All language subtitles for Building torches

for the night scene in the assurance

we needed something to motivate the warm

lighting that comes from this side of the scene

so we decided to use torches

and before the assurance

I'd never made torches

I didn't know anything about them at all

so I did some research

and put together a little recipe of how to make them

after doing some homework

now before you actually make a torch

please watch the next tutorial about safety

and remember that fire can kill you

and destroy everything you love

so please be careful

and do this at your own risk

basically there are 3 components of a torch

a piece of wood

a fuel and something to soak up the fuel

usually some type of fabric

for the sticks

we actually got permission from our location to take

all the wood we needed from this really huge pile

that was amazing

cause it's actually a lot harder to find

the perfect torch stick than you might think

for the fuel

we tried a few different things

not success with both lamp oil and Tiki torch fuel

for the fabric

you really need to be careful

what we had success with

most fabrics

we ended up using burlap

simply because we had so much extra left over

from the set dressing in the wardrobe

however burlap

and many synthetic blends of cotton

have a tendency to break up while on fire

sending chunks of fire hurling toward the ground

this is a real problem

if your actor will be holding a torch

especially over somebody's head

so to minimize this

we first of all

didn't let anyone hold a torch over somebody's head

secondly we built them very carefully

we started without

with the torchy stick

and if you live in a dry climate

you might also want to wet the stick

so it doesn't catch fire

then we took strips of our fabric

and we wrapped it tightly around the top of the stick

then and here's the trick here

we use a staple gun to secure the fabric to the stick

we probably use too many staples

but if it's loose

it increases the chances

that the fabric will break off when it's on fire

and that will rain chunks of flaming misery

all over you

and you don't want that

we then soak the fabric part of our torches

in a bucket of Tiki torch fuel

let them soak for about 10 minutes

and pick up all that flammable goodness

when pulling them out of the bucket

be sure they don't drip fuel

that could create a flammable trail

back to the bucket of fuel

and that would not be good

you also wanna make sure

that you have a bucket of water handy

for extinguishing the torch

before you light it on fire

we also make sure to do a lot of testing beforehands

we didn't show up to set and have any surprises

I first built one of these

in my backyard by myself

cause I knew

if I could do something like this

that anybody could do it

before it was time to shoot

Steven Heller

Alexis Green

got to work as the torch makers

and also connected tests

of how long the torches would burn for

to our surprise

torches don't last very long

only about 10

maybe 15 minutes

I did some research online

and it turns out that this is actually pretty standard

even on productions with more resources

that actually know what they're doing

so be aware of that short time limit

before you light your torches

while we were filming scenes with torches

Steven and Alexis were on deck with the next torch

ready to light it

and stick it in the shots

we didn't have any torch related delays

using torches

was a lot of work

but the end result was just so gorgeous

next up we gotta talk about it

keep yourself safe

while you're using these

portable flaming

fiery sticks