STORIES from the armory world....

[Jcordell]

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

Yes. They think "Oh Cop, he MUST be a gun expert". As others here (exemplary professionals like PhoenixEnt or Gunguy001) can attest to , we set them straight pretty quickly.

In fact right now, I am providing some M16A2 barreled uppers to a police department (to use on their own lower receivers) and sell them full flash blanks for some sort of training video. They can't figure out why their weak Milspec 5.56mm blanks don't appear in bright sunlight or why the blanks don't cycle the actions.......

Very true. I'm a Rangemaster with my department. I'm here to tell you that many officers don't know much about firearms. That isn't to say they're bad shots or inept. Many of them are athletic and pick up the skill fairly quickly. In more than a few cases I'e seen new officers surpass me in fairly short order. But that doesn't make them very knowledgable about firearms or how to instruct people in their use.

Ever notice how some of the best coaches in various sports were just average when they were playing the sport? It's rarer for naturals to be good teachers. Because it comes naturally to them.

I am not a natural athlete and my skill and knowledge has developed over many years. I understand this and have also learned to seek info from folks who know their respective business. For example MPM 2008.

I've seen the same thing with guys in the elite military units (SEALS, SF ect). Very good with what they use and excellent athletes, but that doesn't necessarily make them gun buffs.

[gunguy001]

Grab your popcorn…..

A director wanted a M4 with full flash to shoot at the back of the head of the lead actor from 3 ft.

Did a show in Morocco and had 250 guys shooting all over the place,
we had concerns of ND's (negligent discharge) with the BG.
We had ND's courteous of the stunt department, the best one was a PKM went off inside a pickup truck with 6 stunt guys.

When we deploy the .50's, people think it's as loud as a 9mm.
When it goes off I get all giddy like a little school girl and watch their reactions.
After firing people coming running up to me all orgasmic like and tell me how that was amazing.

People who complain that the guns are loud and that we should use a more quite one, usually hair and make up types.

As a stunt performer, I was playing a soldier and had to dump 4 mags out of the M4 on the move with a whole lot of pyro going off around me, make a transition to a pistol and do 2 mag changes, also I had cast running around me like cats who just sat on a pack of alcohol wipes.
The director thought I looked nothing like the movies he mentioned and instructed me what I should do, the stunt co ordinator jumped in and pulled the director aside and told him that I was a 20 yr vet and a film armorer.

I have more but I'm tired….

[predator20]

Originally Posted by gunguy001

Grab your popcorn…..

.

As a stunt performer, I was playing a soldier and had to dump 4 mags out of the M4 on the move with a whole lot of pyro going off around me, make a transition to a pistol and do 2 mag changes, also I had cast running around me like cats who just sat on a pack of alcohol wipes.
The director thought I looked nothing like the movies he mentioned and instructed me what I should do, the stunt co ordinator jumped in and pulled the director aside and told him that I was a 20 yr vet and a film armorer.

I have more but I'm tired….

Did the director tell you what you were doing "wrong". Or what did he tell you that you should do to make it "right"? I guess he was used to actors playing like they knew what they were doing.

[Excalibur]

Originally Posted by predator20

Did the director tell you what you were doing "wrong". Or what did he tell you that you should do to make it "right"? I guess he was used to actors playing like they knew what they were doing.

Well there's directors that wants that actors to be realistic and utilize their countless hours of training and then there are directors that wants the actors to be "realistic"

[MT2008]

And BTW, thank you both MPM and Al for sharing these stories. I realize you can't tell us which productions you're referring to, but it's still really hilarious to read them.

Out of curiosity, do you guys have any funny stories regarding your work with actors (again, not asking you to name names, just what they did)? I've heard a couple of those from other armorers I have talked to.

[Kirill]

Originally Posted by gunguy001

Grab your popcorn…..

A director wanted a M4 with full flash to shoot at the back of the head of the lead actor from 3 ft.

Did a show in Morocco and had 250 guys shooting all over the place,
we had concerns of ND's (negligent discharge) with the BG.

What's BG?

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by gunguy001

The director thought I looked nothing like the movies he mentioned and instructed me what I should do, the stunt co ordinator jumped in and pulled the director aside and told him that I was a 20 yr vet and a film armorer.

I would love to hear more about this incident. I'm a little confused. Was the director being a douchebag? Did he want something that was just different looking or something really stupid looking? Knowing your experience and skill on many sets, he was probably asking for something super stupid. Usually if a director wants the actors to 'cheat for the camera' I usually don't have a problem with that.

I only comment in that I too have military training, but being also film trained, I am aware of some of the limitations that cinema puts on pure realism. I think we should also point out to the forum that sometimes one has to 'cheat the shot' in order to get the footage for the film.

For example, I did a WW2 film some years ago and the military advisor had all the paratroopers patrolling the correct military way for the period. Spread out, all correct hand signals of the time, no man was closer than 25 feet to another man (i.e. so that a single grenade won't take out a bunch of guys)... He also told them not to bunch together and trained them well to utilize cover and concealment.....

Wonderful, right? Except that the D.P. couldn't get any of the guys into frame. Kinda makes it pointless when you're filming these guys.... And spreading them that far apart made the scene impossible since TWO of the characters were supposed to be talking to each other. Good thing the Ex-SF guy who was advising the film understood that you can't make EVERYTHING completely correct militarily in some cases, because it makes it impossible to film the scene in the script.

Anyway, it's all about getting it IN Camera. And having a smart director .....