technique of muzzle flashes..

Brett

Brett

Well-known member
Im in post right now of my film. and I really hate doing it when it comes to a 22 minute WWII action movie. for the most part when I compose a shot I tried to keep the end of the barrels out of the shot so I wouldnt have to insert muzzles later. but unforunately im still going to have to plug in some through out most of the movie anyway.. I really hate doing them because they never look right to me.. ive got AECS3 and maybe someone can help out there. ill go over of what i do and put a screenshot or two of my bs.

my film look is desaturated with alot of contrast.
ive got action M/A from andrew from Video Copilot.
I take the muzzles and insert them where they need to be.
i bring down the opacity and up the brightness a bit.
I add smoke which I am satisfied with.

muzzle.jpg


i dont know it just looks fake to me.. I mean it is fake of course but I just want to know the best technique to make them look real in day or nighttime.
thanks guys
 
and who knows maybe it could even be the intervals or how fast or slow they are? i mean I can make pistols look decent because they are slow. automatics just look strange to me.
 
Bringing down the opacity won't do--muzzle flash shouldn't be transparent. Turn it back up and change your blending mode instead. Try "Add", but if that doesn't work, cycle through them all until one does.
 
Have you seen a muzzle flash elsewhere that you think doesn't have the fake looking quality, something acceptable to aim for?
 
well i always try to aim for anything with the look im looking for such as SPR or B.O.B. but it really is hard to achieve the right look for a muzzle.
 
ha, wow that film looked pretty sweet. its got an old feel to it like John Carpenters. I loved that. you dont have a full version anywhere do you? id love to see it. muzzles looked nice also.
 
Brett said:
and who knows maybe it could even be the intervals or how fast or slow they are? i mean I can make pistols look decent because they are slow. automatics just look strange to me.
Click to expand...

Dont put a flash every time the gun shoots. Vary it up, and only put them in 70-80% of the time.

Use blending modes, and not opacity as stated above.

Do your final color grading and level tweaking after the flashes are there, and color correct the flashes to match your original footage.

Also vary the look of the flash. The same instance of the same flash over and over is going to look wrong. Mix it up. Use Photoshop or something similar to alter the size and shape, and in your editor, rotate or flip the flash so visually it doesn't repeat.

Go to Youtube, Google images, and whatnot and research real muzzle flashes from different guns with different lighting conditions and locations.
 
Matt Grunau said:
Go to Youtube, Google images, and whatnot and research real muzzle flashes from different guns with different lighting conditions and locations.
Click to expand...

I agree. I would say reference is king here. I mean reference is key to any VFX shot but I thing especially here because it is not something that you see every day. Also watch some of your favorite movies with muzzle flashes. Compare yours to theirs and if they don't match how you would like, try again.
 
I do lot's of referring to videos with real muzzle flashes, but I can never figure out the factors that determine the muzzle flash - the size, the shape, the brightness, or if there is one at all. I stuck with one gun, a Glock 19, and watched half a dozen videos of people firing them. One video was 10 minutes long, had a bunch of different angles and lighting, and no flashes whatsoever. Another video had no flashes either, but a crapload of smoke. Yet another video had the flashes. So I really don't know how it works.

However another great reference is highspeed footage. A couple videos of guns fired in slowmotion on youtube, but Discover Channel programs like Mythbusters and Time Warp feature extensively ultra slowed down guns in action.
 
Hi All,

Just wondering if there are any updates 3 1/2 years later. I've armoring :kali:a night shoot (on no budget, of course) and am trying to convince the director to go with gas blow-back props and add in the muzzle flashes. What's the status of FX programs these days?

Is After Effects still viable? What about Action Movie Essentials- is that still out there? Any free apps? (You can tell I don't do that end of things- just going by what I've picked up here. :grin:)

Thanks for any thoughts!
 
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