Blowing up a hole through wall (NO PYRO)

I'm not sure how to do that scene. There are 2 aspects:
- The shot with the explosion (can be seen from inside or outside the room)
- The shot where the characters walk through the hole (seen from the outside)

BTW: I'll be editing on a powerful non-linear system with Premiere, After FX and some TBD 3-d software.

Here are my options. Any of these will include extra CGI effects of energy discharge:

1) Build a full-sized section of the wall.

What material to use? How to build it?
How to "blow it up"? No pyro please.
Is there a way to have the explosion off-screen without the whole thing looking cheap/fake?
What to use for flying debris, rubble?

2) Miniature

Materials? Techniques?
How to make the (non-pyro) explosion with the miniature? Compressed air maybe?
Can I insert my characters in the miniature realistically with a blue screen or another such method?

2) 3-D section of wall

My experience with 3-D is limited, so I'm not sure how if it would be possible to make a realistic effect.

3) "Drawing" the hole in the wall in with Photoshop.

That was my original idea, but I don't think it would look very good. It it'd probably be a pain to do anyway.

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I'm ready to combine multiple methods in order to achieve the effect. For example, I could have the explosion with the miniature (with extra CGI energy flashes), and then have the actors walk through a full-sized replica of the wall.

Also, if it easier to do, they could be blowing up the door instead. So, any suggestions? Keep in mind that my budget is pretty low, but I'd be ready to spend an extra $50 or more for that scene.

Thanks for the help, and y'all keep up the good work!

1) Buy some sheetrock. You can buy some pretty big chunks of this stuff from a hardware store for very low prices... It's the kind of wall most people have in their garages or as roofing for their attic. I think you can buy it to look like a white wall, but you may have to paint it yourself.

2) Set it up with some lumber to hold it up (email me if you need specific directions)... it should be some simple carpentry, and I've never taken a shop class in my life=)

3) Get yourself a BFH (or as we in the business like to call, a Big friggen' hammer)... If you don't have a sledge hammer, then any large type of hammer or axe will do...

4) Get yourself a computer editing suite.

5) Now set up the camera on the side of the 'wall' that actually looks like a wall. Get a guy with a hammer on the other side.

6) Start filming.

7) Have a guy on the other side BASH through the wall with the hammer. This should create plenty of 'debris' to fly at the camera. Drywall should also add some good-looking 'smoke' for an after effect.

8) stop filming once the dust settles=)

9) Break a bigger hole in the wall... as big as you want it to be... and once you're finished, start filming again... DON'T move the camera! DON'T have anything in the shot that wasn't in it before, unless it's a by-product of the explosion or something on the other side of the wall.

10) Get the footage into your computer. Using premiere, (or maybe something else), add the explosion (you can get an explosion from another source, and tint it blue, easily with ULead imagedeluxe or Photoshop or something...) Make sure the explosion doesn't cover the debris, and have it carry over from the 'hitting with the hammer' shot to the 'gaping hole' shot. You may want to slow down the footage of the hammer-hit, to make the debris fly more slowly and make it look bigger...

If this doesn't make sense then... uh... forgive me, I haven't had much sleep lately=)

or, rent "Hard Target" the Van Damme film... in the wharehouse sequence near the end they shoot at him (Damn, they miss) and it blows a huge hole in a metal wall.... the way they did it: the center of the wall had a hole in it with jagged edges (the finished hole) then they placed a panel in front of the wall and pulled it through the hole, exposing the hole and rough edges... add the pulse effects and voila, you have a non-pyro hole!

Or you could pay me big bucks to do it for real! (rent the movie)

Good luck,

Nick

[This message has been edited by Stuntman (edited 03-29-99).]

Mike

Have fun

1) Get yourself some blue insulating foam boards from your local home repair/remodeling/hardware dealer. This stuff is very light, very rigid, and easy as hell to cut and shape.

2) Design and build your set, with the exception of the wall you want to blow up.

3) Paint and scale the foam wall to your set. Make sure everything looks right.

4) Score the back side of the foam wall with a sautering iron. Be careful not to inhale the fumes, they are toxic. Or, just use a long knife. Make sure that the scoring runs deep, but doesn't mar the surface.

5) Mount the foam wall on a framework of 2X4's to rigidity, and mount it OVER your camera, so that the face of the foam wall is facing the floor.

6) Mount the camera on the floor, looking up at your foam wall surface.

7) Cover the backside of the foam wall with all kinds of debris, pieces of metal, etc. Heck, light something on fire just before you do the big "boom" so that it will drop through.

8) Light the foam wall like you would light that wall on your set.

9) Roll film.

10) Drop something heavy from above so that it crashes through the wall. Ensure that your camera is protected, however.

11) Fire bright lights, flashes, strobes, etcetera, as the wall comes apart. Use fire extingquishers, fired toward the camera, to simulate explosive smoke bursts.

12) When you play back the footage, it looks as if the wall just SHATTERS toward the camera with incredible force.

13) Take the wrecked wall, install it on your set. Blow some smoke, drop some debris, scatter dirt and twisted wreckage, and you have the aftermath.

I've done this, and it looks really cool.

Let me know if this works for you.

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