Blood Spray!

[philthyphil]

Hey guys

I've read the forum for quite some time, this special fx section has been especially helpful. Got a question that the more experienced of you may be able to help me with.

What is the best way to achieve blood spraying from a fresh wound?

I would be using the effect twice in the film, firstly when a chunk is bitten out of a guys neck, secondly when a pen is shoved into an eye. in both situations the victim will grab the wound, so ive been thinking that as they will have their hands over the wound i would use some hidden tubing to spray the blood.

would this be the best way to achieve the effect? what kind of tubing is best and what do i attach it to in order to get it to spray?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks guys.

[ReelSplatter]

A garden sprayer or large syringe (you can get them off of vetinary supply websites fairly cheap, make sure they don't have needles attatched and if they do remove it!) attatched to a tube would be your best bet. For a garden sprayer, just unscrew the nozzle and slide in some fish aquarium tubing. Duct-Tape around it or glue it to close the seal. For the syring, do the same. Hide the tube up the actors sleeve and have them cup it in their hand. On action start pumping! Be sure to thin out your blood before trying to pump it through tubing. If your using prem-made stage blood, be careful it doesn't get in to the actors eyes, as it will sting like hell, and isn't the safest thing the world. I prefer to use home-made corn syrup based blood. Just add water and red food coloring, a little bit of blue and your in business. 100% safe and edible blood. Add more water to thin it out, or buy some Photo-Flo (or Flo-Promoter) a chemical used in developing film, a few drops will thin the blood out immensly and you won't lose any color or opacity. If you use the chemical, try not to get it in anyone's eyes or mouth!

[philthyphil]

Cool thanks alot. got a sprayer from a local garden centre, seems to be working fine. we've already made the blood up, we'll have to thin it out abit though its quite thick at the minute.

We're also going to try make a pen in the eye type wound like you guys did for your july 4th card with the fire work in the eye, that was awesome! Any tips on how to make that wound without cheesecloth? can't seem to find any, unless it has a different name in the UK

Thanks again.

[ReelSplatter]

No problem man! You can make a base for the effect with paper towel or toilet paper, you can also use any kind of craft mesh.

Post some pics when you get the chance!