ABSTRACT
Action has consequences, whether equal and opposite or otherwise. Dramatically, it is these consequences that are the story, not the implied projectile. This chapter focuses on how to act like one have been shot, and how to do some basic low-budget effects for independent filmmakers or adventurous theatres. One of the hardest things for many actors in portraying gunshot wounds is not anticipating the effect. The simplest and sometimes most effective shots are the ones you can spray on the wall or scenery, with the actual wound site out of frame. A standardized patient training program at Virginia Commonwealth University, using Theatre Pedagogy MFA, teach actors how to mimic various diseases, injuries, and disabilities well enough to fool medical students, down to the sound of a lung inflating or not when monitored. Modern audiences may be desensitized to violence and killing, but not to the emotional consequences, as one often spared that in video games or action movies.
