there in movies. Private Pyle's suicide at the end of the first half of Full Metal Jacket comes to mind.

Remember that end if you are not using blanks that a gun is no toy when present on set. It should be a crew member's responsibility to mind it at all times, and pull it from the actor's hands at the end of each take. Also, a squib is not something to be taken lightly either. It is essentially a small explosive that is going to be taped to a human being's body, in this case his head. This is really something for a professional.
 
Actually, what went wrong in the case of Hexum is the same thing that went wrong in the case of Brandon Lee. In both, they didn't use guns designed only to shoot blanks -- they used REAL guns loaded with blanks.

If they had used guns designed only to shoot blanks -- guns with solid filled barrels through which nothing, not even gases from the firing of the cartridge, could have passed -- then it's probable that both men would be alive today.

Mitch is absolutely right -- you don't want ANYTHING coming out of the barrel of that gun. I don't care how "cool" it will look. If just getting a "cool" looking shot is all you care about, then you're missing the mark. Safety of your people is absolutely the #1 priority. When it comes to guns on the set, even the slightest risk is not worth taking.
 
Since it is dealing with close proximity to the head and ears, I would certainly consult one of the experts that rents firearm props for the movie industry. I would also certainly rent something that has been correctly prepared for the type of shot you need.

I say all this because even with an empty pellet gun, firing the air/CO2 out of the barrel could cause significant damage to your actor.

You might also be able to use a compressed air driven squib, this removes some of the danger from the small explosive (note the word some).

Anyway you can do a life cast head and use that instead of a live actor? Would be a lot safer all around but might not have the lifelike features needed for the shot.
 
I would most definitely NOT have the actor place anything but a solid barrel inert (totally non functioning) replica to the head. You can take one of the dummy pistols made by Ring's (Ring's blue guns) often sold by police supply outfits, paint it dull black and use that.

Have the actor put it to his head, cut quickly to an onlooker with horrified expresssion on face, sound of gunshot, cut back to actor collapsing like a limp dummy. Then show whatever mess you want. The key to making it all work is to not let the camera linger on anything.

But absolute safety is paramount.
 
It should also be noted that even with a solid barrel gun, a blank should not be fired off next to a person's head. Even a 1/2 round or 1/4 round load will be incredibly loud and can cause permanent hearing loss. I have ear plugs in my kit for whenever blanks or explosions are to be used on set, and I'm some distance away. A blank at a few inches could deafen your actor.
 
Mitch Gross said:
It should also be noted that even with a solid barrel gun, a blank should not be fired off next to a person's head. Even a 1/2 round or 1/4 round load will be incredibly loud and can cause permanent hearing loss. I have ear plugs in my kit for whenever blanks or explosions are to be used on set, and I'm some distance away. A blank at a few inches could deafen your actor.
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Absolutely correct. In the case of Hexum, he probably would have suffered damage to his hearing, but he'd still be alive. But yes, do not discharge any kind of firearm near the head.

We had two scenes in 'Tangled Web' that required guns. In one scene, the lead actress (Rae Bekah) put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened -- the gun wasn't loaded. Even so, before we shot the scene, I had her take the gun (which was a revolver, a blanks-only pistol) and pull the trigger 7 or 8 times to ensure, for her own peace of mind, that the gun was not loaded. Then it stayed in her possession and control until the scene was done.

The other scene required a police detective to draw his pistol (also a blanks-only revolver), point it at a person and fire at close range. That gun was also never loaded. We added the muzzle flash and sound effect in post.

There is no shot that is so important that it's worth risking anyone's safety for.
 
I definitely would never put an actor's life in jeopardy which is why I'm doing extensive research. I think I'll just go with a Berreta 92-FS replica and just rely on angles and cuts. I may still film a one take with the replica and see what can be done in post, but still film enough coverage to allow it to be cut in a way that implies more than shows.
 
I have never used or held an Airsoft gun, so I can't speak authoritatively about how it works. But I would assume that any action that causes the 'blowback' function to work would also expell air/gas out the barrel, even if no pellets were loaded into it. This, by itself, can be dangerous, especially if the gun is held close to someone's eye.

