MILQUETOAST PROCESS: BLOOD
In the last couple posts, we talked about the process of making the featureless silicone Humanoid mask (part one, and part two). In the spirit of continuing talks about some basic special effects, this post will deal with making blood for the screen, rather than hunting down where to buy stuff that costs more, and looks less realistic.
a still from Falling Apples using this recipe
If you just buy fake blood, chances are it will suck. It will probably be watered down corn syrup, and red food coloring. That's it. And if you look for how the Hollywood guys do it, there are surprisingly few good resources.
There's a million ways to skin a cat, so-to-speak, and depending on the type of blood (like unoxygenated arterial blood vs. pooled blood vs. dried blood) there's different aspects, you'll want to tweak.
Those different aspects are not what this post is about. This is how to make as close to a catch-all as possible. This is some good-looking general blood, and aside from the fact it gradually gets stickier as it dries, it's pretty all-around nice.
The last batch I made was enough to use pretty liberally for two entire short films (Falling Apples and Satori) with some left over.
Here we go...
Supplies:
- 16 fluid ounces light corn syrup
- 1 ounce red concentrated gel food color
- 1 ounce black concentrated gel food color
- .25 ounce standard yellow food coloring
- 1 liter contaner
- stir stick
Simple enough steps
some smeared blood that doesn't look like Code Red Mountain Dew
STEP ONE: Pour the light corn syrup, and all of the red concentrated gel into your liter container. Stir.
The key is that the concentrated gel won't thin down to pinkish as easily which would look totally fake.
- PROBLEMO UNO: This probably looks pretty good, but if you've ever given blood you know by comparison this stuff looks like candy. Blood is actually pretty dark stuff. If you use this on a light colored shirt, for example, it's going to look like they spilled cherry limeade on themselves. So...
STEP TWO: Dip just the tip of your stirrer into your black food color. Add a tiny amount into your red mixture and stir. I can't stress tiny enough. Stuff goes a long way.
a dab'll do ya.
You're going to add just a touch of black to get rid of the bright red color. You can always add more. Very difficult to add less.
- PROBLEMO DOS: Thinned blood shows the oxidizing iron in its cellular makeup, red food coloring plus corn syrup does not. So...
STEP THREE: Add all of the yellow food coloring. Stir.
if adding it all makes you nervous, add half first and see how little it does
The yellow will be totally invisible in the bottle of blood, but if you spread it thin, rather than getting the dumb looking pink smear, it'll be a subtle rustier color. Now this stuff looks good.
- PROBLEMO TRES: What did you do, stab King Kandy in his castle made of sweets? This is probably the thickest blood on earth.
STEP FOUR: Water it down to desired consistency.
You can really dilute this without losing the color. Try dripping some off of the end of your stir stick to test the consistency. Real blood is pretty cohesive but it won't gum up at all. Adjust the viscosity until it starts feeling like a thick liquid, and stops feeling like a syrup.
That's it. You should have pretty close to a liter of all purpose screen blood. It's non-toxic, will look okay as it gets diluted, even in a pool of water, and will stain like crazy. Have fun!
TIP: Hold the stuff up into some good light. Look at the glare. The blood should look deep red, while the glare should have a yellowish twinge to it.
note that the blood appears iron-y when thinned as opposed to looking like left over maraschino cherry juice
In the next post I'll talk about my experience with firearms, and the importance of having a dedicated armorer.
–Tyler
*For any questions on this process, or our short films (including Falling Apples and Satori), feel free to hit us up over on our contact page.
PS. If you're shooting in black and white take a lesson from Hitchcock, and just use chocolate syrup.
