Ketchup stains costumes. Besides, it's not real-looking, unless you're a Sergio Leone-wannabe aiming for spaghetti-Western effects. So while most mixtures avoid condiments, almost all are based on other common food products available at any grocery store.
For runny, crimson, oxygenated blood and splatters, Folino relies on a simple formula using corn (Karo) syrup and dye (red food coloring will work but is hard to wash out of clothes; Folino prefers red dye 40, available at Monster Makers & FX supply, 7305 Detroit Ave., Cleveland).
This is good for mouth-bleeding. Folino pours it in the corner of a sandwich bag sealed with a clothes hand iron. The actor bites it and spits blood. If used outside the mouth, add a squirt of liquid detergent to reduce staining. Cornstarch thickens. Water thins.
How to make it
• 2/3 cup light (clear) corn syrup
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 3-5 teaspoons red food coloring (less if using red 40)
• 2-3 drops blue or green food coloring
• 5 tablespoons corn starch
• A squirt of concentrated liquid laundry soap
• Mix ingredients, testing under stage lights and adjusting for color and consistency.
Alfred Hitchcock employed Bosco chocolate syrup for the shower scene in "Psycho." The viscosity and opacity were perfect, and he didn't worry about color for black-and-white film.
For live-action, adding detergent and red dye creates a convincing brownish, oxygen-depleted venous blood that smears like the real thing.
This was the formula for the copious blood spilled in "Sweeney." "It was so gratifying to hear the audience react every time I slit a throat," Folino said. "It was just awesome."
Folino hid sandwich bags in pockets on the inside of the aprons Todd put on his customers. As he slit, the customers reached instinctively for their throats and used their hands to dump the blood.
This mixture also can be used for dried blood. Use a hair dryer.
How to make it
• 2/3 cup chocolate syrup
• 1/3 cup concentrated liquid laundry detergent
• 4-6 teaspoons red food coloring (less if using red 40)
• Mix syrup with detergent, add food coloring, testing under stage lights.
• Refrigerate, if mixing in advance, until 1 hour before needed.
FOR ORGANS AND FLESH
Lots of other stage blood concoctions can be made of grenadine syrup, chocolate pudding, cherry Asian dipping sauce, flour, cocoa powder, arrowroot, instant coffee, and Kool-Aid or Jell-O mix.
And the corn and chocolate syrups can be manipulated in thickness and texture to create many effects, squirting through hidden plastic tubes, splashed on walls, spreading on floors.
To create blood with muscle or vital organs, some folks add peanut butter, smooth or chunky (depending on the grossness quotient), or pumpkin guts with the seeds removed.
Folino advocates for toilet paper (which we used in the photo at right) or oatmeal macerated in the corn syrup recipe until it's the gooey mess of head trauma.
Folino uses oatmeal in the headshot scene in "Evil Dead." "You can throw this stuff on the wall, and it sticks," Folino said. "It makes great brains."
How to make it
•1 portion of the corn syrup mix (top)
• Squares of toilet paper torn into thin strips OR oatmeal
• Blend the toilet paper (or oatmeal) into the blood a few strips at a time until the desired consistency is reached, testing for stickiness and color.
• Can be used as is or partially or fully dried.
Found off: http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2009/06/stage_secrets_revealed_how_to.html
No comments:
Post a Comment