Anywhoo, I thought I'd come back round here just to see what the daily goins on and evolutions were of this place, and it's turned into... well, pretty much what it was when I was here.
Well anyway, you may be wondering why I am here. Consider this your guide to common sense in movie making and prop production, etc. etc.
If you want to go all 'shutup you fag don't be such a dipstick' then go-ahead, but all you'll be doing is shouting at thin air. Of the few times I visit this forum these days, I don't have time for dickwads
Anywhoo, as I was saying, common sense is one of the key rules when considering stunts/prop making. There is one thing you should always consider above anything else when planning ANY kind of movie feature, stunt, prop, or otherwise, is:
BUDGET
This word has more bearing than anything else on your production. The safety margins, the materials, the method, the 'actors' (more on 'actors' later), and the overall final quality of a piece.
Don't expect to be able to blow someones head up and make it look like we were soldiers or whatever else with a fiver in your pocket.
Movies cost money. it's a fact, pure and simple. Once again, don't get offended if I sound like I'm trying to teach a marathon runner how to walk, but
save your money and plan ahead
One thing worse than anything else is getting half way through a production and finding out you've spent the last of your Mini-DV tape budget on a bottle of fake blood and have nothing left to shoot with.
When storyboarding/writing scripts/screenplays, if possible, on a later draft, try to include how much you think it will cost to do any kind of effects/prop production and be realistic. If you don't know how much it will exactly cost, price it as much as you would be willing to pay for it otherwise.
Now, add up that number, and add about 10% of the value to it, to allow for any unforseen circumstances, and start collecting your money.
[a small note has to be made now: If you are going to pay straight out of your own pocket on your own as an independent film-maker, consider whether you have really approached the production in the right way. Having any kind of film-maker partner or similar will not only give you a good injection of their money, but they will also be able to work together with you to give you better input and evaluation of your props/effects]
Now, I'm not going to go into the specifics of how to collect the money, as I'm trying to stick to stunts/effects/props here, but go ahead as you wish on this one.
[To be continued tommorow or whenever (1.25am
) ]