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The safe Air Squib simulates bullet hits in stage productions, TV shows, and films. One of the interesting things about the unit is that it uses air to propel blood through the garments. As it does not use explosives, you do not need a license to operate or transport it. This makes life easier for travelling special effects technicians and makeup artists involved in rigging actors for action sequences.

www.airsquib.com

The Air Squib kit is designed for the practical special effects technician or makeup artist on the go. The kit allows you to quickly and safely rig a simulated bullet hit effect on an actor, in sceneries or water. This kit is safely powered with low-pressure air and you do not need a pyrotechnic license. Perfect for scenes with jittery actors, young or inexperienced performers or trained animals.

The hit is non-destructive making retakes a breeze and is perfect for long-running stage performances as you can simply wash and re-use the garment.

If you sometimes want to create several bullet hit effects firing simultaneously, did you know you can set off all receivers you want using only one transmitter?  This works with only two receivers – or a hundred. This idea works great on actors showing one entry wound and one exit wound – or see other rigging suggestions in the video below.

The Air Squib is used in stage productions too, here in an Opera at Malmo Opera. The Air Squib most commonly simulates a bloody hit in actors, but here is was cleverly used as a “dust hit” near the actor. The sound effect is a sampled gunshot played through the speaker system. This is useful knowledge for quick rigging of “near misses” if you are in the special effects area.

We met a wonderful group of stunt performers a few weeks ago. They were let loose with the safe Air Squib for a few hours testing the unit in a typical stunt environment. These rigs and “gags” are what they came up with in a single afternoon. Imagine what effects you can do in your action production creating simulated bullet hit effects…

No garments were damaged during the filming of this sequence, and no explosives licenses were needed.

The Air Squib is primarily used on actors’ garments creating a hit effect. But it is also possible to rig it so that it shoots the stage blood on the inside of a glass. This effect will look gruesome as the drops trail down the glass in an ominous way. From a visual standpoint, the red splosh is also quite visible even after the actor is “out of the picture” (pun intended!)

Remember, timing the effect is easy as the radio control allows perfect timing while the technician looks at the monitor. This way, the actor is never really certain when the effect will happen, making certain the reaction does not come before the hit appears.

A quick overview of the safe Air Squib system used for simulating bullet hit effects in actors and sceneries without needing a licence. Describes the typical advantages of using the Air Squib if you are in special effects for film, TV- or stage productions, or if you are planning live-action training scenarios.

In a case like this, where the actor’s shirt is red, it makes it less easy to see the red stage blood hit. I suggest you rig the hit using talcum powder, and this will pass between the fibres of a thin shirt, still making it look like a bullet struck the actor. As when rigging a “blood hit” it is just as easy to wash the shirt and re-use it. In other words, the shirt is not damaged.

A quick video showing how easy it is to add a simulated bullet hit effect – a safe Air Squib. I rigged this on myself in only a few minutes.

Si en tus películas trabajas con efectos físicos, de maquillaje… o con escenarios de entrenamiento realistas, seguramente estarás familiarizado con la simulación de efectos de impacto de bala en actores, en paredes, o en el suelo.