Marine In Iraq

[Gyro]

As some of you may know I've been working on an Operation: Iraqi Freedom film, entitled Rains of April. Well, we went out to Saltair this past weekend to shoot some tests and I thought some of you'd like to see the costuming/uniforms we've got. Here ya go, let me know what you think and what I can improve on, thanks.











Danke.

[Bodysnatcher]

Only 3 points spring to mind:
The weapons need to be a little more 'used', they look so much like matt plastic, esp in the last picture, will you be touching the up with a little silver etc? This would be my biggest comment, followed by the main uniforms? should they not bne in the same 'choc chip' patern as the flack jacket? and last but not leaist, little details such as medical dressings, pouches with kit in to bulk them out, comms equipment etc (I knwo that theses fall more into the prop department but thought I would mention them anyway.

(and the very top picture would look great with a buring tyre or two in the frar distance, great poster concept!)

[UFProductions]

Hells yes. Lookin' good, though I do have to agree with the sterility of the rifle, it looks too, perfect, too uniform in colour.

[Epsilon]

Bodysnatcher, mismatched camo is very common in Iraq. There are even few units still wearing old BDU types. Honestly, the gear is dated about 1-2 decades late. Still used sparingly, moreso by Indigenous forces. Iraqi freedom used a ton of new (rather pricey) MOLLE gear, ballistics armor, night vision, blah blah. It doesn't really matter, since most of that stuff still ranges in the hundreds. If you really want to see what our troops are wearing expilicitly, go to the Army and Marines websites and check out the photographs.

I do recommend camouflage face paint! It really adds to the impression. Fill up those pockets! Water in the canteens, make the actors miserable. Sell it! As for making the weapon "bumped and banged" up... I don't recommend it. It could use a realistic paint job, but it wouldn't look like it's been through hell. It really isn't the fastest paced operation in history... most troops have nothing better to do than clean their rifles everyday!

Lastly, teach your marines how to use a rifle properly. Get some USMC soldier manuals and learn about weapon mastery. He seems a little clueless. Nothing is better than an actor who knows what he's doing! Also, if you can afford it, slings would be a nice touch too.

[Gyro]

Hey thanks for the comments everyone, it is true about his uniform though, early Iraq everyone had mismatched everything. That's why it's so convienent for me! As far as the weapon goes, this is a brand new airsoft he just picked up. I did paint up his old one, refer to the M-16 thread on here some where. I'll have to see what he says about that. But Epsilon, as far as being clueless with his weapon, I'm pretty sure this kid knows what he's doing... JROTC, Reenactments, obsession with military, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

[ctbullet]

looks gd, its a complete uniform at least, how many can you put together?

only comment is the goggles look extremely clean, not as realistic as they could be

[Gyro]

We've got three of these... in theory the goggles should have some sort of cover over them, most GI's used a sock, I'll have to see what I can do there. Thanks.

[Bodysnatcher]

As for making the weapon "bumped and banged" up... I don't recommend it.

Was just looking at the armoury here on the camp and the ejection ports of the rounds are chipped, the magazine housings are scraped and scratched the use, the flash suppressore are a little worn from the constant cleaning after haveing rounds shot through them over the years, the weapons are all hanging on to their 'used' look, the pistols and shotguns are the same. and I agree about:

mismatched camo is very common in Iraq

must confess to not seeing any type other than the choc chip pattern so far but I am sure they are out there.

and I must agree with the face paint for that extra touch, but is anyone wearing it?

[ZombieKrieg2005]

If the US is in a similar situation to most of the brit units out there, the basic uniform will be desert and the gear will be woodland etc. Better than our forces in '91, where the first couple of armoured and battle support units hand to wear full eurpean camoflauge, as we had sold ours to ... you guessed it, Iraq!

just out of interest bodysnatcher, which camp? as the weapons we are using at the moment, which true havnt seen active service but are used repeatedly in the field on training manouvers are kept reasonably pristine with only the most basic of scratches.

[Bodysnatcher]

Jungle Warrafe and Survival, Belize.

Better than our forces in '91, where the first couple of armoured and battle support units hand to wear full eurpean camoflauge

LOL! Boy do I remember well the woodland cam, Green on Black and you can't fight back! in '91 there were still plenty in 58 pattern canvas.

Lets hear it for the lowest bidder!!

[maj_barnes]

Looks great. I'd just suggest throwing more cr** and bags on it.

But aren't the suspenders suppost to go under the flaps of the flak jacket's shoulders?

[justin!butcher]

Buy a twenty dollar black tactical holster and get a twenty dollar Beretta M-9 to go in it. I think that would add a lot. Also give him more than one canteen.
One more thing that would be really good to add-Buy a pair of Nomex flight gloves. Im not sure if the USMC uses them much, but the SEAL's do. Anyway, customize them for your actor, like cut the end of the trigger finger off ect.

[justin!butcher]

Buy a twenty dollar black tactical holster and get a twenty dollar Beretta M-9 to go in it. I think that would add a lot. Also give him more than one canteen.

[Gyro]

We actually just had our loads of MOLLE gear come in yesterday, two vests, backpack, buttpack, mapcase, etc, etc. So, we're going to go out and take pictures today, I'll post them later on today.

[OutcastJiob]

Awesome, I'll be waiting for the pictures.

On the weapons issue, here's some pictures I picked up from I don't remember where, they've been sitting in my reference photo collection for like a year. The weapons definitely look dirty.





I don't know if you want to try painting the dirt; I've found that just rubbing the weapon with chalk (you know, the kind kids use on sidewalks) every so often gives it an authentic "dusty" look.

[Bodysnatcher]

I don't know if you want to try painting the dirt; I've found that just rubbing the weapon with chalk (you know, the kind kids use on sidewalks) every so often gives it an authentic "dusty" look.

a few strokes of white chalk over the high wear parts, and a bit of surface dust to break it up a bit will make them look like the mutts nuts.
And the pictures above, show 100% what aI meant about wear and tear on the working/high use points. excellent!

[OutcastJiob]

Hmm. The pictures and suggestions for using them in a poster led them to create this, purely for my own entertainment, but I figured I'd share it with you guys.



The oil rigs don't blend really well, I know. . . I could do better if I spent more time on it, but this was just a whim. For those interested, I only used two photos; the one Gyro posted, and an image of a burning oil well, Gyro's photo being extended through extensive clone tool use to provide a wider shot and the oil rigs being altered so they don't all look identical.

[maj_barnes]

It looks crazy but I think the size of the oil rigs is a bit too big. Also, I think if you did just put plumes of fire and smoke (Jahead) it'd be abit better (in my opinion).

[ctbullet]

i think its extremely clever how you extended the image by cloning,

can't tell whihc is the purpose of the effect- nice work,

yeh i think the oil rigs look a big weird, dont suit, smoke plumes would work better yeh.

[maj_barnes]

Thought it was pretty cool looking...

[OutcastJiob]

As you gentlemen suggested:

[Bodysnatcher]

much better! only two comments though, keep the one on the far left. lose the middle two. move the one on the right further back into the distance, and keep the smoke all blowing in the same direction/angle? love it man!

[OutcastJiob]

As ordered:

[ctbullet]

thats sweet as, how are you doing it, being able to change on demand, mustn't take long

[OutcastJiob]

I was just using Photoshop. After generating the extended background, it was basically just a few clicks and some swipes with the eraser to use different flame elements.