Showing posts with label research. Show all posts

Thursday, January 15, 2015

HowTo: Fake Drugs On Screen

My fellow designer and friend Mary Paul sent me a link to this incredible article about what stand in products props masters use when drugs are taken on screen. I've pulled the basic info out into a neat and tidy list for future reference, but here is the link to the original article:

http://nypost.com/2013/10/23/what-actors-really-snort-shoot-and-smoke-on-set/

Cocaine
Sitting on a table or in lines:
Corn starch and baby powder

Snorted:
Powdered Lactose or Vitamin B powder

Protect the Actor's nasal cavities from multiple takes:
Coat the inside of the straw with Vaseline, so most of the powder gets caught before it gets inhaled

Heroine

Powdered:

The same recipe for faux-caine will work

Boiled:

Sugar and baking soda,

or Bouillon

or Gelatin

Retracting Needle or Stunt Needle

Rent or Purchase:

http://www.thespecialistsltd.com/stunt-kit-retractable-hypodermic-needle - I've used their kit before and it worked spectacularly - I highly reccomend this if you have the budget for it

http://www.newrulefx.com/products/retractable-syringe-needle - I haven't tried their needle specifically, but I have purchased other stunt props from them in the past and I am always pleased with the quality of their products and their customer service.

Marijuana

Entirely fake:

Oregano

THC free, but otherwise, the real thing:

Buy the real thing without getting the actors high with product bought on legalbuds.com.

Dress that Bong:

Add coca-cola to the water to dirty it up, add crushed cigarette flakes to float in top.

Ecstasy

Purchase:

Apparently you can buy stamped sugar pills from a prop house, but I have yet to find the prop house. I'll update this post once I figure it out. Otherwise people recommend Altoids or some other candy with food coloring stamped on it.

Crack Rocks

Not to ingest:

Krazy glue dropped into a pile of baking soda

Magic Mushrooms

Safe to ingest:

Purchase some freeze dried mushrooms from your local asian market

Happy propping everyone!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Brainstorming how to make gunshots for film

First idea: fill your own paintball pellets with dust for dust shots or a teensy bit of gun powder for spark shots.

http://www.hustlepaintball.com/Major-Paintball-Powder-Mine-Fill-4-5-pounds

The Major Paintball Mine-Fill Smoke Simulation Powder. It is used in most mines to simulate the effect of smoke following mine detonation.

Second idea, set of non-launching fireworks or firecrackers remotely:

http://www.predatorpyro.com/

20' of regular slow burning cannon fuse. Burn rate = about 21 seconds per foot. $5.00

Pack comes with 10 connectors. lay fuses inside the grippers, fold it, and you have a solid connection. So all you have to do is light one use and you can have a whole line of things go off. $2.50 a pack.

We could use the fuse and connector with small fireworks, hide them under dirt, and watch them go off as if it were a rain of gunshots hitting the floor.

http://www.hooksettfireworks.com/category/FUSE.html

We could fuse some firecrackers together for some safer sparking action:

$0.25 for a pack of 12

jumping jacks, strip of 100. 6 long strips of jumping jacks. $6.00

Another thought is to add elements in the set that show damage to things, like smoke:

http://www.hustlepaintball.com/Sport-Smoke-PB-200-Smoke-Grenade

The Sport Smoke PB-200 smoke bomb is designed for the paintballer and hobbyist alike. Both compact and affordable, the PB-200 is the most affordable Smoke Bomb, and is ideal for many applications.

Features:

Fuse ignition: no Haz-Mat shipping charge
Thick smoke, good hang time
Easy to handle and carry
Biodegradable
"Cool burning" Non-Pyrotechnic Smoke
Made in the USA
Fire Mechanism: Fuse
Smoke Output: 20,000 cubic feet
Duration: 75 sec
Dimensions: 2.75"×1.5"
Weight (lb): .2

*Haz-Mat shipping note: This grenade is NOT subject to a Haz-Mat fee, as it requires an open flame to light it. All other Sport Smoke grenades are subject to Haz-Mat fees. All products with pull ring igniters subject to a $30.00 Haz-Mat fee per box imposed by the carrier plus a $5 handling fee.

I'm going to have to test these thoughts out before we get to set. And I'll certainly be posting the video here once I do :-)

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Making a semi trailer bounce on no budget

Ok, so I'm trying to figure out how to, on an indie film budget, rig a tractor trailer to jostle back and forth to simulate it's on the road movement. So far my best bet is http://www.riggingequipmentrentals.com/ I'm just telling them what I'm hoping to do, and since they actually know what the equipment can handle, perhaps they can help me out. And, they rent out the equipment, so it would be a little more realistic than trying to buy something like this.

The other thought I have is to attach a tow truck to the side of the trailer and tug it back and forth with super-heavy duty aircraft cable. I think this would work best, however, the issue is in preventing the potentail human error of pulling it too far and having the set fall on it's side. I don't want any sets tripping over on my watch.

