Im making a film that is about a guy who escapes from a POW camp I was just wondering if anybody has any tips on how to do major battle/chaos scenes?
Thanks any help is much appreciated!

You're beautiful, just touch it.

If you have a sony camcorder, shoot with shutter speed setting on 30 ( i dont know other camcorders). It'll look kinda close to the battle scenes from saving private ryan. remember to keep the camera handheld and shake it a bit (not too much!)

Actually, in Private Ryan, they shot with a high shutter speed, getting rid of blurring -- so putting the Sony camcorder on 30 would give it more bluring -- if you use more light and crank it up to 125 or 180, you'll get the sharp, shaky look.

You can also film it normal and then take out random frames here and there and hold some for 2 frames, etc. to give it more of a disjointed look. I think this looks a lot better but it takes more time.

I did a war movie called "THE LOST SOLDIERS" which the trailer will premier on May 16. For that we used a lot of smoke. Buy as many smoke bombs as you can. If you have twenty people running around shooting at things with explosions going off, and with smoke in the background, it creates an awesome mood for the battle scene. Also if your lucky and do it when the sun is out, you may get rays from the smoke through the trees, which looks awesome. (We were lucky enough to get some).

Another thing you can do, which I didn't but wish I did do, is draw a battle plan. If you have a lot of extras there, they are going to want to know what's going on instead of doing things on the seat of your pants. So either draw a picture or have everything in your head. I chose the later since I had written the script and the scene so I knew exactly what I wanted anyway.

Also, decided beforehand whether or not you want music in the battle scene or not. This actually has more impact than you might think because if you notice in Saving Private Ryan, none of the battles have music, yet if you watch Pearl Harbor, they all do. It depends on what mood you are trying to accomplish.

I am interested in your story also, you could you perhaps give me some more info on it and I may be able to ellaborate on it a little more and share some more experiences making my 1hr 24 min war EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!

Thomas Verrette
tommy21485@earthlink.net
Imperial Pictures

I live in a small rural town, so there are plenty of good places to film war/battle scenes. If you haven't already done so, you should 'scope' out some areas around you and try to get an idea for where you will film. Take some pictures, and get a good image in your mind. Make sure you do this first, because it isn't a very good idea to plan out a scene in an area you have never seen before.

Mainly, it all depends on what you want the outcome to look like. If you want smoke in the background, then get smoke bombs. If you want rain or fog, then check the forecast and start planning. And don't create any bizar ideas that would be great but cannot be accomplished at your level. Make sure you try and write this based on stuff that you know you can do.

My biggest issue in filming scenes like these is not how to set it all up; It is getting enough people to be in them! I wish I could have my own private cast of about 200 people to choose from for each movie. Oh well...

I'm 14, have no money, don't have my own camera, and live in a small town with no good actors. PLEASE ADOPT ME!

what i find helps with the shaky on sony camcorders is using the setting flash, bring it down to the first or second and it looks decent

How was I supposed to know it was a guy in a suit?Besides, anyone willing to wear a Mickey Mouse suit deserves to get hit by a car...that and my brakes failed, kind of.

Thanks for the effects tips! How do you get the effect of everyone running around with guns? Fake or not....and what do you do about authorities....

You're beautiful, just touch it.

Buy some explosives off the net, they're everywhere...I suggest M-800's. Take a sharp object, carve a small hole in a tree, stuff one of those in it, light the fuse, and film. It explodes, bark goes everywhere, and if you time it right, it can look like a bullet just hit the tree after flying by one of your actors.

I'm 14, have no money, don't have my own camera, and live in a small town with no good actors. PLEASE ADOPT ME!

Oh yeah, and about the authorities? If they come near you, just shoot 'em.

No, I'm not serious. Make sure everything you want to do is legal, and if it isn't then go far away from where the law is enforced. If you can't go far away, when you get caught, you can brag to your friends about it.

I'm 14, have no money, don't have my own camera, and live in a small town with no good actors. PLEASE ADOPT ME!

Rule No. 1: TELL THE AUTHORITIES WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is critical. I've heard many horror stories about the police coming in and comfiscating props, shutting down a production and even arresting people. This even happend with a Star Wars fan film with "laser" guns.
The scariest story I heard was a group that got permission from a local theater to film there for a Die Hard type story. They filmed a scene with the bad guys entering the building and some pedestrian called the police.
Since no one in the group worked there, they didn't answer the ringing phone. Police thought they had a hostage situation. One actor on a break walked to the door to get a clear signal on his cell phone, talking to his girlfriend. Later, the police came in. Lots of running around and people thrown to the floor. The scary part was, after all was sorted out, the police said that their snipers had the cell phone guy in their sites and were given permission to fire if he looked too threatening.

OK, so that's the stick part of the story. The carrot is that if you alert the police, they may even help!
Also, talk to you're local cinema office. Most cities and counties have one to work with filmmakers. They can help a lot too, including alerting the police, sometimes even arranging for an officer to be on hand for crowd control.

What else to do....
To get lots of people in one shot, set up a wide shot of your battle field. With the camera locked down on a high tripod or crane, film lots of little battles with a few people over and over all over the field. Then you can composite them all together to make one big battle. (Avoid filming on a day were the sun goes in and out of clouds though. Matching the light from shot to shot will be a nightmare. Go for an overcast day. Better mood for most battles anyway.)

Lets see, what else...oh, yeah! Check out these tutorial pages:
Safe Squibs
Various battle and dismemberment tutorials
More special effects stuff including explosions and fake blood

Have fun!