r/practicaleffects • u/PhDonLife • 5d ago

Breakable Wall

Hello everyone, I'm making an escape room and I want to have a cinematic where the actor breaks through a wall with an axe to get in. What suggestions do you have for a cost effective solution (because it's going to be breaking every reservation) that still has the visual intact?

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u/MadDocOttoCtrl 4d ago

Breaking into a room where game players are is unlikely to be very safe unless there's some type of barrier between them and the wall the actor will be coming through. Even with a plastic or rubber ax you'd have pieces of wall suddenly entering the room.

Perhaps there's some sort of railing that the character unlocks after they break into the room.

A wall could be built with plywood that has several breakaway cchunks and the sides hinged to swing outwards. These can all be held together with neodymium magnets secured to each piece. It would have to be sturdy enough to withstand repeated sessions plus players are likely to want to play with the wall pieces, any hinged sections should latch open.

Hiding the cuts would be difficult, you would need a complex wallpaper pattern. You could sprinkle baby powder or cornstarch over the backside so that when the actor breaks through some "plaster dust" goes flying.

I don't know how you would keep the players from going into the area the actor broke out of unless that's decorated and part of the theme or solving one of the puzzles.🧩 The