Another idea is to use a jack with a double acting Electric Hydraulic Pump

Something like:

except that it costs $3,783.50

So here are some of the consumer products I've found that we might be able to use to jack it up and drop it down during the takes:

Husky Brute Electric Trailer Jack - Drop Leg - A-Frame - 18" Lift - 4,500 lbs
Electric jack with powered drive lets you lift and lower your trailer quickly and easily
$219.95

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Jack/Husky/HT87247.html

Trailer Jack

Drop Leg Jack

Sidewind Jack

13-1/2 Inch Drop Leg

12000 lbs

$119.95

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Jack/Pro-Series/PS1400950376.html

HI-LIFT 48 IN. CAST/STEEL JACK

Online Item #: 0000000033071

SKU: 002965358

$59.99

Min. to max. lift height - 4.5 to 37.24 in.
Rated load capacity - 4,660 lbs.
May be used to lift, winch, clamp, pull or push
ested load capacity of 7,000 lbs. for a safety factor of 150%
Made in the USA
Weight: Approximately 30 pounds
Shipping Dimensions: Approximately 51 x 10 x 5 inches.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Torches, my how-to research for your viewing pleasure

I've actually done torches before (see "The Word" trailer), it was exhilerating! Well, afterwards, during it was seriously terrifying lighting a whole scene on a windy hill top with 2 small fire extinguishers and some buckets of sand and water to prevent any spread of flamey death. So this time around, I'm doing my safety research and figuring out the best ways to build torches that won't drip jets of flame down their sides.

Also, minimum, 5 full size extinguishers on set at all times. Just in case... Enough worrying. Let's talk fire!

This was the best how-to I found while hunting around the interwebs:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-torch-for-less-than-a-dollar-%3A-/

I've taken some of my research finds and mashed 'em together into this tutorial:

Step 1: Gather your materials.

tiki fluid, or if you want to go full medieval, pig or beef fat
100% cotton cloth- because things made of of plastic not only drip and stay in a burning blob on whatever it drips on, but also release all of those delectable chemicals into your eagerly waiting lungs.
hammer
staple gun
staples
chicken wire or baling wire
a sturdy stick or stick substitute
something to soak the torch end in, half a can, a metal pail, etc.

http://www.instructables.com

Step 2: take that stick and staple fabric onto it.
Step 3: wrap the fabric around tightly and staple it again on the ending edge to secure it.

http://www.instructables.com

Step 4: To keep chunks of burning from falling off the torch, wrap baling wire or chicken wire around the cloth.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Torches

Step 5: Soak the fabric in tiki fluid
Step 6: let the extra accelerant drip off.
Step 7: Light it up!

"The Word" feature film 2013

Other thoughts for safe(er) torches are:

Buy the fire breather type torches and texture them to look like a stick.
Or, buy the fire-breather wicks and then take a small section of a metal rod and hide it in the top of whatever prop styled solution I want. 2x4, stick, goat leg, etc. Then I can light and replace the wicks a lot easier.

http://www.firemecca.com

As for the safety aspect- can I just have a firefighter hang out on set? That'd be awesome.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The power of Pintrest

Using Pintrest for something other than web surfing? Is this possible?!

Why yes. Now that there is an option to have secret boards I have been using Pintrest to share research, props shopping, pricing comparison, location photos, and renderings with the production and art teams. There's no file limit to things you can upload (unlike drop box) and everyone can have instant access to everything in an easy to digest format.

Here's a few examples from a past project that is not secret anymore:
http://pinterest.com/jeanettedesigns/smell/
http://pinterest.com/jeanettedesigns/feel/

I put together these boards so that the director, DP, and SFX all knew where I was going with the color palette and design. And rather than spending time to put all of the research together into a pdf to email to everyone it was all right there. Another bonus- all the comments stay connected to the pins. No more "I like the second one down from the top of the left column."

The best thing about the boards is that you can collaborate on them. So the DP can post his research on angles and lighting, right next to all of my research on wardrobe and set renderings.

It's also super helpful when I'm trying to track down the best prices for props. You pin the image and then you can link right back to the page you found it on. Tons of time saved! No more copy-pasting the heck out of the internet to find what you need. To keep the shared boards less cluttered, I tend to make a separate board when I am hunting for a specific piece. For sample, my research on perfume bottles:

http://pinterest.com/jeanettedesigns/perfume-bottles/

So there you go, Pintrest- beyond pinning pictures of food and crazy nail polish.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Slow motion research

Things that look cool in slow motion.

My favorite so far. Fireworks in Paint!

Also from the Slow mo guys.

things that don't explode but make more sense if I were to actually try them:

Early american churches

Another good place for American History and research: the American Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/index.html

First Baptist Church in America in RI

St. James Church, built in South Carolina's oldest Anglican parish outside of Charleston, is thought to have been constructed between 1711 and 1719 --

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel02.html