What makes a bad shooting?

[indrico]

Of course we prefer good shootings but like movie reviews it is easier to tell what's wrong than what's right. With that in mind, I present IMHO what not to do:

1. Teasing.
Stanley Kubrick is recorded as saying to Angie Dickinson, during the making of "The Killers" with Ronald Reagan and Lee Marvin, that when she dies in the red dress "every man in the audience will be in love with you." Maybe. But we don't see it. The whole movie is leading up to Lee's shooting Angie with his big silenced pistol, and while we see him shoot, we only hear the body fall as she is offscreen.

Another example is "The Getaway" with Steve McQueen, when during the big shootout Sally Strutchers is running screaming through the boarding house at a pitch guaranteed to painfull vibrate the fillings in your teeth and no one shoots her. Wasted opportunity.

2. Bad clothing.
I recognize that, during the no-blood days in film, red or black clothing was worn to disguise the lack of FX, and I have no problem with that. The scarlet dress in "5 Dolls for an August Moon" made for a sexy victim. However, there is no excuse for ugly outfits. The worst is an actress (I believe Jayne Mansfield) in a 1950's film noir (I am not sure of the title but it's on one of the Hot Lead DVDs where she is shot in the stomach and is wearing a HUGE trench coat, which hides her figure entirely. No fun at all. (see part 2 below).

[indrico]

More bad clothing: Multiple unnecessary layers, such as 2-3 tops (blouse, sweater, jacket) in good weather. This is particularly prevalent for businesswomen who are targets. Examples abound.

3. Bad FX
"Satan's Blade" has a lot of deaths, but the young woman in the bathroom wearing only panties who is shot in the abdomen has blood smeared on her, but NO bullet hole. None at all. A more subtle example is Tyne Daley's death near the end of "The Enforcer" where she is MG'd across the chest, no holes in her top, and the blood around the non-existant holes doesn't spread.

Modern squib boxes are much smaller than in the past, but they still have to be used correctly. When "Mission Impossible" was revived for TV, the first episode had the female IMF agent a "victim" of the villain, who shot her with her own (gimmicked) pistol. She was lying on her back and the squib box could be clearly seen under her blouse. Not professional. I'm not talking about pacing one frame at a time through a film to spot the inadvertent revelation in one frame of the squib box, but just a sloppy job.

4. Bad acting.
Any more this mostly involves being too talkative during a death scene. In one film, again seen on one of the Hot Lead DVDs, a woman jumps in front of our hero and takes about 15 round from some kind of multiple barrel/box weapon in the torso, and seems to natter on for minutes about how the hero never called her for a date. There are, of course, older films such as "Tarzan and the Amazons" where the safari steals the Amazons' treasures and shoots at the pursuing warriors, who fall gracefully as if choreographed. After the more realistic struggles of the mortally wounded individual to sound the alarm, this has the feel of either "running out of film time" or "too delicate for real death scene."

At least I come to Dr. Don, whose FX are beyond reproach, but his actresses do insist on outlining the bullet hits with forefinger and thumb instead of a more natural reaction. Yes, we admire the technique, and the women don't want to smear the FX, but please find a more realistic way. As I always told my play partners, "Realism, not reality."

Anyway, my views, and don't do it again.

[JohnM]

Of these, which do you like if any.

from "Daughter Executions"
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/daughter_e ... _prev2.wmv (1.5mb)
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/daughter_e ... s_prev.wmv (1.6mb)
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/cam_footage1.wmv (17mb)

from "Inescapable Cruelty"
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/headshot2_sample.wmv (7.6mb)

from "Fuck Her Corpse"
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/retro_headshot.wmv (4.8mb)

from "Sleepover Massacre"
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/sm_lexxi_samp.wmv (2.2mb)
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/sleepover_ ... uence2.wmv (1.2mb)

from "Senseless Robbery"
http://pkfstudios.com/videos/s_robbery_efx.mpg


These range over 4-5 years. I have a few different styles I like with effects. In some of them I include the fine particulates of clothing when shot through fabric. Sometimes I go retro and have blood particle on impact from the entry wound, but that defies the physics of it--though I know people like it because Don used to do the little outward mist bursts. I tend to make them chunkier--more liquidy, though I sometimes put misting out the exit wound with larger blood and matter.

