hit on head

[Multiplex Manner]

Hey, I'm making a comedy horror film soon and there's not much gore but a few instances of people/zombies getting hit pretty hard with pieces of wood, etc.
Any ideas on how to make this look good and cause the actors a minimum amount of pain?
Or will I just have to do some quick editing with sound effects, etc?

[Mommy's Little Monster]

I would make a mold out of a 2x4 and pour in some polyfoam (avail. at http://www.smooth-on.com). Once the polyfoam is set you just need to paint it up like a peice of wood. You can get rubber stamps at a hardware store that recreate wood grain. This will cause the actors the least amount of pain (maybe even none, depeds how hard you hit them). You will still need to do some quick editing and sound effects to pull it off, but the fact that you have something safe to hit them with helps alot. Oh and in the mold, don't forget to use copius amounts of mold release (vaseline works best)

[SeanHope]

Little Monster I think has the perfect course of action. the only thing I would add is you can make a mold of the "Real" wood that you want to whack a person with.

The only thing to remember is the person getting hit needs to react to the bashing, in other words they need to act. This is 90% of how an action sequence works, the reaction of the person taking the blow. and it also help to have great sound effects - just becareful about going over the top - though you are making a comedy if you use up all your real zinger sound effects to early the comedy will also end there.

[Multiplex Manner]

Thanks for the advice guys.