MovieChat Forums > Shooter (2016) Discussion > When you make a show about a sniper...

When you make a show about a sniper...

posted 8 years ago by dbooksta
4 replies | jump to latest

Why can't you budget for blanks?

To the company's credit: I actually can't say for sure they haven't used blank guns in any of the gunfights. I feel like I've watched a lot of gunplay in the show and not been annoyed by post-production muzzle flashes and semi-autos that don't cycle or eject cases. So if armory deficiencies have been covered up with editing then excellent work!

But this is a show about a world-class sniper, and we get plenty of close-ups of him ostensibly firing bolt guns with lethal ranges out past a mile. And they never move. There is zero muzzle blast and zero recoil.

Want to know what a real mile+ rifle looks like when it fires? It's awesome: http://bit.ly/2ihBoky. And it's worth the cost and time of getting an armorer on set with some proper blanks, and clearing a safe area to film those shots. Blanks in bolt guns are so easy I'd do the job for free if I weren't on the wrong coast. Bonus: The actor only has to suffer a third of the recoil of the real thing, but the blank blast out of an unrestricted bore can tuned to be even more dramatic effects than a real round.

(Seriously guys – message me, I'll get you sorted.)

[–] jhlavin01 8 years ago

There's a lot of reasons why we use shoot blanks, half loads, quarter loads and even full loads. Some have to do with the time we have to film (never enough) other has to do with budget (never enough).

I know the recoil issue bumps real shooters - but there's no way to effectively fake it without it looking stupid or false.

This show jams almost 70 scenes into 42 mins - that means we have to film fast and move fast. We rarely have the time to make the shooting perfect. That being said, we have a Marine sniper on set at all times as well as several other ex-military. We do the best we can.

Next season we will pay much closer attention to this - I believe you'll see the difference.

[–] dbooksta 8 years ago

I appreciate all the things you do get right, which is why I'm still watching and looking forward to the next season!

I wonder if using technical advisors who were enlisted handicaps the technical criticism. Those guys are trained to accept and make do with the most asinine decisions you can imagine.

Obviously you don't want to disrupt production, but maybe you'd benefit by having an expert who thinks more outside of the box? Or a tech advisor who will push back a little harder when things are going too far in the wrong direction?

[–] dsatchmo 8 years ago

I got over it after realizing what we were working with....but
How do you effectively replicate 600 grain 5" round with a blank?
It isn't possible without serious pyrotechnics specialists and even if they did have the personell to proctor, still very dangerous ( Brandon Lee killed by blank)

...as for recoil, there isn't a way an actor can replicate that muzzle flash and buck of a .50 sorry bud

[–] aGuiltySoul 8 years ago

Great show, Mr. Hlavin. I've enjoyed every minute. Fascinating at every quarter.

It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert