Blood

[biohazard13]

Can someone help me with fake blood? I have no idea on what to use as fake blood. I've seen a few recipes on the internet, but they have downs:-

a.) Corn Syrup + Red & Blue food coloring = The colour sticks, even to your skin (that's what I read on another website)

b.) Washing Liquid + Red & Blue coloring = It tastes foul (can't do for mouth bleed scenes)

Questions:

1.Are there are other recipes that doesn't use food coloring?

2. Can we subsitute corn syrup with any other thick stuff other then washing liquid?

3. Does the recipes stains wall and floors? Cuz I'd be sued real good if it does!

Thanks in advance!

[AJ]

I think pretty much all fake blood will cause at least a little staining, it really depends how quickly you can clean it up.

If you're looking to create a massively bloodstained location, it might be a good idea to get some plastic sheeting and a cheap carpet to cover the expensive flooring.

Also, you might consider using cut up acetate or gels to create pools of 'blood' which will be more than adequate for most wide shots. Used in conjunction with make-up and fake blood on your actors, you'll get some pretty effective scenes.

[Mommy's Little Monster]

Blood will stain just about anything, even skin. Red is a really strong pigment so you really don't have a choice, AJ made some good suggestions with covering up expensive stuff with cheaper stuff.

If you shoot quickly and the blood doesn't have too much time to dry then you can use shaving cream to help clean up. It soaks up the colour really well and if you are lucky it will get it all off. If not you will just have to scrub a bit harder in the shower. As for clothes bleach and colour safe bleach should get out any blood. For locations, a steam cleaner and a carpet cleaner should work nicely.

As for corn syrup, no you don't have to use it, it's just that it has a good consitency and is readily available, but you can try to find something else. Corn syrup is the standard though, even bloods you buy in stores are made with corn syrup. It is a good idea though to use some dish soap, it helps the blood clean up a little better, not too much though or else it will foam alot and look stupid. And last but not least NEVER USE BLUE FOOD COLOURING! I'm sure we all remeber from kindergarden that blue and red make purple, you don't want purple blood. Use green instead. The whole purpose of the extra colours is to make it look opaque. Green will do the job without screwing up the colour. If you don't want to use food colouring you can use make-up pigments but they will stain more, are not safe for the mouth, are hard to come by and really expensive compared to food colouring.

[goriddle]

*sigh* try ketchup. add a little worcestershire sauce and put it on your hamburger.

[goriddle]

Oh! and never put washing fluid in your mouth.

[Randy Robinson]

For Thunder Hills we have a large bucket of blood that contains -

Light Corn Syrup
Red Food Coloring
Green Food Coloring
Liquid Dish Soap
and some Powdered Sugar (this is so that the blood isnt to transparent).

This will be used on the skin and on clothing because it will not stain, because it has the soap in it.

We also have a big bottle of blood for the mouth which contains all of the above, only without the soap.

They both look awsome and very much like real blood.

[dsketch]

Well the recipie that I use works pretty well and if you get it in your mouth it tastes pretty good.

Red food coloring
LIGHT corn syrup
Chocolate syrup
Mix with water

The chocolate syrup of course makes it opaque, but when it dries it looks like dried blood. And there's no problem with getting it in your mouth. I find this looks more like REAL blood than anything else.

[biohazard13]

Thanks a zillion, guys!

I'll follow your tips, once again, thanks alot.

[biohazard13]

Err... is glue a good subsitute for corn syrup?

[AJ]

You can try using Lyles Golden Syrup it makes for pretty good stringing gloopy blood, and it tastes pretty good too! ;D

I wouldn't suggest using glue, most of them contain solvents or are irritants, and it might also prove to be even more difficult to clean up the resulting mess once your glue has dried!

[goriddle]

elmers white glue won't hurt you though. I think thats what he meant. I was tooling around with some effects today. I needed blood, but didn't have any of the usual ingredients to color it with so I mixed a few different acryllic paints into a perfect blood color and added it to the syrup. To make a long story short- this is the method I will be using from now on. Strangly enough, it is very easy clean up.