Safety and Effects: Breaking a TV with a bat

J

jowei

Well-known member
Hi guys, we're prepping for a music video shooting, and the final take will be the subject breaking a TV showing some footage. The TV is to be broken with a bat, and we need to know how safe it is, and how to create some sort of effect of the TV "Exploding" when the bat makes contact, obviously without having it turned ON. Any advice, or experience doing so would be appreciated.
 
If the TV is supposed to be showing footage at the moment it is smashed, then I think it does need to be on at the time - trying to fake it in post would be serious work to look believable.

I'd do a shot of the person swinging at the TV (making sure they don't actually hit it!) then cut to a closeup of the real bat impact - that way for the latter shot the audience won't see that the bat-weilder is now wearing safety goggles and other protective clothing. I wouldn't expect the TV to 'explode' as such on impact, but you might get lucky and get an electical flash or whatever. (Presuming you'll be using a crappy old cheap TV, I'd suggest shooting the sequence with several such TVs - some will unpredictably smash better than others.) There's a big chance of glass flying around dangerously, so the safety gear is a must. And electrical isolation so that a possible short circuit won't blow the wiring on the whole building...

If you end up with good footage but the 'explosion' isn't visually exciting enough, in theory you could bling it up with some composited fake explosions/flashes/sparks from something like Particle Illusion or After Effects, but continuity may be an issue, as you'll presumably want a later shot of the smashed TV.
 
If you mean an old glass tv, your going to have a problem braking it with a bat. Those things have a two inch think bit of glass, ive shot TVs with ball bearings going the speed of sound (strange hobby) and it wont get all the way through. You could crack it, but its very unlikely you will smash the whole thing, certainly with one smack. Ive bashed up CRT monitors and it takes a few hammer blows to crack it... You would be better off taking the glass out, replacing it with some more breakable glass and cornerpinning the image over the top in post...
 
Thanks guys, I like both ideas....of changing the shot at the moment of impact, that way I can turn on the footage to be seen, then proceed to break the screen in the other shot. also replacing the screen might be a better idea than trying to break an actual old tv screen, since it's hard as hell, I saw some big muscular guy trying to break one with an aluminum bat on youtube, and he needed 2 tries. I'm just a little bit concerned about the glass flying around, and NOT getting a dramatic shot, since it will close the music video. adding VFX would add up to our budged, I don't know how much, but I'll do some research on it.
 
I've broken a television with a baseball bat while shooting highspeed film, and it works pretty well.

It was a very old tube television which is under a vacuum, so when you shatter the glass with the baseball bat be prepared for a sub-sonic boom that is not expected. The glass flies decently, but it's not any kind of Micheal Bay type stuff.

;)

PS. Safety gear is a must for the person breaking the television AND anyone on set.
 
Old TV's have a cathode ray tube (CRT) that is under a vacuum. When you strike a TV with a bat you have to hit it very hard as, (correctly stated in the above post) TV's are made to be very tough on the front of the CRT. The tube will IMPLODE upon the strike and the back of the tube will fly forward and the front will pull backwards. You will want the person striking the tube to have protection and definitely will not want to touch any of the capacitors on the circuit board (large can-shaped cyllinders) as they store a charge . Some may store more than a human body can take through the heart. The CRT itself can store a HUGE charge for decades and old TV's have been known to electrocute children and adults that touch the stinger lead in the back even after they have been off for years. So be careful. Flying glass and electricity are not your friends. Can you have two cameras running on the break in a 90 degree off configuration? That will give you your shot after editing. :)
 
If you use a real TV, have an electronics person discharge the CRT and any large capacitors first. I don't think you could convince me to do that with a live TV.
 
Two TV's one with a glass front one without. Take a two shots of the bat "breaking" the glass of the one without glass stop right at the point of impact. Change POV of bat going through "glass".

Clear the set! Shoot a shotgun through the back of the Glass front TV while filming from the front. Intercut all footage.

Same was done here at :30 http://www.vimeo.com/711247
 
ProfessorU said:
If you use a real TV, have an electronics person discharge the CRT and any large capacitors first. I don't think you could convince me to do that with a live TV.
Click to expand...
Fortunately, there are plenty of people who would be willing, and cheap too! Mwahahaha!
 
"...Shoot a shotgun through the back of the Glass front TV while filming from the front..."

Jim, I'm sure you are referring to shooting from a safe direction and not directly in front of the blast. :kali: :shocked: That could be very hard on the camera and cameraman! It may even ruin their whole day... :2vrolijk_08:(I know what you meant. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG))
 
I tried this with a non-powered television with a hammer.

The hammer head broke off. Small chip in the screen.

Remember the cartoon effect where someone hits something solid and the vibration rattles their body? That's a real life effect.
 
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