Point-blank head shot

[Jason Love]

How did they do the shot in La Haine where Vince gets shot in the head at point blank range? It cant be blanks, that would be too dangerous. The slide blows back and theres a muzzle flash and blood on vince's face.

 

Im trying to recreate a similar shot, obviously i dont want to use blanks for safety and noise reasons. I got replica guns with moving parts. Is it gonna be after effects?

 

Any suggestions helpful, thanks.

[e gustavo petersen]

If you're trying to replicate this shot, here's a suggestion you could try.

 

On set, you could place a plastic tube behind the gun out of sight from the camera and fill it with fake blood. At the other end of the tube, use an air compressor to shoot the blood out of the tube when the gun fires. (You could try canned air, but it'll need to be a tight seal between the canned air and the rubber tube.) Obviously, you'll need to time all these actions out. You might also want to use a thicker mix of blood but not so thick that it won't eject out of the tube. Don't fill the tube from end-to-end with the fake blood. It should only be a little - maybe a foot or two depending on the inner diameter of the tube you're using.

 

In After Effects, add about three frames with the muzzle blast from the gun. As well as being realistic, you can use it to hide the blood being ejected from the tip of the gun. You'll also want to brighten the victim's face on the gun side and maybe some other parts of the frame that might be lit up by the muzzle flash.

 

As always, test this before hand. Especially the strength of the blood coming out of the tube. You don't want to hurt your actor's head if the force of the blood coming out is too strong. You'll also need to make sure that the recipe you're making for the blood won't be damaging to the actor's eyes. In other words, try to find organic compounds to make your fake blood. You should have an eye washing area somewhere close on set.

Edited August 24, 2007 by Eric Gustavo Petersen

[Douglas Sunlin]

I am not familiar with the specific film, but a common trick that is pathetically simple, is to have a invisible thread connecting the gun with a a small patch of flesh tone latex on the victim's forehead. The patch covers a red spot, and as long as the patch is there, no one suspects.

 

So when the actor playing the shooter pantomimes the recoil, he is actually pulling off the patch and revealing the hole in his colleague's forehead.