Oui, you answered it. I doubt it'd be that easy to make computer effects work it out for you, so your best bet would be a scale model.

Alternatively you could build a set and destroy that?

A lot of effort I know...but if you manage to destroy it using CG I'd like to see the end result! I don't know if you've got any 3D software like Maya or Bryce but you could make a replica of the building in that, made up of so many hundreds of objects, and then set them paths for the explosion effect - but that again would take ages.

Mark "m0ds" Lovegrove

Cool. I've got 3D studio max but I'm kind of old school and prefer reality whenever possible.

Scale model it is then with lot's of loose bits.

Hey Chris why use a scale model - why not have a look around for a demolition site and film the demolition ball hitting the wall.

Alternatively if you have the budget, actually destroy a house using a small explosive.

Three ideas:

(1) Contact the city/state government and find out if there are any demolitions planned. In California CALTRANS handles most of these. They have right of way agents buy up property in the way of future freeways and such and at times they unhook the gas lines and level the house. You might get lucky and come across a demolition worth shooting (as happened with Tim Burton when he filmed a Casino being leveled and used it for Mars Attacks).

(2) Carefully set up your camera on a tripod in front of a real house and create a background plate. You can have people moving in the windows and all of that.

Create a model house and set the camera up to shoot the model at exactly the same angle. This way you can overlap the model and the real house and have at least half of the house be real up until and after it is crushed (especially real through the door, windows and some nearby trees). You can also get a real sky showing through if you have green screen behind the metal leg.

If you can match well enough you could have the right side of the house real and the left side fake. You could have real doors and windows showing through the model side so that people could react in fear and then run out the front door (heading out so they pass in front of the real side of the house. If composited correctly it shouldn't be too hard and should have enough real elements to make people accept the whole thing.

It still means building a model though.

(3) Carefully shoot a real house. Take a still shot of the image. Build a house out of kids blocks that is the same size. Paint the blocks white. They dont' have to look exactly like the house. Cut out the still shot so that it frames the outside of the house to make matting between the real house and the block house easier.

Have the metal leg walk up and kick the block house, sending blocks all over.

Kick a bunch of sand (with greenscreen in the background) so you can use the sand as dust.

Composite the real house and the metal leg together so that the block house is totally hidden by the real house until the frame the foot blasts it into pieces. Hide the switch over with a dust cloud or something filmed seperately. You don't have to hide it 100% but it is best if the blocks are primarily visible as flying debris and rubble afterwards. Animate a handful of frames to ensure it looks better than it sounds.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Some great tips here folks, thanks. I guess I'll roll my sleeves up and get busy building the model as soon as I've found the right house.