I hear what you are saying about the actress grabbing the wound. Personally, I encourage them to and will sometimes blood tube flow between fingers for added inpact.

This recent one I published was nicely gory:
http://pkfstudios.com/samples/previews/ ... 2_prev.jpg

But, sometimes per reguest, I keep it very fetishy and the wounds clean (warning, explicit content):
http://pkfstudios.com/samples/previews/ ... 1_prev.jpg
http://pkfstudios.com/samples/previews/ ... 2_prev.jpg
http://pkfstudios.com/samples/previews/ ... 3_prev.jpg

Acting is a whole nother challenge. Sometimes it's great, sometimes less. But, I try not to publish anything that would be overly bad. I have a couple early ones that I have never published for that reason. Maybe someday as a bargin seller. :-)

JohnM

[mikedark]

What makes a bad shooting? When the actress has like no reaction to it. I HATE that!

[indrico]

JohnM, I like your FX and style in general. I prefer chest targets but all your work is professional.

[Steph]

For me the most important single part is the face. The range of emotions: surprise, fear, horror, agony, acceptance, desperation, seduction. When the body language also matches then I find the scene likely to be compelling. A lot of the older B&W scenes seem good that way.

I actually dislike the amount of blood in Dalilah's work but thanks to her portrayal in body and face I find her art totally compelling. I don't think any other actress in our niche is as gifted in that way.

Being a blonde I also like pretty (and appropriate) clothes of course. I'm sure the white shirts and black skirts of so many Annabel's Fantasies were cost effective, but for me they were something of a passsion killer.

[Max5s]

Not necessarily in order of importance but:
1) An actress I don't care for
2) Almost hits (almost hit her navel or almost hit her nipple)
3) Really bad acting (the marginal stuff can sometimes be edited out)

[JohnM]

JohnM, I like your FX and style in general. I prefer chest targets but all your work is professional.

Thanks. That is actually a representation skewed toward head shots as they happen to be what I had in my sample folder online. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of samples of the 100's of shootings I do because, unlike stranglings or other death. the "money shot" is quick and hard to make a demo of without "giving away the store" so to speak.

My best effects to date--or at least, on of the biggest efforts is Mutants vs. Amazons. There are many shots and some pretty good acting--especially by Ginger:

http://pkfstudios.com/videos/amazon_mutant_trailer.wmv

I tried tracer shots for the first time.

JohnM

[mikedark]

That movie is so massive and awesome! Jason did a good job choosing you for the commission.

[sateliteFF]

Poor acting can ruin a clip. This includes but not limited to (imho):
Actress reactions not in sync with gunshots. Jerk/moan when shot, not before, not long after and not 4 times when shot 3 times.
Actress doesn't know what to do with her hands, or just "I have to squirm around a bit, oh the camera is still rolling, I'll squirm a bit more..." Personally I don't like squirming too much.
Actress dies from wound that clearly wasn't fatal. Sure it could be the wish from a customer, then I guess theres nothing to do about it. But otherwise think of the direction the bullet travels, would the bullet hit vital organs or just graze a rib and fly away?
Clutching the belly when shot in the boob. No I don't really like that.

Actress has to be good looking, a pretty face and boobs of a decent size. Sorry, but very small breasted girls just doesn't do it for me.
Voice: Screaming. For some reason I don't like it. Moans and femine grunts are much better.

Bad fx can ruin as much. So what are bad fx?, I'd say there need to be a hole. Blood isn't enough.
Wound placement. Random shots might be realistic, but I like titshots, and by that I mean the bullet travels through a big fat part of the breast (Preferable nipple), not just close to the shoulder. I do like those close to or center sternumshots though. A bad shooting is avoiding my prefered hitlocations.

Clothes. Well I prefer topless, but shirts where hits can be seen is ok. Follow up on a stripping Too much clothes hide the acress and thats not the idea.

If I should choose best example of those presented by JohnM I'd say with no doubt the one with Lexxie!

[JoeBob]

My two biggest peeves about some "actresses":

Numero uno - if you are shot, stabbed, strangled and otherwise dying why do you care if your hair is in your eyes?

Numero two-o - like I keep telling DeNiro - stop looking at the goddamn camera!

Okay - we may have to give models and blondes a pass on number uno.

[bullseye]

it's a bad shooting when they use bullets instead of arrows!