Greetings,
I have only attended one reenactment, and in that one, I saw three main types of dying techniques.
1. The smart, but most common one.
Falling face first on the ground, making sure you ain't going to get too badly burned. I personally failed this my first death and suffered for a while because of it. However, it could have been worse.
2. The farce.
One man (a reb) took a hit, dropped to one knee, threw his fist in the air and declared "Curse you Yankees!" before hitting the ground. I mean, I'm sure somebody said that at some point or another, but this is some side character death type stuff here.
3. The "realistic".
I put quotes ("") because there will never be a 100% accurate death. But these are my personal favorite, and ones I wish I saw more.
That first face up hit I took was studied, disturbing as it is. I had heard it wasn't uncommon for a soldier being hit to simply gasp, and then collapse. So, when I took the hit I grasped my lower stomach, took a step back, before falling straight on my back (and partially on my cartridge box). From there, one of my company mates dragged me (or, tried to. I had to help considering I'm not easy to pull around) about 10 feet away before rebels forced him out.
The rest of the time I layed there (I was the first one down, 8 minutes in to a 30 minute battle), I was cared for by a nurse, "interviewed" by the announcer, and stepped over by rebs until the battles end.
Another man in the second battle (a reb) took a hit and hit the ground hard, face first. He flipped over, and screamed. It was terrifyingly realistic. He started screaming for his mother, and had it not been over-convincing, I would have rolled my eyes at the cliché.
Now, I've heard stories from members of my reenactment company (primarily from my First Sergeant) of different ways they had died, or had seen others die.
He told me of one case when rebel artillery "loaded with grapeshot" took down the entire company near the end of the battle. During that, he said many of them had actually gone Airborne, throwing themselves hard on the ground, and even hitting eachother.
Another story told was of a man who bought a realistic suit to put under his jacket, which showed a ghastly wound to the stomach. After taking a hot and screaming profusely, he tore open his jacket while near the public to show the gore that the suit had entailed.
Through my study of the civil war (when I'm not studying caps and clothing) has enlightened me to many harrowing accounts. Those are where I draw ideas for deaths. And, sometimes I just come up with ideas that would be interesting to try. Here are a few I have considered.
1 . Shot through the eyes.
Based off a story told from the perspective of a NCO/officer who had found a soldier in the aftermath of a battle sitting with his hands in his lap, sitting like a child on the ground. As they went to get the attention of the soldier, he saw that both eyes were shot out, and he was in shock. I do not recall if he survived.
My idea would be using some kind of black facepaint on my eyelids, so when I close me eyes, it would just be dark circles instead of eyes. Probably done sometimes when you're near the audience so they can see the effect clearer.
2 . Mercy kill.
I've read about soldiers being spared or a painful death by being shot or stabbed by a pistol or something of the sort.
Preferably by an officer (because saber/handgun). This could just be a realistic death, followed by either a friendly soldier or a disturbed enemy putting an end to the wounded.
3 . Losing a hand.
We're going Saving Private Ryan style here.
My coat is VERY long. Including the sleeves. Using this to an advantage, one may be able to slip a fake hand in a haversack, and before taking a hit, you quickly grab it, and try to pull off a convincing severing shot, probably from cannon fire. This can either be pulled off real good, or be horrendous. After getting your hand shot off, you'd probably pick it up and scream as you run off the field… or just get shot again.
4 . Bullet in the bible… followed by a bullet to the chest.
Another one that would probably be done close to the audience, where you stick a prop bible/journal/hardtack with a struck bullet in it into your coat. Take a hit and fall t the ground. Quickly stand back up, and pull the prop from your coat, make some kind of excited exclaim, and either continue fighting, or take a hit right after.
5 . "where's my hat?"
One that I have yet to figure out a good way to pull off, but would be interesting to do, is have some kind of rigging to yank a cap off your head after a bullet struck it. Pick it up right after, or get it after the battle.
Every now and then I'll probably throw in another idea, or one that I heard about or witnessed. Any ideas, thoughts, stories, etc. would also be welcome.
I would like to make it clear, I do not want to make fun of what soldiers went through and experienced, but I also want to make it enjoyable to the audience. If you wish to say something against my portrayals that is entirely negative, feel free to direct message me, and don't spread the "love" here.
