Throat Cutting

[sportladirector]

I need some help with a horror short that I will be directing soon. I'm very excited about the project, as it will be the first short that I have made that I felt like had a good script, and it will also be my first horror story. Horror movies have always terrified me, so I think it will be fun to make one.

However, as I have not made one yet, I am playing it by ear on a lot of the effects, specifically the blood effects. Most of the deaths will be accomplished with little to no blood, but one important scene involves someone's throat being cut open, and a significant amount of blood spray from that wound. My thinking on this would be to have a tube under the actors clothing with one end taped in place just below his shirt collar, and the other end attached to a pump in his hand (his hands will be out of the frame). When the time is right, he will just squeeze the pump to eject the blood that is stored in the tube.

Does this sound like it will work ok? Or is there a better way I could accomplish the same task?

[ReelSplatter]

Are you planning on showing the slashed neck? For a good spray, I recomend using a garden sprayer. You can buy them at any Wal-Mart or Home Depot type store for under $20. Unscrew the nozzle and duct-tape the tube in in it's place. Fill it with blood, pump it up to the max and on action have your actor pull the trigger, the blood should spray pretty well. Just make sure you thin it out alot, or it will just clog the tube. If you have access to Phot-Flo, a film developing chemical, you can use a few drops to thin out the blood tremendously without losing the color. Just don't ley anyone eat the blood or get it in their eyes. You can get make-up grade Photo-Flo pretty cheap here:

monstermakers.com

Good Luck!

[sportladirector]

Thanks. How do you recommend making the blood. The final cut of the film will be in b/w, so the color would not absolutely have to be spot on, but if the blood looks good enough then I will show it in color.

[ReelSplatter]

Okay, what you want to do is get some Corn Syrup (Karo Syrup) the clear kind. It's available at any grocery store. You want to mix a a bunch of it into a bucket with some warm water and stir until it has a uniform thickness, add more or less water depending on how thick you wwant it, though if your pumping it through a tube, you want it pretty thin. Now add loads of red food coloring and stir in it. Add a few drops of blue to give a darker more relaistic color. Keep adding food coloring until you get the dsired color. Just remember that you want this blood to be really thin if your pumping it, otherwise it will just clog the tubing. If you have the extra money, I recomend getting some Photo-Flo (flo-promoter) off Monstermakers.com, like i said in the other post, it's not that expensive and a few drops will cut te thickness of the blood by 100X and you won't lose any color, all stage blood contains it. Just don't get the blood in anyone's eyes. And don't let them swallow it.