Experimenting With Blood #2

After reviewing the success of our last attempt at researching fake blood, Christal and I decided to do some further research into whether or not we could find a suitable type of fake blood to incorporate into our trailer.

Equipment used

Mixing the fake blood powder with water

Mixing the fake blood with paint filler

In comparison to our last attempt, we found this blood easier to work with as we were able to have greater control of its consistency. It also would have been safer to use this fake blood in comparison to the first one we tried, as it was ‘edible’ it would not harm the actor if it was accidentally consumed when filming. However, after mixing the powder with the water we found this fake blood remained in too much of a liquid state to be able to use for its intended effect. Furthermore, when we tried placing a drop of it on my skin, it showed up to be a deep shade of pink rather than the dark red we were looking for. As we were in the Media Suite, Christal looked around to see if there was anything we could add to the mixture in order to solve the consistency and colour issue. We found a tub of paint filler which we added in order to allow the mixture to have a denser quality, meaning it was less watery than before. However, doing so unfortunately changed the colour of the fake blood to a brown/burgundy colour which made the fake blood appear further from the appearance we wanted it to have.

'Scarlett' with hand prints before Dettol spray

'Scarett' with hand prints after Dettol spray

After failed to find success in the edible fake blood, Christal and I discussed other ways in which we could create the look of fake blood as we were determined to find a way of producing it effectively. We visited the DT Department at our school to ask if they had anything that we could use but were unsuccessful. However, when we asked the Art Department they were able to provide us with two shades of red acrylic paint which we diluted in cup with some water to create a more watery consistency. This was much more successful than the edible fake blood trial; we were able to create the shade of red that we wanted and also finally achieve the consistency we wanted the fake blood to have.

We decided to set this scene in the girls’ bathroom at our school due to it being convenient in terms of having the means to quickly remove the paint/fake blood, but also because it has a large, translucent window which allows natural light to shine through. Initially, I suggested we write ‘Scarlett’ on a mirror as many supernatural/thriller films use them such as The Unborn (2009), Mirrors (2008) and Axe (1977).  However, we found that the writing didn’t show up well due to the lighting and also the positioning of the camera. In response to this, we used the big windows next to it (as seen in the images above) to write the name with a number of hand prints surrounding it. At this point of our research, we considered the plot of Scarlett and how we could incorporate her story into this. We decided to use a large amount of faint hand prints layered over each other to represent the death of her family, with the one bold hand print being her own as she was the lone survivor and perhaps infer that she caused the death of the others.

When Christal went to remove the writing, we found that it the dripping effect of the Dettol spray we found in the Media Suite added to the mysterious tone that was created. Christal continued to spray the remainder of our work as the dripping blood effect it had adhered to the conventions of the horror genre. Despite the effect of this, we decided not to include it in our trailer as it would be difficult to replicate this on an actor. With hindsight, we also recognised the dangerousness of the paint staining our clothes/the actor’s clothes and also their skin.