Making a World War II Short Film: Gunshots and Effects

[stanley8585]

Hello, I'm a student film maker trying to make a movie. I've made about 3 short films and I'm trying to make another one. I've always loved World War Two and now I want to make a short movie on it.

My first question is- How do you get the "sniper scope" effect?
Like when you see a sniper, and then the camera cuts to a view of their POV looking through the scope at an object.

Second question- How do you get the gun to look like it's firing rounds?
Like how they make the weapon's round blast at the tip of the gun?
I was thinking an easy way to do it is to put a fuse down the barrel leading to a small firecracker.

And if you have any other tips you could post/email: [email protected]/Aim: stanley8585

 

[Boone]

The way I do gun shots is in After Effects after it's all been shot. Depending on what you are shooting the firecracker bit may not work. If you are shooting 16 or 35 then you have to make sure that the timing of the flash is synced with the camera. It all depends on the camera as well. If you are shooting DV then the firecracker would work but I don't know how safe that would be.

 

[TizzyEntertainment]

Yeah you can do muzzle flashes in AE or in Photoshop with a certain level of ease given enough practice.

As to the "scope" look again I would say After Effects. Just shoot the POV stuff and then create the scope and crosshairs in AE as a matte to place over the image.
R. Michael

 

[MarkG]

You shouldn't even need After Effects for the scope shot, you can certainly do it easily in Premiere by just creating the matte with a white area and choosing 'White Alpha Matte' to make it transparent on the timeline: I presume most other editing packages will let you do something similar.

As for the gunshots, yeah, we've given up on using blank-firing weapons because -- at least on DV -- it's so easy these days to produce decent-looking gunshots using a good shot sound, a muzzle flash image and, if necessary, a CG shell case thrown away from the gun. Just get your actors to react as if they're shooting for real and do the rest in post: probably you'll want to test it a few times before you shoot the real movie to get an idea of the angles that work best.

 

[themovieman]

Well, I would have broken it down, yet it sounds like that has already been said.

 

[saintfilmsltd]

Sniper scope -alternate suggestion form a post effect

Sniper scope -alternate suggestion form a post effect

Although it is easy to experiment in post with your particular dilemma, I have to say your approach depends on what you want your shot to look like. A post effect will look artificial.

So, my suggestion is to try a snorkel lens and shoot through the scope itself if you want a more real effect like you saw in Private Ryan.