getting hit with a shovel..

sebbyp

sebbyp

hello film friends!

creative question for you hardcores out there.
am shooting a video clip where a girl gets hit in the back of the head with a shovel.
I would like the shot to be in slow motion as the attacker raises the shovel to swing and then just before he makes contact i would like the time speed back up to normal.

what are your thoughts on actually accomplishing this without ACTUALLY hitting the girl square on the head and knocking her out, getting sued etc.

my vision is to have characters side on in a Mid long shot from about knee's up.
to complicate things even further there will most probably be a scenic background overlooking a lake (so if i was to film the characters actually doing the movements in slow motion it would be noticed in the bg). but i am willing to compromise to get the shot.
 
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The 2 dimensions of the camera can be an
amazing thing.

The actor with the shovel can swing past the
actress, not hitting her at all, and it can look
just like she gets hit. Throw in a little acting
- a head snap, a grunt, the look of pain - and
a sound effect, and you have a very realistic
looking hit.

For the slow motion, all editing software has
that capability. You can slow down specific parts
of the shot and then speed up other parts. No
need to have your actors slow down and speed
up on set.

Shoot the scene from several different angles
and focal lengths - have the actors try several
different things - and then when you are editing
you can experiment with the different speeds with
several different choices. that way you can get
exactly the effect you want.

http://www.darkcrimes.com/movies/shovelhit.mov
 
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The 300 effect eh?

Rik pretty much gave you your answer...however...sometimes you can do these kinds of shots in reverse. Give it a try. Just make sure the actors don't blink...lol.

This may not work at all for what you're going for...but certain trick shots are great in reverse...
 
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Composite video effects.
Film the girl seperately reacting as if being hit.
Rid up a dummy head to crack open with gore when hit (you can find how to do this in loads of places. Try www.indymogul.com) then film it being hit by the shovel.
Of course if you don't want gore you can just film the shovel swing to composite.

Then you can use after effects, vision lab or a similar program to composite the two shots. Thus making it look like the girl's head get's wacked without and damage to the actor.
 
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countevil said:
Composite video effects.
Film the girl seperately reacting as if being hit...........Then you can use after effects, vision lab or a similar program to composite the two shots. Thus making it look like the girl's head get's wacked without and damage to the actor.
Click to expand...

We did exactly that in this shot. One of my favorite effects. It's pretty seamless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kfd2fbRQF1k&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kfd2fbRQF1k&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
 
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Scoopicman said:
We did exactly that in this shot. One of my favorite effects. It's pretty seamless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kfd2fbRQF1k&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kfd2fbRQF1k&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Click to expand...

Yeah that effect definately worked. You wouldn't have know.
Of course if you were to do it in slow motion you'd have to be really prescise. Every detail would be seen.
 
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Pool stick break worked nice. But how did the guy get turned around when he went through the wall? :D
 
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countevil said:
Yeah that effect definately worked. You wouldn't have know.
Of course if you were to do it in slow motion you'd have to be really prescise. Every detail would be seen.
Click to expand...

I just played the clip at 30% speed and it still looks good. The fact that the masks are both in front and behind her was the trick.

If you want to do the same thing and really simplify it, you can have the guy swing the shovel/stick from the opposite side of the girl. (watch for debris flying at the camera, only if you are breaking the shovel.) That way, you just trace the mask around her. He swings and it doesn't affect her mask. In the first take, put up a pole or standing 4" x 4" that takes her place. The guy hits that pole/wood. Without moving the camera or changing the light (it is that simple!), have your girl stand where the pole was and react, as if hit.

Another way, is to have the guy hold the shovel over his head and swing downward, on top of the pole/wood. The pole needs to be the same height (or slightly less) than your girl. Better yet, put some bloody cottage cheese on top of the pole, so that when the shovel smacks it, bloody chunks fly! Now, have your girl stand in for the pole, whip her head and fall down. Now, you have a headstrike with blood flying and it would look amazing.


Now, these shots are only suggestions. Directorik had the most practical idea, which was to place the girl in the foreground, facing the camera and have the guy hit her from behind. The sound effect (hitting a melon, for example) will sell it. Don't use a wide lens, because you want to compress/flatten the 2-dimensional space (longer lens or zoom in), making the guy behind her look much closer than he is.
 
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sebbyp said:
what are your thoughts on actually accomplishing this without ACTUALLY hitting the girl square on the head
Click to expand...
Not so hard, really. Long lens, safe distance, one actor in foreground, good cueing (for actress to know when to react), add slow-mo & sound FX in post. And maybe have a prop shovel that's made of something a little softer, just in case.
 
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citychik said:
Not so hard, really. Long lens, safe distance, one actor in foreground, good cueing (for actress to know when to react), add slow-mo & sound FX in post. And maybe have a prop shovel that's made of something a little softer, just in case.
Click to expand...
For good slow-mo you need to be prepared for it during filmimg. You can't just slow it down in post, it will look cheap. No you need to film at a high frame rate for it to be effective.
 
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sebbyp said:
whats a decent high frame rate?
brilliant suggestions so far, thanks very much. I'd love to get a fake shovel but have no idea how i'd pull that off? haha.
Click to expand...

Yeah, not sure where you'd find suppliers in Melbourne (I imagine you know which search engines or web portals to use to find local stuff), but you could see if any prop suppliers have a rubber shovel like this:
http://austinprops.com/shop/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=138
comersus_viewItem.asp
 
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