Blowing up a Hole in a Wall
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 your editing suite add the explosion. 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...
Make a room out of strong wood, and the particular door you want to blow a hole in make out of sheetrock. Drill a few holes in the center of the sheetrock to make braking points, have people on the other side with fire extinguishers, and some people with boards. film the outside of the door, and don't let the camera see the holes you drilled. Have the people with the boards hit the sheetrock as hard as they can, then the people with the fire extinguishers squirt the cloud of smoke throw the hole made by the boards. If the opening for the actors is not big enough to fit through, then the people with the fire extinguishers don't stop spraying and the people with the boards knock the hole bigger, then while the dust is clearing have the actors walk threw the hole. If you wait for the dust to completly clear then the viewers can tell that the wall is very thin. ALSO BE SURE THAT THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER DOES NOT HAVE TOXIC FUMES!!!
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.
