New Sniper Movie

[SAWMAN]

There'll be a new movie specifically dedicated to the role of the Sniper. I'll post more as the project develops further. All I'll say right now is that there are some very good people involved in the project and the intent is to be true to the sniper craft. I'll be the Sniper Tech Advisor for the film.

If you have any personal sniper stories you think would be particularly compelling, feel free to shoot them to me via PM, or through the email link on my website. Maybe your input can be incorporated into story told in the film. We're still tossing a few ideas around.

www.tacticalinsider.com

More soon...

[Pyle]

sounds great sawman.

[RamZar]

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM A SCOUT-SNIPER?

Posted by Say Keng LEE

OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES, 11/26/2009 11:37:00 AM



I had probably watched the thriller movie, 'Shooter', on StarHub cable television more than half a dozen times. In fact, I had watched it again only last night.

The exciting story centred on how a retired US Marine scout-sniper, Bob (played by Mark Wahlberg) was hook-winked & double-crossed by a high-powered rogue group led by an enigmatic Colonel Johnson (played by Danny Glover), in collusion with a mysterious senator in deep cover within the US government establishment, to take on a seemingly patriotic assignment, with the objective of flushing out a known assassination attempt on the US President.

At the end, he escaped & eventually tracked down & neutralised all the bad guys, with the unlikely aid of a disgraced FBI agent, Nick (played by Michael Pena).

Naturally, as in most Hollywood movie productions, a beautiful woman also got dragged into the web of intrigue, serving unfortunately more as eye candy.

As a matter of fact, last night, I had also watched another thriller movie, 'Enemy at the Gates', on StarHub cable televison about a deadly cat & mouse game between a Russian sniper (played by Jude Law) & a German sniper (played by Ed Harris) at the tail end of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Several years ago, I had also watched the thriller movie, 'Sniper', followed by its two subsequent sequels, 'Sniper 2' & 'Sniper 3'. Tom Berenger had played the US Marine sniper veteran featured in all the three movies.

In a nut shell, somehow I seem to have this unquenchable fascination for watching snipers at work, even though they were conceived in the minds of creative Hollywood producers.

Well, for me, I always hold the view that reel life reflects real life, & vice versa.

I have read that real-world snipers actually work in team of two, as depicted in the movie, 'Shooter'.

What actually fascinates most is the skills repertoire of the scout-sniper, which comprises:

- mental skills, especially the ability to think ahead (I call it "anticipatory prowess", as depicted by Bob in the movie); to look at the situation critically; the patience to wait for the perfect opportunity to fire upon a selected target, the ability to "neutralise" environmental distractions; & more importantly, to manage the countless mathematical variables in the head, about wind speed, wind direction, range, target movement, mirage, light source, barometric pressure, temperature & even the earth's rotation (that's why he works with a spotter in a sniper team);

- physical discipline & survival skills;

- observation, reconnaissance & surveillance skills, especially the ability to catch the slightest "unnatural disturbances" in the environment around them;

- camouflage skills, to avoid detection & staying alive;

- stalking & infiltration skills, including stealth adeptness as well as the ability to adapt & improvise with whatever resources at hand;

on top of their marksmanship with tactical weapons & an understanding of ballistics.

Interestingly, I read that marksmanship accounts for only 10% to 20% of their overall skills repertoire.

The skill & the power of observation are rated very highly.

While digging through the net for information on scout-sniper training, I found the following interesting games as part of their observational skills training, known as the KIMS game:

It goes something like this.

A number of different objects are placed randomly on the table: a bullet, a paper clip, a bottle top, a pen, a piece of paper with something written on it.

They may be 10 to 20 items.

Trainees are given a minute or so to look at everything on the table.

Then, they have to go back to their desks & describe what they saw.

They are not allowed to say "paper clip" or "bullet".

They have to say, like, "silver, metal wire, bent in two oval shapes."

In other words, the training requires you to observe the objects more closely or critically.

The foregoing game is repeated with more objects to look at & & with less time to look at them.

To add to the challenge, the time between seeing the objects & describing what is seen gets longer as the scout-sniper training goes on.

By the end, they may see 25 objects in the morning, train whole day, & then at night be asked to write down descriptions of all the things they saw in the morning.

Another observation skills training happens in the field with a sniper scope.

