Hello everyone! I’m Zach and welcome back to another HitFilm tutorial. After many delays,
the latest James Bond film has finally been released in theaters, so today we’ll be
looking at how to create your own version of the iconic gun barrel sequence. This project
can be created 100% for free using HitFilm Express and Blender, with no add-ons required!
The first thing we need for this project is a video clip of our actor.
This footage was shot in front of greenscreen so we could add the white background in HitFilm.
It may be tricky to find a green screen big enough for the shot, so you could also record
your actor in front of a white background, such as a plain wall in your house. The
downloadable project files include this footage of Oli with the greenscreen already removed.
To create the white background in HitFilm I used a Plane layer with a Color Gradient effect.
Adjust the Start and End points so it looks like there is a floor and a wall.
Since my footage has had the greenscreen removed, I can create a reflection on the floor by
duplicating the layer, unlinking the scale, Ctrl clicking the y-axis scale to flip it upside down,
moving it into place, adding Blur effects, and lowering the Opacity.
With our footage filmed and our background in place, we can now start on creating the
graphics in HitFilm. The opening of the gun barrel sequence is a circle that moves across the frame,
so let’s start with that. Create a new square composite shot, then add a new white Plane layer.
Activate the Ellipse Mask tool by selecting and holding on the mask icon, then double click to add
a circle mask that fills the frame. Create a new composite shot and drag in the circle we created.
Scale it to be the right size, then animate it’s position to move from one side to the other.
Drag in the actor comp to use as a reference, then animate the circle to follow the actor’s movement.
To make it come to a smoother stop, I’ll insert a keyframe towards the end,
and set the last keyframe to smooth. Animate the scale of the circle to increase to the size of
the gunbarrel opening. This circle will be used to control where the video footage is visible.
Drag in another copy of the circle, parent it to the other one, and rest it’s transforms.
Add a Fill Color effect set to black, and place the layer below the other circle layer.
When the white circle stops scaling up, animate the scale of the second circle to grow and fill
the entire frame. This circle will be used to control where the gun barrel texture is visible.
The remaining areas that are transparent will be used to show a black background.
To create the frozen circles that fade out, duplicate the animated circle layer,
then disable the keyframe animation on the frame you want it to freeze at.
Trim the layer so it starts on that frame, then animate the layer’s Opacity so it fades out.
Repeat this process until the main circle reaches the edge of the frame and starts scaling up.
Let’s hop over to Blender to create the texture for our gun barrel.
Start by deleting everything in the default scene, then press Shift+A to add in a Cylinder object.
Rotate it 90 degrees on the X-axis and increase the Depth. We don’t need the ends to be filled in,
so set the Cap Fill Type to Nothing. Press Tab to go into Edit Mode, then hit Ctrl+R to add
Loop Cuts. Scroll up on the mouse wheel until the cylinder is divided into equal square segments,
then hit Enter twice. Press Alt+A to deselect, 3 to go to face select,
then use Shift+Alt+Click to select rows of faces with 3 face gaps in between.
Delete the selected faces. Select all by pressing A, then set the pivot to Individual Origins.
Scale on the X and Z axis by hitting S, Shift+Y. This is to make the gaps thinner. Back in Object
Mode, press 1 on the Numpad to go into Front View, then add a new Camera. Select the cylinder, then
add a Subdivision Surface modifier, setting the type to Simple. Next add a SimpleDeform modifier,
setting it to Twist. Select the correct axis, then Increase the Angle to 360 degrees.
To smooth out the result, add another Subdivision Surface modifier and enable Smooth Shading.
Back in Camera View,
adjust the camera's position and focal length so you are happy with the framing of the gun barrel.
I’ll set my resolution to 4k so I have room to scale up the rendered image in HitFilm. Add a
new Area Light and position it in front of the barrel model, then angle it towards the camera.
Enable the Cycles Render engine and choose whether to render with your GPU or CPU.
Press Z to go into rendered view. Add a new material to the cylinder and make it metallic,
then reduce the roughness to see the reflections.
Adjust the position, rotation, size, and power of the light to control the reflections on the model.
You can also add additional lights to add targeted reflections to certain areas.
Go to the World properties and set the strength to 0 to remove the ambient lighting, then go to the
Render properties. Set the Film to transparent, then set the Color Management to Standard.
Once you are happy with how your image is looking, increase the render samples
and enable denoising to create a smooth result, then go to Render, Render Image.
Save the image as a PNG file so we can bring it into HitFilm.
We now have the main pieces of the gun barrel sequence, so let’s put them all together.
Add a new Grade layer above all of the circles and rename it Matte.
Place your video footage above this Grade and hide all the other layers.
Apply a Set Matte effect sourcing the Grade layer’s Luminance.
Now you should just see your footage wherever a white circle was.
Drag in the gun barrel image above the footage layer.
Adjust its Position and Scale to place it correctly, then parent it to the animated circle.
Add a Set Matte effect sourcing the Alpha of the Matte layer.
To see the footage underneath, apply another Set Matte effect sourcing the Luminance of the matte,
setting the Blend to Subtract. Now the gun barrel only shows where the black circle is.
I’ll trim this layer so it doesn’t start until it needs to be visible.
You can disable the viewer’s checkerboard background to get a better idea of what the
final result will look like. To create the blood that drips down and covers the frame,
drag in a Plane layer and add a red Fill Color effect.
Use the Freehand Mask tool to draw a dripping blood shape. In the mask transform controls,
animate the Position to start above frame and end with the drips fully below frame.
Then grab the top mask points and move them so the blood covers the whole image.
Set the layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply, then duplicate it,
change the Blend to Normal, and reduce the Opacity. Finally, to make it look like the
prop gun actually fired we need to add some smoke. In my final project I used the Particle Simulator,
but you could use the free Quick 3D Smoke effect or even some stock footage.
And that’s how you can create your own Bond style gun barrel sequence! Every bond film has
a different looking gun barrel, so feel free to play around and create different looks!
Leave a comment with any questions or suggestions, and hit the like button if
you learned something new. Remember to subscribe for more tutorials like this. See you next time!