Okay, here's my dilema. I'm trying to break a baseball bat over someone's back for a small school video. The only problem is I don't want to kill the person (call me crazy). Does anyone know of a way to create a realistic baseball bat that will break on contact (and look real) but won't hurt the person that's being hit?

My only idea is plaster, but I'm not sure how that would look.

The best technique would be to use a real baseball bat up until the last possible moment. Cut to a shot with the fake one just as it hits the actor. Make the fake one out of something that can splinter, like balsa wood, prebroken or something like that.

Are there any websites that sells stunt props on the internet?

We had to do this kind of stunt too, I have a few ways but they may take time and drive you mad after a few tries but here are some creative ideas:

Protect the actors back by padding them. Of course you would do this for health and safety but it can help show the impact and make the viewer see it as the back snapping with the impact of the bat.

My second idea is to cut to a close up and just beat the crap out of a home made dummy wearing the clothes of the actor (This may only works if the item of clothing does not show the actors skin e.g.: Arms , hands , neck) therefore harder to explain to sharp viewers what that shot was about.

The bat must be cut half way through nearly 90%through this will allow the bat to break on impact and please use the side where you have cut to its easy to take the hit. Use the saw dust from the cutting of the bat to cover the gaps so your bat does not look "fake".

Disclaimer: These are ideas which have worked for us but because they are involving people getting hit it’s up to you if you use these ideas.