Best of stuffs,
-Seth
I have only attended one reenactment, and in that one, I saw three main types of dying techniques.
1. The smart, but most common one.
Falling face first on the ground, making sure you ain't going to get too badly burned. I personally failed this my first death and suffered for a while because of it. However, it could have been worse.
2. The farce.
One man (a reb) took a hit, dropped to one knee, threw his fist in the air and declared "Curse you Yankees!" before hitting the ground. I mean, I'm sure somebody said that at some point or another, but this is some side character death type stuff here.
3. The "realistic".
I put quotes ("") because there will never be a 100% accurate death. But these are my personal favorite, and ones I wish I saw more.
That first face up hit I took was studied, disturbing as it is. I had heard it wasn't uncommon for a soldier being hit to simply gasp, and then collapse. So, when I took the hit I grasped my lower stomach, took a step back, before falling straight on my back (and partially on my cartridge box). From there, one of my company mates dragged me (or, tried to. I had to help considering I'm not easy to pull around) about 10 feet away before rebels forced him out.
The rest of the time I layed there (I was the first one down, 8 minutes in to a 30 minute battle), I was cared for by a nurse, "interviewed" by the announcer, and stepped over by rebs until the battles end.
Another man in the second battle (a reb) took a hit and hit the ground hard, face first. He flipped over, and screamed. It was terrifyingly realistic. He started screaming for his mother, and had it not been over-convincing, I would have rolled my eyes at the cliché.
Now, I've heard stories from members of my reenactment company (primarily from my First Sergeant) of different ways they had died, or had seen others die.
He told me of one case when rebel artillery "loaded with grapeshot" took down the entire company near the end of the battle. During that, he said many of them had actually gone Airborne, throwing themselves hard on the ground, and even hitting eachother.
Another story told was of a man who bought a realistic suit to put under his jacket, which showed a ghastly wound to the stomach. After taking a hot and screaming profusely, he tore open his jacket while near the public to show the gore that the suit had entailed.
Through my study of the civil war (when I'm not studying caps and clothing) has enlightened me to many harrowing accounts. Those are where I draw ideas for deaths. And, sometimes I just come up with ideas that would be interesting to try. Here are a few I have considered.
1 . Shot through the eyes.
Based off a story told from the perspective of a NCO/officer who had found a soldier in the aftermath of a battle sitting with his hands in his lap, sitting like a child on the ground. As they went to get the attention of the soldier, he saw that both eyes were shot out, and he was in shock. I do not recall if he survived.
My idea would be using some kind of black facepaint on my eyelids, so when I close me eyes, it would just be dark circles instead of eyes. Probably done sometimes when you're near the audience so they can see the effect clearer.
2 . Mercy kill.
I've read about soldiers being spared or a painful death by being shot or stabbed by a pistol or something of the sort.
Preferably by an officer (because saber/handgun). This could just be a realistic death, followed by either a friendly soldier or a disturbed enemy putting an end to the wounded.
3 . Losing a hand.
We're going Saving Private Ryan style here.
My coat is VERY long. Including the sleeves. Using this to an advantage, one may be able to slip a fake hand in a haversack, and before taking a hit, you quickly grab it, and try to pull off a convincing severing shot, probably from cannon fire. This can either be pulled off real good, or be horrendous. After getting your hand shot off, you'd probably pick it up and scream as you run off the field… or just get shot again.
4 . Bullet in the bible… followed by a bullet to the chest.
Another one that would probably be done close to the audience, where you stick a prop bible/journal/hardtack with a struck bullet in it into your coat. Take a hit and fall t the ground. Quickly stand back up, and pull the prop from your coat, make some kind of excited exclaim, and either continue fighting, or take a hit right after.
5 . "where's my hat?"
One that I have yet to figure out a good way to pull off, but would be interesting to do, is have some kind of rigging to yank a cap off your head after a bullet struck it. Pick it up right after, or get it after the battle.
Every now and then I'll probably throw in another idea, or one that I heard about or witnessed. Any ideas, thoughts, stories, etc. would also be welcome.
I would like to make it clear, I do not want to make fun of what soldiers went through and experienced, but I also want to make it enjoyable to the audience. If you wish to say something against my portrayals that is entirely negative, feel free to direct message me, and don't spread the "love" here.
Best of stuffs,
-Seth
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