Even doing one take this way could be enough to blind or otherwise injure someone. Just my 2 cents.
 
Two years ago I watched a 20-year old actor SCARE THE HELL out of us with his ACTING.
He put a realistic PROP gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. and POW! He triggered a blank with some device we couldn't see - like behind his back! But it was his ACTING that sold it! His head jerk and the way he collapsed.
This was when they were pulling the focus! SCARED EVERYONE TO DEATH it was so convincing!
And he did it again when we rolled.
...it was still even disturbing the second time.

Flash and SFX added in post but blood was a little splatter bag the guys rigged up on the back of his head - triggered and torn open with some kind of spring.... nothing explosive at all.

Wow.

It can be done if you have great talent!
 
Often what isn't seen and left to the imagination can be more effective, like the shower scene in Psycho. I would cut from him putting the gu to his head to blood and body matter splattering a wall, with a some good sound effects. Don't make it too complicated
 
There are safe prop guns which can be "fired" in close proximity to an actor or stunt performer. In the church scene in "Kingsman", Colin Firth used a handgun which had slide action and shell ejection, but wasn't firing blanks. Muzzle flashes & sounds were obviously added in post. Some gas powered airsoft guns will give you slide action (blowback) even if no BBs are loaded, and can be placed close to skin. But if you haven't got an armorer, why not use a children's toy? That has got to be safe, no? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK50bKNTDIE
 
pistool.jpg
Tip from a friend, old B-movie (or was is C?) director.
Paint water-gun black (as soon you did this it is illegal in the Netherlands and considered a real gun) fill with fake blood. Safest way, and with sound and smoke effect almost real. Price 2 dollar.
 
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Use a realistic replica, then do a blood splatter to the actor's face looking at the suicide. Everyone will know what happened. They just did that on last season's of How to Get Away With Murder.
 
Old thread but wanted to correct a few things. A friend of mine is an armorer for big budget films. They don't use plugged barrel blank guns. They use real guns that have been modified so they can't chamber live ammunition. He used to rant about low budget films and blank guns because the gas goes out the wrong place and you don't get a proper recoil so they don't look right. The proper workflow is that any working gun is never left in the possession of the actor when a take is not happening. Actors are generally not well versed in firearms and greatly under rate the lethalness of a "prop". Any gun that doesn't actually fire or is in the distance is a non firing replica.

But most of the above is not applicable to low budget films because you do not have a certified armorer and the crew to safely deal with guns that fire any sort of explosive round.

On a low budget film I would never use a gun that was capable of firing an explosive round. The biggest reason is safety, I'm not going to have the budget to have an real armorer and that is a deal breaker. But also it's more bother than it's worth. If you can't get usable muzzle flashes, proper kickback and a usable report then you are not getting anything for the trouble. Get props with the right weight and take a field trip to a firing range so the actors know what it feels like to fire a weapon and then have them act. You can get blowback action on non firing replicas that don't fire anything out the front. And you can get ones that do cartridge ejections. You could probably CG that but live is going to be easier and better.

For lots of low budget practical VFX I highly recommend "The Rebels Guid". It's dated equipment wise but the practical VFX are ageless.
And do your sound, other than dialog, in post. Even in a big budget film where they are firing blanks a mile a minute, they are doing that for the actors benefit. NONE of that sound will be used in post. Post sound will separate the dialog from everything else and SFX editors will build all of those firing sequences. On set gun fire just never sounds right. For one thing your sound person is set up for dialog. Even if you have an FX recordist on set they are not going to get what you need because they can't be where they need to be and too much other stuff is making noise. I have worked on student shorts to multi hundred million dollar films and I have NEVER used a single gunshot sound recorded on set.

If for some reason you NEED to have something fire on set get a proper stage blank firing weapon from some place like WESTERN STAGE PROPS. But personally I would stick to non-firing replicas.
 
If you want to show the shot, use an armorer...if you can't afford that, I personally respond far more to, (as do many others)
a gun brought up to under the chin or temple...cut to onlooker's horrified expression and the report goes off...and you stay with that person's reaction...much more powerful IMO
 
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