What they are required to do is to scope out random but hidden objects in a field.

For me, this intense observational practice is intriguing.

Now, I can understand how all these observation training manoeuvres eventually help the scout-sniper to function superbly with stalking, infiltration, & reconnaissance manoeuvres in the field under dicey circumstances.

I reckon the same observational skills can also readily apply in the skills repertoire of today's business professional, except for the "one-shot, one-kill" score.

[RamZar]

Top 10 Best Sniper Scenes
Anders Wotzkeclose
Cut Print Review, Tuesday, November 17th, 2009




With its terrifying long-range killing power, the sniper rifle has earned its place as one of the most feared and revered weapons of war. Off the battlefield, it’s an assassins best friend. Hundreds of films have showcased the sniper rifle in action over the years, but some have done so far more memorably than others. Be it because they are realistic, stylistic or just plain ol’ awesome, here are ten of the best sniper scenes of all time.



10. Smokin’ Aces(2007)

Shooter: Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson)
Target: 10+ FBI Agents
Weapon: Barrett M82A1
Video: link

Why it makes the list:
Although the film itself is average at best, Smokin’ Aces contains a beautifully stylised sniper scene worthy of making the tail end of this list. Mauro Fiore’s cinematography is breathtaking, using visual FX to fluidly move the camera from one high-rise building to another as hitwoman Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson) cleans up a room full of FBI Agents with her beefy Barrett. Glass, flowers, blood and bodies all start flying in vicious harmony.


9. Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)


Shooter: Martin Blank (John Cusack)
Target: Bicycle rider
Weapon: Remington 700
Video: None

Why it makes the list:
Sniping a moving target is hard enough. Sniping a moving target on a bicycle is even harder. Sniping a moving target on a bicycle and tracking him through a wall is next to impossible. So what do you call it when John Cusack’s character snipes a moving target on a bicycle by tracking him through a wall while on the phone to his secretary? Freakin’ awesome. That’s what.
Oh and playing beneath all this is the song ‘I can see clearly now’ by Johnny Nash. How could this scene not make the list?



8. Shooter (2008)

Shooter: Bob LeeSwagger (Mark Wahlberg)
Target: 20+ bad guys, attack helicopter
Weapon: M40A3 and Barrett M82
Video: link
Why it makes the list:
So what if Shooter is about as realistic as a painting by Salvador Dali, it’s entertaining. While there are a number of great sniper scenes in this film, I’ve selected the opening sequence takes the cake. Here, the preposterously-named hero Bob LeeSwagger (Wahlberg) takes out a moving convoy of militants — from over 800m away with the help of a spotter — on an armed forces mission in Ethiopia. Each kill is a perfect headshot of course, but that’s not the half of it: when an attack helicopter scouts their position, Swagger swaps to the Barrett M82 with anti-vehicle rounds and, after missing a few shots to build some dramatic tension, he takes the chopper down with a perfect shot to the rotor. Nothing like a bit of bullshit-coated action to kick off a Hollywood blockbuster.




7. Phone Booth (2002)


Shooter: The Caller (Kiefer Sutherland)
Target: Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell)
Weapon: Silenced L96A1
Video: link (Trailer)

Why it makes the list:
I admit that I’m bending the rules here as this isn’t so much a single scene as it is the entire movie. Nevertheless, Phone Booth makes the list because few films have captured the terrifying anonymity and silent killing power of the sniper rifle quite as well. The film is dripping with suspense, a remarkable achievement considering only a few shots are fired throughout. And since the shooter is identified only by Kiefer Sutherland’s sinister baritone voice, the movie takes on a whole new level of ‘awesome’.



6. Dawn of the Dead (2004)


Shooter: Andy (Bruce Bohne)
Target: Zombie Jay Leno, Zombie Burt Reynolds
Weapon: M40A1
Video: link

Why it makes the list:
Just because it’s the zombie apocalypse doesn’t mean you can’t have a bit of fun. Marooned on the roof of a shopping mall and surrounded by zombies, the survivors play chess with a weapons merchant across the street using a whiteboard and binoculars. When that gets boring, they decide to spot celebrities in the zombie crowd and tell their new friend to snipe them to smithereens. When Rosie O’Donnell name is suggested as the next target, one of them says, “Nah, too easy. Give him something hard!.” Comedy gold!



