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How To: Build your own prop shotgun

In this tutorial, we learn how to build your own prop shotgun. To make this, you will need: one 2x6 that is 2 feet long, one 1x3 eight inches long, two 8" diameter PVC piping 2 feet long, two one inch PVC end caps, picture hangers, assorted nuts, bolts, and crews. First, draw on the shape of your gun on the pieces of wood, then cut them up with a saw. Then, cut out a prong shape in the front and stain the gun to your desired color. Next, connect all the pieces together and attach the wall han...

How To: Turn an Old Aquarium into a Cloud Tank & Create Creepy Alien Atmosphere Effects

Need some creepy visual effects for your alien flick, but don't want to spend a bunch of money? With some pretty basic materials, you can turn an empty aquarium into a "cloud tank," which can be used to create several different atmospheric effects. Before Hollywood started using CGI, cloud tanks were used for scenes in a lot of famous movies. Remember this one? Besides Raiders of the Lost Ark, cloud tanks also helped make some wonderful non-CGI effects in Independence Day, Close Encounters of...

How To: Make Realistic Fluffy Cloud Props from Things Around the House

If you need a cloudy background for a photo or video, you can always turn an old aquarium into a DIY cloud tank. But, if you want something more fun and less creepy, these fluffy cloud props by Serena Thompson might be more what you're looking for. It'd even make a good Halloween costume if you tweak it a little. All you need is some balloons, tape, flour, newspaper, and a bunch of pillow stuffing. Serena made them by taping balloons together and applying a mixture of water and flour, then co...

How To: Make DIY fog fluid for a fog machine

If you are an avid party-thrower, moviemaker, or are involved in some other activity that involved you frequently using fog machines, you're probably sick of paying for the fluid to make them work. No more! Watch this video for a guide to making your own cheap DIY fog machine juice / fluid at home.

How To: Make an easy, cheap green screen with no posterboard

In this video you learn how to make your own green screen for less than $15 in under an hour. The material for the screen is a green felt-like fabric that can be easily found at a local fabric store or Wal-Mart. The fabric itself is just over 1 yard in width and you will need to buy 2 sheets 3 yards in length for a total of 6 yards at a price of about $2.00 per yard. You will also need a way to join the sheets together. For this, the video recommends a tube of Heat'n'Bond fabric joiner which ...

How To: Make a cheap squib

This is an informational video for people that want to have some action in their movies but have a small budget. Each squib ended up costing us about $0.78. These are for fake gunshots.

How To: Make a Tommy Gun out of cardboard

This video begins by showing the necessary tools needed to make a prop tommy gun out of a cardboard base. The first step is to trace a simple handle shape on the cardboard and repeat eight more times until you have eight exact copies of the handle. Then using an image of a tommy gun make an outline on the gun to cut in another piece of cardboard. You must cut and make eight more copies of the entire gun body to have the appropriate thickness for realism. The handle must be glued to the gun bo...

How To: Create fake squeezable zits & robots for film or tv

In this episode of Indy Mogul's "YourFX", two great tutorials are gone over on how to make fake zits and fake robots. Indy Mogul's Backyard FX features cheap, DIY filmmaking tips and tutorials including special effects, props, and camera equipment. Be sure to search WonderHowTo for more videos from Indy Mogul and for more tutorials on building stage props as well as creating realistic film effects!

How To: Create a falling effect

Steve Nelson from Indy Mogul shows you how to create cool falling or jumping from a building effect. Use a combination of camera angeles, green screen, and editing to create this cool action effect for your films.

How To: Make a cardboard replica prop of any gun

Cardboard is not the most sturdy of building materials, but it is cheap, abundant, and somewhat rigid. That's all you need to make this awesome prop. This video will show you how to make cardboard replica or prop of just about any gun, in this case a Glock handgun. It looks surprisingly real and is very cheap to make, so if you need a gun for your film or costume and don't have money or carpentry skills, this gun should fulfill your needs.

How To: Create floating objects and razorblade props

In this tutorial, we learn how to create floating objects and razorblade props. First off, take your object and some double sided tape. Then, place the tape on the object to make it look invisible. After this, tape it to the middle of the plexi-glass. Have someone else help you move this, and then when you record it on video it will look like the object is moving around in the air without anything holding it. This is a great effect that looks even better on video! To create the razorblade pro...

How To: Create a giant spider web with rope and bolts

Watch this video tutorial to see how to create a giant spider web with rope and bolts. To make this giant Halloween spider web effect, you'll need a bunch of rope, a frame and 24 eye bolts. You can use this technique to weave a spider web at any scale, as long as you have an even number of at least 24 points to fasten to, around four sides.

How To: Film realistic, bloody gun shots

In this tutorial, we learn how to film realistic and bloody gun shots. You will first need to gather up all the materials you need to make this happen. Once you have everything ready, set it all into place. Make sure you have the fake blood placed in the shirt where the person is pointing the gun, and also make sure you have a good actor. After this, use a firecracker to make the sound of a gunshot. As soon as this goes off and the person pulls the fake trigger, have the other person push on ...

How To: Make a breakaway cardboard chair prop

A breakaway chair is one of the best pranks, or one of the easiest effects for your indie film project. A breakable chair can be made out of simple household items, and is very cheap. The biggest material needed is cardboard. So basically, you'll make a cardboard chair, that breaks. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make a fake movie prop brick.

How To: Make a level three foam boffer sword for LARPing

If you're a LARP maniac, or just a fan of LSD-themed (Latter-day Saint) games and activities, then you can't miss out on this. Check this video out to learn how to make a foam-padded sword that is easy and inexpensive. This level three boffer sword will take care of your LARPing opponents like Chuck Norris. If you're a fan of live action role-playing, then this boffer sword is the best of the best for kicking serious ass.

How To: Create an extreme nose bleed trickle and gush

Here, we unveil a brand new type of BFX episode called "BFX On Location"! We've been invited by directors Giancarlo Fiorentini and Jonathan Grimm to create an extreme nose bleed effect for their film "The Old Man and the Seymour". This movie stars Streeter Seidell, Amir Blumenfeld and a VERY bloody nose. Check out all the action as Erik's skills get a real world test!

How To: Make Your Very Own Hobbit Pipe—The Only Way to Smoke Pipe-Weed

A new trailer for Peter Jackson's Hobbit movie arrived recently, and it continues to look pretty awesome. If you're gearing up for the midnight premiere on December 14th, why not get into the spirit early by making your very own Hobbit pipe? In the film, the Hobbits smoke from signature rustic, wooden pipes with a very homemade look to them. Instructables user handcraftsup makes his own versions out of tree branches of what he believes real Hobbit pipes would like like. The tools he uses incl...

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