Unless you are a complete idiot, you will have realized that in the movies, any time some innocent victim gets smashed over the head with a bottle or thrown through a window that the glass isn't exactly glass...its actually something called Sugar/Candy Glass (they are both the same thing but in this blog i will refer to it as Sugar Glass). Sugar Glass is more common with Bottles than glass professional movie makers now have a "better" way to make fake windows and glass which is to use new hard to get materials, such as special thin plastics and paraffin. To make a these breakaway glass window for a movie stunt they would use cellophane that is tightly stretched over a wooden frame. A smaller, metal frame that has the same dimensions as the window needed for the movie prop is placed inside the wooden frame. Both frames are placed on a hot aluminum table. The cellophane shrinks and forms a smooth tight surface on the metal frame. Pellets of plastic resin are melted with heat and poured into the metal frame. The frame with the 'hot glass' is placed on a level table to cool. When the metal frame is removed, an authentic-looking sheet of glass is ready for a sensational stunt. In the latest James Bond's movie, Die Another Day, polyurethanes and silicones were used to create a spectacular ice palace. In a daring high speed car stunt the huge ice palace doors were shattered, making it the biggest single use of breakaway glass in the movies. Although candy glass has been replaced, it has been used occasionally for movie stunts, as in The Poseidan Adventure (1972), The Birds II (1994), and Police Story I (1985). In a dramatic fight scene at shopping mall in Police Story I, Jackie Chan smashes through special double-thick glass shop windows, leaving sharp fragments embedded in his skin. Daunting, isn't it? But now you know the secret--it was only a sweet stunt!
If you like me are an young yet passionate Movie Maker like me and you need to smash a bottle over an actors head without Killing them then my suggestion either to buy one on the internet or if you dont have 100 bucks to spend on a pack of 6 (me again) then i would suggest you buy a Glass bottle of Coke or whatever and buy some clay, wrap it around the bottle TIGHTLY I cant stress that enough and make sure that there is no air bubbles or whatever then take a knife or whatever and simply cut around the bottle from the top to the bottom and then to the top again. Go to your local School or Pottery club and ask use their kiln if they say yes Great you know have a mold for your Sugar Glass Bottles if you under stood my cutting instructions. Now make the mixture using the recipe below and when it is soft wrap it around a tube or straw or something, put it in the mold and start blowing then i might suggest to put a cork in the mold or block it so the air cant get out. then let it cool and Viola. (i would suggest that you have a few practice shots before the real one)
On all the recipes i have seen on the web here Is My Favorite Recipe
If you like me are an young yet passionate Movie Maker like me and you need to smash a bottle over an actors head without Killing them then my suggestion either to buy one on the internet or if you dont have 100 bucks to spend on a pack of 6 (me again) then i would suggest you buy a Glass bottle of Coke or whatever and buy some clay, wrap it around the bottle TIGHTLY I cant stress that enough and make sure that there is no air bubbles or whatever then take a knife or whatever and simply cut around the bottle from the top to the bottom and then to the top again. Go to your local School or Pottery club and ask use their kiln if they say yes Great you know have a mold for your Sugar Glass Bottles if you under stood my cutting instructions. Now make the mixture using the recipe below and when it is soft wrap it around a tube or straw or something, put it in the mold and start blowing then i might suggest to put a cork in the mold or block it so the air cant get out. then let it cool and Viola. (i would suggest that you have a few practice shots before the real one)
On all the recipes i have seen on the web here Is My Favorite Recipe
Instructions
Materials :
- Old saucepan
- Oven
- Baking thermometer
- 2 measures of water
- 1 measure of golden syrup
- 3 1/2 measures of sugar
- A mould for your glass (depending on the shape requirements)
Steps :
- Mix the water, golden syrup and sugar together in the saucepan and bring it to a boil on the oven.
- Leave it boiling until the mixture is thick, with almost all the water boiled off.
- Pour it into whatever mould you're using and let it cool.
Notes :
- Keep it out of moist areas and direct sun.
- Sugar glass doesn't last long (warps or goes sticky) so make it close to the time when you plan to use it.
- Though only sugar, the glass can have sharp edges/points when broken, so be careful when handling.
- Do not let the sugar caramelise otherwise it turns into a horrible brown
To achieve the see through glass affect use liquid glucose instead of golden syrup. It still has the same properties just that it is clear.
Here what it should look like (keep in mind i did not film this i simply found it on youtube)
Tom Savige
