Stage Weapons

[magnumBD]

"Assassins" is a great show. I've supplied weapons for two different productions and am consulting for a late 2007 show.

I have no actual firearms in my inventory; there are just too many hoops to jump through, as several of you have noted. All my props are purpose-built blank-firing guns or non-functional replicas. Air-soft types are great. I have filled most of mine with cheap silicon caulking to give them better weight and balance, as well as render them inoperable for the BBs.

eBay is a great source of blank guns as well as some of the vendors already mentioned.

I got my start in theatre directly due to an actor being killed during tech week of a production of "Oliver!" The crew made their own blanks for a real pistol- apparently debris was still projected toward the actor at high velocity. (I was ten at the time - I don't recall the exact circumstances).

This is just stupid and when I got older I made the promise of "not on my watch" with productions in my area.

I really appreciate how everyone has shared tips and tricks for the props and effects. It can never be stressed enough about safe handling, especially with actors!

There has been a few "urinary battles" with directors concerning 'artistic expression' versus safety. However, I'm in the position of saying, "If it ain't safe, I take my 'toys' and go home." That usually persuades, especially during tech week.

 

[Van]

Good to see an armourer here. !

 

[Chris15]

Good to see an armourer here. !

Ditto. Additions to our collection of experienced professionals are always a good thing, especially in areas where we don't have anyone with a great deal of expertise. So Welcome Aboard. Perhaps you might care to introduce yourself in the New Members Board also.

 

[TimeWarpedSR]

if you do use cap guns be careful...some stupid actor managed to shoot a small hole through the scrim...now you have nice little pin of light if you light it from the back...

 

[avkid]

if you do use cap guns be careful...some stupid actor managed to shoot a small hole through the scrim...now you have nice little pin of light if you light it from the back...

Don't you have somebody who knows how to sew?

 

[Van]

Don't you have somebody who knows how to sew?

Scrims can be repaired but you can't sew them. Thye must be "tatted" or "darned" which is a process of actually re-weaving the damaged area. It's a pretty specialized skill. Any attempt at "sewing" a scrim can actually cause a much larger, more disfigured area. FYI

I think a better question might be, " what was an actor doing wlking around with a weapon baskstage?"
No matter what the weapon. Fake knife, sword, gun, Mace, Hunga Munga < yeah it's a real weapon>, if there is a weapon there needs to be an Armourer. the Armourers job is to keep and maintain logs of every weapon, maintainence logs and possesion. It's the Armourers job to Load and unload, and secure every weapon before it goes on when it comes off stage. It's the Armourers job to track and dispose of any duds <misfires> and track all ammunition use. It's extremely important that this person be responsible and trustworthy. Even a small accident with a stage weapon can have serious repercussions.

 

[magnumBD]

......I think a better question might be, " what was an actor doing walking around with a weapon backstage?"
No matter what the weapon. Fake knife, sword, gun, Mace, Hunga Munga < yeah it's a real weapon>, if there is a weapon there needs to be an Armourer. the Armourers job is to keep and maintain logs of every weapon, maintenance logs and possession. It's the Armourers job to Load and unload, and secure every weapon before it goes on when it comes off stage. It's the Armourers job to track and dispose of any duds <misfires> and track all ammunition use. It's extremely important that this person be responsible and trustworthy. Even a small accident with a stage weapon can have serious repercussions.

Thank you, Van. This can never be stressed often enough. The Cardinal Rule for (any) props is: If it ain't your prop and/or you ain't on stage, no touching!
Much of my work is spent bringing an Assistant Stage Manager up to speed on the care and feeding of blank-firing weapons and to perform exactly those duties mentioned above. I want them to stand by in the wings to hand the actor their weapon just prior to their entrance, and for the actor to hand the weapon back immediately on their exit.
I learned from a colleague of mine that curiosity is real hard to overcome, so we bow to the inevitable. Rather than hold the props up like some kind of mystery, thus increasing the itchy fingers response, here is what happens:
When I first bring the weapons to the stage, I gather around all actors and running crew. I show them that each gun is unloaded, and demonstrate how to check them. I show them what the blank rounds look like. The empty guns are then passed around; everyone gets a chance to hold them and look them over. After they pass them back, they get told The Cardinal Rule. Now that they are no longer curious, it's much easier to keep temptation at bay.
Thanks for the welcomes, Van and Chris. Anyone and everyone is free to contact me if there are questions. I think I linked my blog page on my profile. If not I'll do so now.

 

[magnumBD]

As long as we are sort of on the topic. Here are some old school live gun shot sound effect tricks. You can try all the recorded gunshots but I've never found one that really has the right feel and it's difficult to get it to sound like it's coming from the right location. Instead get yourself some 1X4 and do it the old fashioned way.
For a big shotgun blast, get yourself a 4-5 foot piece of 1X4. Hold the board on end with your right hand in front of your left foot. Brace the base of the board with the front of your left foot... sort of creating a hinge point with your toes. Raise your right foot and press forward on the board building some tension before releasing. Drive your right foot down, being careful to make sure the board hit's the ground and does not move... we don't want to hear wood rattling. You will not believe the power and volume of the blast. Try it on different surfaces.
If you are looking for a smaller pistol or rifle sound, hinge two pieces of 1X4 together. Make the base board longer than the top board so you have a handle. Smack the top board into the bottom board. Experiment with different lengths of 1X4. Place the board on different surfaces to get different reverb effects.

Thank you very much for the above info! I just now had an occasion to pass that on to people that were asking me specifically about shotgun sound effects. Yay - Control Booth really works, thanks to the great folks here!