How to do a long, destructive, follow shot?

EvolvingMind

EvolvingMind

I'm currently in preproduction for a short film which involves a long shot that follows the main character entering a house, chasing a person armed with a wooden 2x4 through said house, and destroying a fair amount of stuff (tables, shelves, pictures etc) along the way.

I'm trying to figure out the best low budget way to make this happen, and seeing what's in our means of production. I know there's a lot of great breakaway props we could use, but I'm more concerned with how we'd prep a house for this type of thing without doing any real damage, as well as customizing the house to fit the needs of the shot and have a intense, claustrophobic feel.

When I say low-budget, I mean under $1000 or so. Also should note that I'm a 17 year old high school student. So there's that problem.
 
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You should take a tip from Jackie Chan then, watch some of his films. They break a lot of stuff and it's usually done on a low budget. Put a lot of chalk for effect ("puff"), make small cuts in things so they smash in the way you want them to. Buy cheap wood and build your own shelves, then rig them to break easily. Get cheap glasses and trinkets.
 
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remember that real stuff breaking doesn't follow your script, it'll cut your cast and crew for HOSPITAL real... so stick to pre cut wooden props and plaster casts of stuff (plaster of paris is cheap - and you can both mold your stuff you want to make, and cast with it as well -- add extra water to make it chalky and fragile).
 
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Safety, safety, safety.

Action powder (sandalwood + talcum) will help sell a 'hit' sometimes.

Use specifically designed props and sets, and make sure your actors have some sort of safety training...

Write within your means extends to this sort of stuff too. If you don't have the budget and know-how to do this properly, or the budget to bring someone on who does know how to do this properly, don't do it. There are too many people killed on big budget sets that have safety officers around, let alone a low-budget set full of high school kids.

I mean no disrespect, but at the end of the day safety should be your primary concern.


You might be able to fake it - you can pre-smash sugar glass and thin wood and scatter that around the guy as he walks; have a mid shot of him walking through the house. Then, cutaway to closeup shots of what he's destroying. Realistically, all you need is a shot of a piece of wood 'destroying things' - ie pushing pictures off a shelf or mantle, dragging through shelves etc.
You can easily do close ups of these things with everyone away from the camera, or even wearing safety goggles etc.
 
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Thanks for all the great responses guys! You're all right that safety should and WILL be our number one concern. Anyways, I think this summer we ARE gonna go for it, I'll post the finished product here when we're finished.
 
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This is probably the most amazing one take fight sequence I've ever seen. It's done by amateur filmmakers but they are professional stuntman and martial artists.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq_mClHZ3VM
 
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TheArtist said:
This is probably the most amazing one take fight sequence I've ever seen. It's done by amateur filmmakers but they are professional stuntman and martial artists.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq_mClHZ3VM
Click to expand...

Omg, thank you for posting this. Ever since I saw this thread I wanted to this post up but I couldn't remember the name of the short since I first saw it 3 years ago on my old YT account (now banned booo.....).

But anyways... if you want to make things easier, you can always use walls and objects to do hidden cuts. By this, I mean that you have to have the object or wall encompass the frame enough so that you can use that as an ending and beginning point for certain takes if things don't go smooth all the way. There are a few hidden cuts in the short above, too. I forget exactly where the guy told me, though.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
the ending of that. OMGOSH!
Click to expand...


Yeah, that's the icing on the cake :D.


This guy took part into a Tarantino sponsored online competition (into which I planed to participate) and he made the winning entry. The idea was to make a 2m shot that rips off QT's universe.

He nailed it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WenXwyGjsQ
 
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