5. Jarhead (2006)

Shooter: Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal)
Target: Iraqi Officer
Weapon: M40A1
Video: None

Why it makes the list:
Jarhead boasts one of my favourite sniper scenes of all time, yet not a single bullet is fired. While most films about modern warfare are overblown action extravaganzas, director Sam Mendes takes a decidedly different approach with this film, brilliantly capturing the psychological effect of combat during the second Iraq war. The entire film builds up to this one memorably scene where US sniper Anthony Swofford (Gyllenhaal) finally gets a chance to shoot an Iraqi officer after months of physical and psychological preparation. The tension in the air as he adjusts the elevation, switches off the safety and gets the go-ahead from his spotter is almost unbearable. Just moments before he takes the shot, his superior officer bursts into the scene and calls it off. It’s truly gut wrenching stuff, as we genuinely feel as though we’ve been robbed of a kill just as much as Swofford and his spotter.



4. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Shooter: Pvt. Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper)
Target: German Sniper
Weapon: Springfield 1903A4
Video: link

Why it makes the list:
Pvt. Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper) is not your typical sharpshooter. For one, he cites bible verses as he scopes each of his targets, which strikes me as somewhat contradictory. He’s also left-handed, so using a right-handed bolt-action sniper rifle is the kind of nuisance you just don’t need when there are shells exploding all around you. That said, it didn’t stop him from pulling off one of the most badass sniper shots in filmic history, dominating a Nazi sniper by shooting him clean through his own scope 350 meters away. Factor in gravity, elevation, wind and rain and the chances of pulling off this shot are astronomical. This German sniper was no amateur either, as moments earlier he’d taken down Vin Diesel…. Vin Diesel for fucks sake! That’s almost like killing Chuck Norris.



3.Wolf Creek (2005)


Shooter: Mick Taylor (John Jarratt)
Target: Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi)
Weapon: Remington M40
Video: link

Why it makes the list:
I bet you didn’t see this one coming. The indie Australian horror Wolf Creek proves that you don’t need a big Hollywood budget to make a truly terrifying sniper scene. Just when it looks like Kristy (Kestie Morassi) is about to escape the clutches of psychopath Mick (John Jarratt) by flagging down a passing car, the serial killer pulls of an impressive long range shot out of seemingly nowhere to take down the innocent driver. Kristy then jumps into the driver’s seat and takes off, but just as it looks as though she is about to get away once again, Mick takes out her tyre with another perfect shot.
The genius here is just how simple it is; the handheld camerawork gives this sequence a chilling authenticity, as does the ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ muzzle flash way off in the distance moments before Mick nails his prey.



2.Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Shooter: Major König (Ed Harris)
Target: Vassili Vaitsev (Jude Law), Koulikov (Ron Perlman)
Weapon: Mauser 98k
Video: link (4:30 mark)

Why it makes the list:
Forget Shooter and the Sniper series, the definitive sniper movie is Enemy at the Gates. During the historic battle for Stalingrad in 1942, a Russian and German sharpshooter (both with British accents) go head-to-head in one of the most gripping games of cat-and-mouse depicted onscreen. Jude Law stars as gifted Russian marksman Vassili Vaitsev (an actual war hero), and although he pulls of some impressive shots throughout the film, the finest shot goes to his fearsome rival Major König (Ed Harris). As Vaitsev and his partner Koulikov (Ron Perlman) bicker about who gets to jump first across a plain-sighted gap in a war-torn building, Vaitsev draws the short straw and jumps second. König, however, does the impossible by sniping Koulikov mid-jump. The stunned look on Perlman’s chiselled faced as a bullet rips through his skull is captured in horrifying slow motion, and won’t be forgotten anytime soon.



