actress in a grave

[dilmandila]

I'm planning to make a short film in which an actresses is burried alive and her hand shoots out of the grave, but, for my educational purposes, I dont want to use a green screen, or visual effects, or such thing. I want a 'real shoot'. Does anyone have an idea how I can achieve this without putting the actresse's life at risk?

 

[ZephyrStar]

How about you eliminate the cliche hand out of the ground shot alltogether? Is there a way in your story you can show it like nobody has shown it before, or a way that's rarely been done? Think Kill Bill 2...just put her inside a box and use some "dirt being thrown onto coffin" foley?

If you absolutely gotta do it...mound up some dirt like it was a freshly buried grave...have her lay on the side you're not shooting towards...bury her arm in the dirt with her forearm in the upright position...have her slowly dig out...might work? |:?

 

[Capt Quirk]

Even Kill Bill showed the heroine popping out of the earth, it is a really powerful emotional scene I think. If you MUST bury her, it would be safest to only use a few inches of dirt, and above all, she will need to breathe. A long tube that surfaces a couple feet from where she is buried should work as a snorkel.

 

[GenJerDan]

Fake it in a medium shot where nothing but the dirt and maybe headstone show. No one will know she's only busting through 2 inches of dirt atop a box of some sort.

Ever see Body Double? Like that, but from the other side, and not so deep.

 

[McLeish]

If you can, dont use the actress at all. Get someone more comfortable in risky situations. You can always fake a hand or an arm so unless you see her face you should be fine. Also, if you dont need to see the rest of the scenery, maybe it can be as simple as a shallow bucket with her hand blocking a hole that you cut out at the bottom, and she can just push her arm through, out the top, for the shot. That will only work if all you want is a close up of the hand coming out of dirt.