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by John Coory
Australian Shooter November 2000

The growing role of the armourer in today’s entertainment industry

The growing role of the armourer in today’s entertainment industry

The growing role of the armourer in today’s entertainment industry
Amidst the marvels of special effects in cinema, the use of firearms still presents one of the greatest challenges to the credibility of a production. John Coory explains the growing role of the armourer in today’s entertainment industry.

Film-making is one huge organised concert of planning and timing quite unlike anything else and, probably more than any other industry, it requires specific talents. Every role is well defined, with little opportunity for departmental overlap. Demarcation is clear, with each operator providing a role that is his or her speciality alone. Try dabbling in another’s area and see what happens. Directors will usually tax you a slab at the very least if you so much as try to tell them how the scene should look. Grips, gaffers, best boys, clapper loaders, et al know their work and go about it with seamless efficiency, preferably without distraction.

It is a great scene to observe while you wait your turn to contribute to the final cut.

When next at the flicks, scan the titles as the lights go up to spot some of the more obscure contributions and often towards the end, sandwiched between the caterer and the accountant, is armourer.

Once, an armourer was the person who sourced and supplied various weaponry and accoutrements for not only film but also stage and television and that was about the sum of it. Today the same applies, but with much more detail then before.

Armourers are now part of the safety department and work in collaboration with the stunt coordinator, safety supervisor and fight coordinator to establish safe working parameters.

If scenes or acts are to include non-firing props, there is little for a licensed armourer to do other than offer expert advice on the type of firearm to be used for authenticity and similar considerations.

However, if an arm is required to activate, then we now enter a complex and legislation-bound domain that offers no margin for error.

Few actors are totally familiar with firearms and some are completely uncomfortable in their presence. If a role calls for a shots to be fired, then we are faced with two issues:
1) training the operator to appear adept at handling the arm in a convincing manner and
2) imparting relevant safety skills to ensure they have a complete understanding of what they are doing, so as to avoid a less-than-happy outcome.

Many people believe blank cartridges are safe and that they can be fired anywhere without cause for concern. In fact, the very opposite is true. A controlled discharge of a factory blank at a paper target is usually sufficient to get the point across - all that rapidly expanding, white-hot gas has to go somewhere, not to mention secondary projectiles such as wadding material and unburned propellant granules.

Actor Brandon Lee died as the result of a blank being discharged too close during filming of The Crow a few years ago and the industry went into a tailspin. That one situation has changed the nature of armoury in film-making forever.

My first move as ‘on-set armourer’ is to establish how much exposure an actor has had to firearms and their operation and, in a controlled environment, assess their abilities. If there are areas of doubt, they are addressed with appropriate handling and practise until an acceptable level of proficiency is achieved.

If a story calls for an actor to handle a firearm as though he has been around them his entire life, the credibility of the final product is at risk if he looks awkward on screen.

Once the actors are up to speed, all crew involved in safety collaborate to choreograph each scene or act, factoring in such things as points of view, trajectories, camera angles and proximity relationships. All of this happens with the director and director of photography orchestrating.

If, at any stage, the safety supervisor feels less than satisfied, slight adjustments are made until a satisfactory result is achieved without compromise to safety. This can be done in many ways, often via subtle adjustments to camera angles and placements and choreography. The use of barriers, partitions and padding are often used to prevent exposure of cast and crew to danger during firing sequences.

It is not just the more obvious hazards we deal with. Blank cartridges are often discharged quite close to actors and crew alike and can generate noise beyond tolerable limits, especially during multiple detonations. Protection against ear damage is as vital as any other safety consideration and has to be factored into any safety assessment.

Armourers collaborate with many departments, especially on film sets. Production designers have to pull together a multitude of fine detail that includes consultation with armourers as to which item or effect is suitable for a given situation. An armourer generally guides the production designer as to the appropriate choice of properties - especially during period scenes, so broad-based knowledge about the craft is paramount. Long before cameras roll there are meetings to clarify the finer points, so by the time filming starts, the armourer is equipped with every possible detail with which to operate. Nothing is ever left to the last minute and to do so only invites disaster.