1. The Hurt Locker (2009)

Shooter: Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie)
Target: Iraqi Insurgents
Weapon: Barrett M107
Video: link
Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker — a terrific film about a US bomb squad in Iraq – features a 10 minute sniper scene that is gut-wrenchingly tense, tremendously realistic and technically sublime. During a mission in the arid Iraq desert, Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) is forced to take control of the Barrett after a skilled enemy sniper picks off members of his team. This memorable scene captures the very essence of being a sniper better than any other film on this list:
Firstly, it shows how sniping is about cooperation; Sanborn’s spotter, SSgt William James (Jeremy Renner), is just as important to the operation of the sniper rifle as the shooter, designating targets and relaying environmental factors.
It’s about composure; even as flies crawl over his eyelids and sweat beads down his face, Sandborn remains completely focused on the job at hand.
It’s about precision; Sandborn misses his first two shots, you know, because sniping a tiny speck in the distance is fucking hard.
Above all, it’s about patience; as the hours pass and dust starts to encrust his face, Sanborn remains calm and collected, patiently waiting for his target to expose himself.
Barry Ackroyd’s dynamic, hand-held cinematography captures the action superbly, and the absence of a soundtrack allows the ferocious grunt of the Barrett M107 to dominate our senses. Folks, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Honourable mentions:
Full Metal Jacket, Spy Games, Savior, Sniper 1 & 2, Quigley Down Under, The Bourne Identity, Wanted.
–

*BIG thanks to the Internet Movie Firearms Database for images and weapon information.

[Pyle]

Ramzar check out Shot Through The Heart 1998 movie about sebian snipers who were friends before and suposed to go to the olympics together. reminds me of how our country must have been like in the civil war

[SAWMAN]

Originally Posted by Pyle

Ramzar check out Shot Through The Heart 1998 movie about sebian snipers who were friends before and suposed to go to the olympics together. reminds me of how our country must have been like in the civil war

That movie did a good job of portraying the feel of that particular area, culture and conflict. I spent quite a bit of time over there. Their hatred goes back 400 years. It's a good movie for snipers to watch.

[RamZar]

I ordered the DVD of that "Shot Through The Heart" movie (only $5 now). I really thought the tactics and intensity of the 15 minutes of sniper engagements in the recent movie "The Hurt Locker" was authentic. Great war movie to boot. Amazingly, a female director. My hats off to her. Of course, the first 15 minutes of "Shooter" was pretty good too. I'd like to see a movie about snipers in the second Battle of Fallujah (November 7, 2004 – December 23, 2004) where although comprising less than 1% of all U.S. forces they were responsible for nearly 50% of all enemy kills.

[SAWMAN]

The more I learn about this new project, the more I believe it'll be a compelling story. It's going to be kept small, but there are some very good people behind it, so I'm confident we'll end up with a good product.

[William Graves]

Tom Berenger and I in a pub in London on day after Christmas 2005. By the way, my group and his group were the only people in the only pub open downtown (near Hyde Park) and we just ran in to each other.

[RamZar]

Originally Posted by Pyle

Ramzar check out Shot Through The Heart 1998 movie about sebian snipers who were friends before and suposed to go to the olympics together. reminds me of how our country must have been like in the civil war

Originally Posted by SAWMAN

That movie did a good job of portraying the feel of that particular area, culture and conflict. I spent quite a bit of time over there. Their hatred goes back 400 years. It's a good movie for snipers to watch.

I finally watched "Shot Through the Heart" about two best friend snipers (one Serbian and the other Bosnian) during the Siege of Sarajevo from April 1992 to February 1996.

A truly sad chapter in the history of sniping when Serbian military commanders ordered their snipers to take out civilians (especially targeting children and women to have a demoralizing effect). UNICEF reported that of the estimated 65,000 to 80,000 children in the city: at least 40 percent had been directly shot at by snipers.

The movie showed the two friends practicing by shooting at olives from long distances, use of loopholes, counter-sniping, etc. The Serbian snipers would use firing squad tactics so that no one sniper would "feel" responsibility. With snipers taking up positions around Sarajevo, signs reading Pazite, Snajper! ("Beware, Sniper!") became commonplace and certain particularly dangerous streets were known as "sniper alleys".

Eventually, the International Criminal Tribunal convicted two Serb generals of numerous crimes against humanity in their conduct of the siege including "sniper terror campaign". Stanislav Galic and Dragomir Miloševic, were sentenced to life imprisonment and to 33 years imprisonment, respectively. The prosecution alleged in an opening statement that:

"The siege of Sarajevo, as it came to be popularly known, was an episode of such notoriety in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia that one must go back to World War II to find a parallel in European history. Not since then had a professional army conducted a campaign of unrelenting violence against the inhabitants of a European city so as to reduce them to a state of medieval deprivation in which they were in constant fear of death. In the period covered in this Indictment, there was nowhere safe for a Sarajevan, not at home, at school, in a hospital, from deliberate attack."