Anybody been successful with blood explosions? I've been experimenting with homemade blood packets and air compression but haven't been terribly successful. Any advice? (Trying to pyrotechnics) Thanks!

Try tubing rather than packets. A bit of wax at the end will control the spirt better.

A little trick I’ve used:

Thread a length of fishing line through a small button with a needle. Carefully punch the needle through the inside of a condom so the button is inside. A drop of latex will seal the tiny hole the needle made.

Fill the condom with blood and seal it.

Attach the condom to a heavy (but small) piece of cardboard with super glue or liquid latex. With a bit of twine, tie this cardboard backing to your actor.

Now score the costume where you want the blood to fly. Thread the fishing line through the costume and set up your shot. When you yank hard on the fishing line, the button will pull out of the condom and the blood will spray.

Also, rather than an air compressor use a water fire extinguisher or a Husdon sprayer - the flow is more controllable. Even a large syringe - 100cc and bigger - and some aquarium tubing can do great blood explosions.

It sounds cool but I had trouble following what the final product will look like - if you have time, could you do a quick sketch in mspaint or something? Thanks again :)

I got it...

Something like this:

http://www.intensitymedia.org/button_bloodpack.jpg

Awesome, I can't wait to test this out- thanks directorik and Will Vincent!

LOL, when in doubt, duct tape it Eh, shave first. ;)

bah... nothing keeps the actors awake on set like ripping out a bunch of hair when removing used blood-packs.. :D

well, maybe faulty squibs. <BANG> "OUCH! #%(#" :lol:

post some of your test footage if you could, I'd like to see how that works out.

Very cool drawing Will!

When I get the time, I’ll post some examples of this technique. I’d love to see Xiolent post yours too!

We attempted to use compressed air for our gunshot and wasn't (excuse the pun) blown away. So ... we went old school and rigged up two firecrackers onto a babyfood jar lid and ignited them with the electric ignitors for hobby rockets (9 V switch). Cover the entire thing with a condom filled with Karo syrup and red food coloring. Attached these to a vest and ... BAM.

The actor actually WANTED to feel pain (damn method actors). We loaded two charges to two separate switches and when ACTION was called we could cue the exact moment of impact. Bought four shirts that were exactly the same and shot it twice more! Oh what fun that was. And nobody lost a single finger.

Then for the dramatic dying-on-the-floor scene we covered the actor in blood and soaked a sponge in blood for him to squeeze. Thick and tasty blood came from between his fingers and he dripped some out the side of his mouth. Look out Academy Awards!

This was dangerous and against the law (in NYS) but it provided the effect we wanted. Next time we'll drive across the border to PA and blow up more actors!

Alphie,

PA welcomes you anytime you want to blow someone up!

John

LOL @ John

Do firecrackers as squibs really work? I'm trying to imagine this so bear with me here. You take a firecracker, pull out the fuse, insert one of those model rocket igniters, run the wires down the actor's pants to a battery or a curcuit board, then touch them off?

Do you have a syrup to dye ratio?

I think I read somewhere that you don't want realistic gore/blood, you can have it and lot's of it but if it looks too real on the screen, people will loose their suspension of disbelief. Anybody else hear that? Realistic gore is bad?

LOL @ John

Do firecrackers as squibs really work? I'm trying to imagine this so bear with me here. You take a firecracker, pull out the fuse, insert one of those model rocket igniters, run the wires down the actor's pants to a battery or a curcuit board, then touch them off?

Do you have a syrup to dye ratio?

I think I read somewhere that you don't want realistic gore/blood, you can have it and lot's of it but if it looks too real on the screen, people will loose their suspension of disbelief. Anybody else hear that? Realistic gore is bad?
I left out one detail. The noise of the explosion is so loud that the actor will get the %^&* scared out of them. Which is also good. We did it three times but used the first take.

You have it right. Remove fuse ... insert ignitor ... run to battery and BAM.

The Karo to food color ratio is probably the same as an outboard motor. 50:1.

You're crazy alphie! 0.o Check out the poll on safety that's floating around here somewhere. ;) :)

How much pain did the actor experience and what sort of vest (and manner of rigging) did you use?

You're crazy alphie! 0.o Check out the poll on safety that's floating around here somewhere. ;) :)

How much pain did the actor experience and what sort of vest (and manner of rigging) did you use?

The pain is actually minimal, We tested the rig on our SFX guys a few times before we proceeded. Essentially, when you have a metal lid, double-sided tape (holding the lid to the ...) attached to a canvas vest you mostly feel pressure and not pain. The MOST important part of the whole formula is to make sure the actor DOES NOT reach for his chest UNTIL the second charge goes off (which was timed within 1/2 second of the first). Since we used two charges we had to make sure his hand was NOWHERE near the second charge.

We WERE as safe as possible. Everyone on the set were given ear plugs and the wires to the charges were about 25-feet long.

As a licensed pyrotechnician I gotta say that Alphie’s dangerous use of explosives is irresponsible. I’m so glad no one got hurt on your shoot. But I am terrified that others will follow your method and the gag won’t go as well.

Making a movie just isn’t worth it. I have dozens of stories where the use of explosives went wrong and people were hurt. All by filmmakers who did everything they could think of to protect each other.

I’m sad that a thread I’m involved in is advocating the illegal and dangerous use of firecrackers. If even ONE person gets hurt it’s not worth it. Even if you get the effect you want.

Please my friends. Don’t make movies where squib hits are required until you can afford to do it safely and legally. No movie is worth it.

I agree and apologize. Do NOT try this on your own set. Seriously. We were left with an 11th hour solution and reverted to a technique we developed when we were in high school. I, in NO way, encourage the use of dangerous and illegal exposives in any setting and hope that anyone reading this thread will NOT try this technique. We had every intention (literally up until 11 PM the night before the shoot) to utilize a safer solution but, in a moment of weakness, reverted back to something we knew was not right (but would produce the result we were looking for). Again, do NOT do this.

We did the same method as Alphie, and needless to say, it won't happen again. We can use the "we were in high school" excuse then, but even so- not safe.

The compressed air method works better if you figure it out, it just takes longer set-up times. The problem with the "cherry-bomb" method is not only the obvious, but there is debris, loud sound, heat, fire, etc... so much that could go wrong.

Pyrotechnics liscenses are pretty inexpensive- I would suggest picking one up with a small training course.

How do you aquire a pyrotechincian license?

*Edit* And how long till it expires once recieved? *Edit*

Licensing of pyrotechnicians is handled by your State Fire Marshal's office.

You need to get fingerprinted by the local police and pass a Federal background check - no felony convictions and even misdemeanors like simple drug possession or DUI’s can prevent you from passing. You need the signatures of five licensed Pyrotechnic Operators and a specified number of on set hours. Then the test which includes fire safety and first aid.

To get to the point where you can purchase, transport and fire explosives - even squibs - requires a Level II pyro card and a Class C drivers license.