Internet Movie Firearms Database

Internet Movie Firearms Database
imfdb Logo
Web address imfdb.org
Commercial? No
Type of site
 Wiki
Registration Optional (required for editing)
Available in English
Users 10,217[1]
Content license
 GNU Free Documentation License
Owner imfdb, LLC
Editor MelDez.MV
Launched 10 May 2007
Alexa rank
 negative increase 53,837 (April 2014)[2]
Current status Active

The Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDb) is an online database of firearms used or featured in movies, television shows, video games, and anime. A wiki running the MediaWiki software, it is similar in function to the (unaffiliated) Internet Movie Database for the entertainment industry. It includes articles relating to actors, and even some famous characters, such as James Bond, listing the particular firearms they have been associated with in their movies. Integrated into the website is an image hosting section similar to Wikimedia Commons that includes firearm photos, manufacturer logos, screenshots and related art.[3] The site has been cited in magazines such as the NRA's American Rifleman and True West Magazine and magazine format television shows such as Shooting USA on the Outdoor Channel.

History

Launched in May 2007[4] by "Bunni", The Internet Movie Firearm Database (IMFDb) was originally set up to help identify the use of firearms in Hollywood films. For the first few months of its existence, it listed only a dozen films including The Matrix, Platoon and Pulp Fiction. As the site grew, so did its content. In June 2007, the site began to list television shows as well as films.[5] The site has since been expanded to include pages for video games and anime.

Today the data base has grown to list over 4,260 films,[6] nearly 950 television shows,[7] over 500 video games[8] and 225 Anime series.[9]

The site has been used as a reference source by the owners of several shooting ranges located in Las Vegas, Nevada. After hearing customers ask to rent certain types of firearms used in movies and video games, the owners of the range used IMFDb to research the weapons in question.[10]

Structure and content

The database is set up to help curious moviegoers find out what firearms are used in various films. The site features many images of actual weapons used in films. IMFDb is able to get these images because many of its largest contributors are weapons masters working in Hollywood.[11]

Movies

Movie articles on the site typically include a list of the firearms in chronological order of their appearance. As part of each entry there is a text description of the firearm. Text sections also describe its use and/or significance to the scene or movie if integral to the storyline and which characters used the firearm. The provenance of the firearm may also be described to include other movies that had similar firearms or this particular firearm. One example of this is the 1887 Winchester Lever Action Shotgun which was featured prominently in the 1991 movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day (as can be seen in the movie's poster) and then made an appearance in the 1999 movie Wild Wild West.

Following the text are one or more stills showing the firearm in action /and/or which characters used it. The photos will often show original forms of the firearm along with variant versions.

Television shows

Television show article are typically quite lengthy as the shows often had numerous episodes over several seasons such as Gunsmoke that ran for twenty years. These articles are generally organized in one of several ways. One is to list all of the firearms (alphabetically) used in the series and then credit in each description the episodes it appeared. Another is to list the firearms chronologically by episode or season if they appear in a consistent manner. Another is to group the firearms by type (i.e. pistols, rifles, sub-machine gun, etc.) then describe their story and character use and episode credits.

Video games

Video game articles are much like the ones for movies and television shows with regard to the information included. There is no consistent format as they appear to follow the conventions used in the movie as well as the television show articles. Firearm provenances provided are for other games in a single series such as the James bond themed 007 or Resident Evil game series.

Anime

Anime (Japanese animation) articles are formatted much like the other categories of articles, but present a unique circumstance in the identification of firearms used. Anime, unlike live action media, is drawn and as such may draw upon a variety of sources. Generally speaking any firearm, from any era, in any variant (actual or possible), with any accessory, capacity, or configuration is fair game for inclusion. This assumes that due sometimes to the crude or unrefined drawing style of the animators that identification of the firearms is possible.

Prohibitions

Exclusions

One particular category of arms that is not intended to be a part of the database are fictional firearms. For example, weapons that are beyond current technology such as laser (as the projectile), plasma, and/or nuclear particle (i.e. photon, etc.) devices are typically not accepted by the contributors of the site. Often this category of fictional weapons is associated with video games and anime, but some movies (science fiction in particular) contain these as well. In these instances, the devices that represent actual firearms or hypothetical future evolution of current firearms are represented.
As the database primarily relates to small arms, categories of large destructive devices are excluded as well. One such example would be an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
No homemade films are permitted.[12]

Exceptions

Exceptions to the exclusions above are small arms that are fictional but constructed from real-life firearms (modified or original), even if the projectile is completely fictional. An example would be the blaster rifles from the Star Wars movies. These devices fire "bolts of energy" in the movies, and the firearm they are based on is the British-made Sterling sub-machine gun.[13][14] Another example would be the 1999 movie Wild Wild West, in which a powered (as in, automatically revolving) Gatling gun is used, even though this was not realized until 1946 -- Gatling guns in the era in which the film is set were exclusively operated by hand crank.

References

  1. ↑ "IMFDb Statistics". imfdb.org. 2012-12-22. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
  2. ↑ "Imfdb.org Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  3. ↑ Bourjaily, Philip (15 April 2009). "Bourjaily: The Internet Movie Firearms Database". Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Revision history of "Main Page"". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Revision history of "Category:Television"". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "Category: Movie". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Category: Television". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Category: Video Game". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  9. ↑ "Category: Anime". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  10. ↑ Hernandez, Daniel (30 November 2012). "Vegas gun ranges target thrill-seeking tourists with ever bigger weapons". Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2012. They even stock their arsenals through research on the Internet Movie Firearm Database, a website that lists guns appearances in media the way IMDB does actors.
  11. ↑ "User:MoviePropMaster2008". Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "IMFDb: Rules, Standards and Principles". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  13. ↑ imfdb:Sterling SMG
  14. ↑ imfdb: Star Wars

External links