Most of us know the old stand-by Corn Syrup and food coloring blood recipe. A few even know to add blue food coloring (a few drops) to the red to deepen the color and maybe some powdered milk to make it "opaque" when putting it on a white shirt or other light colored surface, but how many fake blood recipes do you know? There are dozens, maybe hundreds! (Probably just dozens though unless you count tiny variations like 10 drops of red vs 9).
I was taught by some great special F/X artists, one or two who I hope will post here, how to make different kinds of blood. In "Alien Vengeance: The First Encounter" we experimented with Corn starch and food coloring. It made a nice thick, if not a bit Orange on camera, kind of blood. Good for pooling n concrete, but only if you were shooting quickly. It dried to a powdery clump after a while. My friend, Tabitha, taught me about a good "dried blood" recipe using hair gel. I mix a little black in to give it a flatter look and just used it yesterday in File Error. It doesn't flow very well, but it stays in place (and stains skin) really well. We used it for a scene in "File Error" yesterday.
Please, feel free to use the comments to share some of your favorite blood recipes. What "spurts" well? What's too watery? What looks good in the dark? What about bright sunlight? Anything that won't stain? How about cheap enough to fill a bathtub?
Let's hear what ya got.
I was taught by some great special F/X artists, one or two who I hope will post here, how to make different kinds of blood. In "Alien Vengeance: The First Encounter" we experimented with Corn starch and food coloring. It made a nice thick, if not a bit Orange on camera, kind of blood. Good for pooling n concrete, but only if you were shooting quickly. It dried to a powdery clump after a while. My friend, Tabitha, taught me about a good "dried blood" recipe using hair gel. I mix a little black in to give it a flatter look and just used it yesterday in File Error. It doesn't flow very well, but it stays in place (and stains skin) really well. We used it for a scene in "File Error" yesterday.
Please, feel free to use the comments to share some of your favorite blood recipes. What "spurts" well? What's too watery? What looks good in the dark? What about bright sunlight? Anything that won't stain? How about cheap enough to fill a bathtub?
Let's hear what ya got.
From someone who responded to this on the FearNet version of this Blog:
ReplyDeleteMix brown, black, and red paints (acrylic) until you get a dark-brownish, rust color. Real blood looks brown when it's dried, so you don't want it to be too red. After blood loses its oxygen it loses its color. Once you've mixed it up, take a wide paintbrush, dip it into the mixture and shake it vigerously towards what you want to splatter. (It's also fun if you scream in anger everytime you wave your brush around)
Of course, for ultra-realistic blood spatter patterns, consider how the person was killed, for this will dictate the pattern. Smearing works good too.
I don't know exactly what kind of Indie you're working on, but that's my advice for deliciously realistic blooooood.
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