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#1
02-19-2010, 05:18 AM
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Blanks
I've heard back in the early days of filming, they didn't have blanks and shot live rounds and used camera technique to make it look like the actors are being shot at.
Anyone know any truth to that?
__________________
 "There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life." Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle Psalm 144:1 “It is always wrong to use force, unless it is more wrong not to.” 
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#2
02-19-2010, 01:37 PM
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well, they still do that today, but not live rounds. they use blanks, just as an extra safety precaution
__________________
Every man's life ends the same way, it's only the details of how he lived that distinguish one from another..
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#3
02-19-2010, 04:39 PM
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I am asking about the past. Early filming history.
__________________
"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life." Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle Psalm 144:1 “It is always wrong to use force, unless it is more wrong not to.”
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#4
02-19-2010, 05:02 PM
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The early blanks were live rounds that had wood heads, and the adapter would shred them as they exited the muzzle, so that only splinters would fly out. Which was still dangerous, so they couldn't fire them directly at the actors.
The same still basically applies to today's blanks, especially given the tendency to put in extra powder to get the huge muzzle flashes that you see on screen. At close enough range, the gas from the muzzle flash can still penetrate a person's flesh and would badly burn them. But even when the actors are far enough away, they avoid shooting directly at them as a safety precaution.
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#5
02-20-2010, 05:57 AM
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So how blanks are still dangerous to an actor.
__________________
"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life." Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle Psalm 144:1 “It is always wrong to use force, unless it is more wrong not to.”
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#7
02-20-2010, 06:18 AM
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And I'm just putting a response saying I agree by stating the obvious
__________________
"There's a fine line between not listening and not caring...I like to think I walk that line everyday of my life." Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle Psalm 144:1 “It is always wrong to use force, unless it is more wrong not to.”
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#8
02-20-2010, 06:29 AM
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I think he menat to say "So that's how blanks are still dangerous to an actor."
Matt, you seem a bit snippy today.
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#9
02-20-2010, 07:35 AM
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You know, it's funny you should mention that. I was watching Talvisota the other day, and there was one shot where an actor was firing off screen. The recoil looked very real, too real to be faked. Looked for the life of me like he fired a live round.
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#10
02-24-2010, 04:39 PM
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Blank firing adapters restrict the barrel to a smaller hole so there is enough back pressure to cycle the slide or the bolt. This means that within a few feet of the muzzle there is highly pressurized burning powder exiting the muzzle.
I've never heard of something that shreds a wooden projectile. Would love to know more about this if it's true, because it sounds like a terrible idea in theory. I'd love to know how it was done safely and cleanly. Seems that wood shavings and residue would gather in the barrel pretty quickly and eventually block it, and then well . . . disaster. The wood tipped blanks were, to my knowledge, for military training and used without any kind of blocked barrel. I still see them at gun shows and they pop up for sale on gunbroker some times. My understanding is they used wax and paper to cap off hollywood blanks back in the day before they started crimping them. I don't know of any occasion where an actor was given a live round on set and told to shoot away from actors and crew. I can't imagine that being allowed for many reasons, insurance and common sense being the two biggest ones. I have seen controlled close up filming with live rounds done with green screen, or black BG. I have also seen purchased footage of close up/slow motion live fire used in movies. I have done some filming for the outdoor channel. In those cases the cameras facing the muzzle is always run remotely, even though the person firing the round is going to miss it by many feet. It's just basic safety. But, the "reason" it's dangerous with blanks is because it's high pressure burning powder. Even at a distance, unburned powder can hit you, and in some cases the crimps on the tip of a blank can tear off, and come out the barrel. Been there. Had an actor accidentally fire a blank right into my camera lens once while he was fanning right to left with a revolver, mocking a tracking and firing shot we did from over the shoulder. I was pelted with unburned powder grains. It didn't hurt, but I was behind the camera. Several of them stuck to the lens and had to be cleaned off. One of those experiences you don't forget.  The actor was a buddy of mine, and he was pretty upset with himself.Even old school hollywood stuck to basic gun safety. And it was a lot more common for actors who used guns to films to be gun owners and hunters themselves back in the day, so you had a better chance of the actor already knowing safe gun handling on set.
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