Gun shots

[Twee]

Can anybody tell me how to make guns look as if they are firing, with out using blanks?
Any help is much appreiciated.

[RedRaven]

Here are a couple of really no-budget ideas for this - one is to get a camera flash bulb, put a yellow filter over it (a stage lighting gel works best) and "flash" it as the gun is supposed to be fired. This of course will produce a bright yellow flash of light which give the impression the gun has been fired. To finish off the effect, you then take a piece of thin rubber tubing and attach it to the barrel of the gun, and put a little white powder in the end of the tube. You hide the rest of the tube in the sleeve of the actor's jacket, and then somone blows very hard into the other end. The powder comes out of the end which is attached to the gun barrel, and gives the impression of a blast of smoke (obviously you film it from the opposite angle so that tube cannot be seen). When this is combined with the flash of light, the effect is pretty good.