For everyday on location plying the trade, there are two people in the office putting together fundamental details, such as paperwork. This can embrace a variety of elements from number crunching consumption rates of components through to the aforementioned galaxy of legalities that must be in place. Each state has its own way of doing things when it comes to firearms legislation, as we are aware, so being up to speed with current requirements is stock in trade.

The growing role of the armourer in today’s entertainment industry

The growing role of the armourer in today’s entertainment industry
A production company that contracts an armourer is not just paying for the provisions of hardware, but the consultancy too, and they are depending on that person to have this specialist area totally under control. A disturbance in production due to an oversight or inappropriate paperwork is beyond contemplation and would ensure that the welcome mat is kept out of view for future work.

Speaking of permits, edged weapons, knuckle dusters and the like are often scripted items and all require permits across most of Australia, with New South Wales going the extra distance to include crossbows and handcuffs. So, if filming in some faraway location calls for border hopping, you must be able to meet the legal requirements of the states you plan to operate in.

When there are scenes where there might be a bit of ‘biffo’, resulting in props being dropped or thrown, imitation or replica firearms sometimes form part of the kit. They do not have to be an absolute reproduction to qualify under most states’ firearms legislation. Even a roughly hewn model or a painted-up kiddies squirter from ‘Toy Be We’ fits the description if it is intended to suggest or imply, so these are given the same legal consideration on and off the set as the real thing.

Despite spending weeks, if not months, in pre-production putting the whole deal in place, it can all be tossed out in a second as new ideas surface.

I recall recently spending days researching and formulating a desired effect that had me in the workshop until all hours every night, emerging bleary-eyed with the finished product as the sun came up.

In the end, the scene was deleted and the effect never used. Screen time, had it made it to film, would have been less than three seconds. When this happens, the research and development is not wasted, as there may be other opportunities to apply it on another project. Changes are frequent and are rarely accompanied by prior notice - such is the spontaneous nature of film production.

The role of the consultant armourer often swings beyond film production. Television and theatre also have needs for such services, whether it is in a dramatic production, ad, documentary or comedy.

One of the more detailed operations I recall was to be a bizarre deconstruction of Swan Lake, that icon of classical ballet.

A feature of this year’s Adelaide Festival, Birdbrain, under the artistic directorship of Gary Stewart, had it all - high-octane choreography fusing contemporary dance with gymnastics, classical ballet, break dance and contortionism through to full blast electronic music and fantastic video art. The Australian Dance Theatre was on a mission with this one.

Because the venue was modest in dimension, a company of power-packed dancers had to work within close proximity of the audience. A particularly atmospheric representation of love gone wrong called for the real-time firing of arrows into a large feathered heart that would materialise on stage. How best to go about this? Problems existed on several fronts and provided the opportunity to look at things from a different perspective.

This act had to be very visual and surreal, almost in half time. To capture the moment, arrows were custom designed and made to possess an extended surface area that gave them a slow velocity and looping trajectory across a short range.

The bow also required special attention, with numerous aesthetic and technical considerations to ensure things happened as they were intended.

Safety considerations were no less stringent than on any film set; in fact, there were areas to factor in that normally would be unlikely - like the aforementioned densely packed audience.

Stage placements, choreography and points of view were not as flexible as would be seen through the camera, again due to the live nature and close proximity, but it is amazing what can be achieved with lighting. Extreme angles are softened, attention focused, points highlighted. Great fun.

Once rehearsals were through and the balloons went up, the reaction of the audience was all that mattered. It is comforting to know you have hit the spot with your interpretation of the script.

On-set armourer is a low-profile role compared to others on the list, but by any measure it remains a vital one, in pursuit of the money shot.