Safety in check

On October 21 on the set of Rust in New Mexico produceractor Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza while rehearsing for a scene What started out as a practice round ended in tragedy The actor in a tweet yesterday has urged film and television productions to hire police officers to ensure safety protocols while using weapons on film sets midday reached out to Bollywoodrsquos stunt and action directors to gauge the situation on home groundA car explosion scene from Singham ReturnsDummy guns and fake bulletsIn the business since 1997 gun master Satpal Singh Virdi is always on set with his team during scenes with gunshots ldquoWe usually use 9mm 8mm 6mm blank guns for shooting These are dummy guns with fake bulletsrdquo informs Virdi adding that since the Baldwin incident actors have been wary of using firearmsAlec BaldwinldquoOn the set of Netflixrsquos Rana Naidu the makers decided to opt to film the reaction of the actors since Venkatesh sir wouldnrsquot use bullets I shot the gun for the outofframe action while the director canned their reaction to the triggerrdquo explains the gun master Artistes are made to practice using dummy firearms with real mechanisms using the right technique ldquoThe sound of the bullets can affect eardrums hence it is advised to put cotton budsrdquo adds Virdi who supplied around 200 guns for Jannat 2 The Family Man Gul Makai and Shahid Kapoorrsquos upcoming series SunnyAlso Read Complacency on the set infer investigators in Alec Baldwin shooting caseUnderstanding explosionsNo Bollywood action drama especially a Rohit Shetty directorial film is complete without blowing up cars The man behind the masterful work in The Family Man franchise Baaghi and Baadshaho Aejaz Gulab Sheikh takes us through a perfectly orchestrated car explosion ldquoThe first step of an explosion is to understand its repercussions We monitor a car blast to know exactly what pieces will break and how far they will fly to set the radius appropriatelyrdquo says the expert who personally prefers to do the wiring and cable work on explosives than relying on automatic explosive devices ldquoWe personally trigger the control once the cameraman gives us a goahead With CG computer graphics we can do the blast at a mini scale and jazz it up later The Sri Lanka sequence in The Family Man 2 has little CG You can see the smoke coming out CG cannot perfectly recreate smokerdquo he adds Sheikh explains that the material used in explosions is made from ldquosoft boardrdquo ldquoThe fumes are not harmful to those with allergies We use LPG gas for smallscale explosions which combusts on its ownrdquoThe camera tricksAejaz Gulab SheikhSheikh explains that the camera is placed in a certain way to give the illusion that the bullets or explosion are hitting actors ldquoIf you place a camera at the bottom of a circular railway track it will appear as though the train is going straight Camera techniques and stunts are done in tandemrdquoThe attireManoj Bajpayee handling a gun in The Family Man franchiseldquoAn actor cannot perform action scenes in one take if it needs to be done with finesserdquo says Sheikh who credits showrunners Raj and DK for being patient through the filming of The Family Man 2 ldquoThe fighters in a major explosion scene are made to wear clothes made from the same material as that of a fireman but we make it less bulky We use materials that donrsquot stick to the body and clothes that are fire or heatresistantrdquo adds SheikhThough accidents due to explosions are rare on film sets Sheikh mdash Movie Stunt Artist Association general secretary mdash says film sets are protocoldriven ldquoOnly fighters are allowed on action sequences because they can gauge how the explosion will pan out how to safely land and how to jump if there is a mishap Every time a gun is used we put safety glass on the camera lens so that it is not damagedrdquo concludes the expertAlso Read Alec Baldwin Halyna Hutchins was a friend we were a welloiled crew