So if you are like me, then you must not be able to have access to things like photoshop, or sony vegas, or other expensive pro level software. In fact, the stuff I use at home is just Monkeyjam, Audacity, Gimp, and Windows Movie Maker, but my movies get better and better. Anyway, i learned this neat trick with windows movie maker for a unique gunshot effect (muzzle flash). Using this technique, you could also do other little effects. It will also work with live action videos. And yes, it is possible, let me explain the steps:
step 1:Create your Brickfilm like normal. In this example, we will make a short little scene where a guy shoots another guy
Step 2:so we are finished with our animation, and so far, it just looks like a guy lifting up his gun, flicking it, and another guy falling down. So it looks like he shot a gun, but no muzzle flash. Import this short clip into windows movie maker.
Step 3: Download this image and save it to your desktop- http://e8220110308175129-7713648.webstarts.com/uploads/muzzle_flash_sm.gif This is the muzzle flash for the film
Step 4: go back to windows movie maker, Skip to the exact moment in the timeline where the guy flicks his gun upward (as if shooting it) pause exactly at this moment. Press the split button to split the video clip
Step 5: Now, without moving your little timeline cursor press the screen shot button, you should have a saved pic of the guy paused while flicking his gun up.
Step 6:Import this screen shot into gimp, and then paste the muzzle flash you downloaded earlier into gimp as a second layer. Move the muzzle flash around and rotate/resize it until you get your desired flash
Step 7: there is still a black part around it, so click on the tab that says “colors”. a drop down menu appears, and then select “colors to alpha” a small box will appear, then select the part you want to alpha as black, then click “ok”
Step 8: you should have a realistic screen shot of the lego guy flicking his gun up, with a muzzle flash coming out of it. Import this screen shot into movie maker, between the split video clip. Shorten the screenshot to .1 seconds. Add sound effects.

After saving your movie, it should be there. This also works in windows live movie maker. It will look crude the first few times, but after some practice, it should look better. This is the low-budget solution to these type of effects. It also works with blood splatters. I give aled my permission to use this for the “resources” section of the site. Here is my video test on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAk2TFCx4po&feature=channel_video_title