Proptastic: A Look at Prop Guns

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Like any red-blooded, American, male indie filmmaker, I have fevered dreams of putting together a bad-ass action flick with a ton of martial arts and…most important…Guns.  However, like a lot of you, I have been completely baffled as to how to pull it off safely and on a budget.  Anyone who has done any sort of research in regards to obtaining prop guns for a film has come across the standard options.  Let’s take a quick look at those options:

Real guns loaded with Blank Rounds.  This is the choice for most big budget flicks.  What looks better than a real gun?  The problem for an indie or guerilla filmmaker is the added expense of hiring an armorer to manage the guns, as well as the high cost of both real guns and the blank ammo.  And let’s not forget the biggest problem with real guns firing blank load ammunition: safety!  With a semi-experienced crew, short shooting schedule and microscopic budget, safety can be a major issue when it comes to prop guns on an indie film shoot.  What does this mean?  Well, it means real guns with blank ammo isn’t an option for for most of us.

To tell the truth, I’m not sure I’d use real guns as props even if I had a budget to support it.  In this age of digital filmmaking, do we really need the safety hazzards and risk?  I’m way too paranoid. Full Story →