Nail Gun - A Bunch of Amateurs

[d_korman]

Does anyone know anywhere to hire a safe prop nail gun for "A Bunch of Amateurs" pg 32?

One actor puts the nail gun to another's head, then to his own head (not firing in either case) and then shoots it into the air when it goes off with a bang. Using a real/unmodified  nail gun is a no-no, even without anything in the magazine, so I guess it would have to be a one made or modified for the purpose.

 I guess we could use a real air (ie not a Paslode gas) nailer with no airline connected and nothing in the magazine, and use either a blank firing pistol off-stage  (which we can do) or a sound effect to provide the bang and then the actors will just have to act 😃. Would be better if the sound could come from the gun though.

Thanks for any other suggestions.

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by d_korman

[alistermorton]

To be honest that's how I'd do it, and I'd get our workshop to mock up a nail gun in wood. Whether you can safely put anything in it to emit a puff of "smoke" when it goes off is down to you, of course.

[Bryson]

Yeah, fake nailgun with an airline and little remote valve pointing out the side so you get a convincing "puff"?  Make sure the airline exits away from the "business end".

[ANDYLASER]

Maybe build the fake nail gun around a compressed air blower. These emit a good "puff" of air then the trigger is pulled. and are quite cheap. Putting a 90 degree elbow on the end to divert the air shouldnt be difficult.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-Adjustable-Extension-Pneumatic-Compressor/dp/B07RT4DYT6

[Dave m]

Fake and tested is far safer than real and “not loaded” with any potentially lethal prop

Ask Alec Baldwin.

[cedd]

Not a suggestion for you, but Penn and Teller do an excellent trick with a nail gun. Their patter about safety and making the audience complicit in something dangerous is quite apt. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jko5BGhc-Ys

One thing I'd be making sure of, if I was having compressed air anywhere near the prop, would be to ensure it had different connectors to any real air nailers that could have hands laid on during the production. Preferably have it "hard wired" (hard piped??!) so it can't be disconnected. This way it's impossible for a real nail gun to actually be connected. 

 

[Brian]

23 hours ago, ANDYLASER said:

Putting a 90 degree elbow on the end to divert the air shouldnt be difficult.

Difficult, no. Able to guarantee it won't come off at speed when blocked, nearly impossible.

Compressed air has no place next to any body part.

[Jivemaster]

You are the technician required to do real things with real things. They are actors, it's usually a surprise to them that they need to ACT, but act they must. 

If Penn and Teller can perform it follow their advice, That Alec Baldwin .................. should be a warning to you. If it can go wrong it will, just once. 

[sleah]

On 1/29/2023 at 9:58 AM, cedd said:

Not a suggestion for you, but Penn and Teller do an excellent trick with a nail gun. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jko5BGhc-Ys

Great trick. Love the comments section - especially those suggesting how it's done assuming a real working nail gun 😮 

If there's even the slightest risk that something could go wrong - a risk that can be foreseen and avoided - then don't do it, find an alternative. Find a way to suggest to the audience that the nail gun (or prop that looks like one) is being fired just like Penn & Teller did.

Suspension of disbelief and all that....

 

[d_korman]

We've changed the scene - it's now a caulking gun.

However, unless the laws of physics are wrong, an empty air nailer with no air supply cannot possibly fire.

Edited January 30, 2023 by d_korman
typos

[Jivemaster]

The recent incident involving Alex Baldwin shows how much care and preparation is needed to keep out of the newspapers. Really clever technical preparation AND really good acting are needed to properly perform stunts like this.  

[Jivemaster]

If the "nail gun" is a dummy with no (air) power then it will not fire all three times it's scripted, however a tiny special effect is placed at the third target and fired remotely the appearance may be that the dummy gun fired something. All depends on the actors and their acting.

[sunray]

I don't know the play so advice may not be the best.

What I'm imagining is a nail gun being fired and the requirement is for the audience to believe that. Would a SFX triggered by a button on the gun work? perhaps a dummy compressor containing the loudspeaker for the SFX possibly self contained/battery powered such as a speakeazy depending on the size of venue.

I agree with others about avoiding air lines on stage.

[alistermorton]

Maybe have a microdet go off at the site of the third target?

Edited January 30, 2023 by alistermorton

[sunray]

36 minutes ago, alistermorton said:

Maybe have a microdet go off at the site of the third target?

One ding on a fire bell/bucket etc by a solenoid?

SFX for breaking glass? As it's a comedy an arrow boing?

Edited January 30, 2023 by sunray