www.slate.com: When it comes to adaptations of Carrie, the blood literally comes in buckets. For the newest version, director Kimberly Peirce was determined to get the climactic drop of pig’s blood just right. As she described it in a recent New York Times Magazine profile, she tried three-gallon, four-gallon, and five-gallon buckets, and she tried a three-foot drop, a four-foot drop, and a five-foot drop. Trying all these different configurations required take after take after take. When she asked Brian De Palma, director of the classical original Carrie (1976), how many takes it took him, he apparently replied, “What do you mean? We did one.”
20 comments:
Since I just watched Tim Burton's film version of "Sweeny Todd" last night, this article seemed particularly relevant. One of the things that bothered me about "Sweeny Todd" was something that was mentioned in the article- that sometimes blood looks too bright red and seems unrealistic. This movie had this issue, and although it may have been an artistic choice it did distract me. I knew there were many varieties of fake blood, but I never realized that a director might use more than one kind in a single movie, although it makes sense to me now. I also never thought of all the considerations other than color- how it flows, if it soaks into fabric, and whether it dries quickly or slowly, for example. I'd be interested in learning more about how fake blood for the stage differs from fake blood for films.
This is so awesome! I love seeing the evolution of fake blood. This summer, it was my task to make fake blood and I came across so many recipes that it was hard to find the right one that worked for our show, even though it was eventually cut all together from the show. However, it's great to see how technology has changed this part of the make-up/props based effect. We have moved from the chocolate sauce to cgi. What I loved most about this article was seeing how particular different directors are with what blood they use. It really shows you have they try to captivate the moment perfectly.
This is a really cool article, I find it fun to see what tricks props masters and special effects people will come up with. Also, chocolate syrup is still used today, mixed in with dyes and possibly a few other ingredients, but the idea that this has been used since the 60s is kind of a cool tradition. Also, the types of blood directors were using says a lot about the style of directing. For example many directors are extremely opposed to using bright red blood, but Jean-Luc Godard used this for the more "abstract" approach to her movies. Quinton Tarantino is such a staple in the use of blood as he likes it to go everywhere in his movies. I am not surprised that he is so specific about the type of blood, and the fact that he orders so much because it is so much apart of his style and signature as a writer/director.
I have to wonder entirely how realistic fake blood looks compared to how we expect it too look. With stuff like false blood, something called the coconut effect can come into play, where people are so used to seeing the theatrical version of something, that attempting to make something more realistic actually can break the audience's suspension of disbelief because they are expecting the theatrical version, similar to how we expect a horse's hooves to sound like to halves of a coconut banged together.
I could read about this all day. Over the summer, my friends and I made a zombie movie and a friend of mine spent DAYS in my kitchen trying every possible recipe for blood. It's really pretty incredible how many different ways there are to make blood. The thing that kept screwing up our recipes ended up being the constancy. we needed something thicker than normal blood because of how we needed it to function. In the end we had to go buy blood because we ran out of time, but I learned a lot. This article had some recipes that i didn't actually come across in my research and I'm definitely going to have to try.
One of the most interesting factors that i find is put into choosing a fake blood is where the blood is coming from. An arterial bleed will be brighter and have a higher flow rate and pulse differently then venous blood flow will. Venous blood will be darker and run slower. I understand where Sarah Keller is coming from in regards to blood color distracting me in particular films. I personally enjoyed the blood choice in Sweeney because of its interaction with the bleak color pallet of the rest of the set and costume design. And as Tarantino was quoted about his choice in blood, the artistic and visual choice of the blood can change a gore horror film to an artistic martial arts film
I really liked this article. It so interesting to think about how much thought has to go into something like fake blood. There are both artistic and practical things to consider. There are not only questions like where the blood is coming from, how much would a certain type of wound would realistically spill and what hue it should be, but also things like whether or not you want it to look real in the first place. I like the idea that even though we can do realistic shows of blood shed, there is still room for campy portrayals as well.
I knew about the chocolate syrup in black and white movies, but I had never really considered how long it might have taken to come up with a good formula for the movie and stage blood we use today. I had never thought of the struggle to get it the right color after having used darker fluids for such a long period of time. I've made fake blood in the past, and it is really fun, but also quite a difficult task. For one such occasion, I was making fake blood for a school project. At one point, it accidentally got into the actor's eye (good thing it was non-toxic) and I had to lead her to the restroom to wash it out. As she couldn't see, I was holding her up to some extent. Unfortunately, at that point another student saw us and began to freak out, thinking the blood was real. I quickly and calmly informed her that it was fake, but I was secretly a bit pleased with myself for making fake blood that was convincing in real life.
The world of fake blood never ceases to amaze me. Personally I prefer movies that use the the brighter, faker blood, like Quinten Tarantion's use of samurai blood in Kill Bill Vol. 1. But sometimes a realistic blood is needed. I feel like the film Atonement would not have the same affect if it were done with a less realistic blood. I guess the divide comes into play when talking about how much blood will be used. In over the top, gory movies, the less realistic the better. Really emotional dramas need the realism so the blood doesn't feel out of place. Knowing all that make the idea that chocolate was used for blood in black and white movies is far more interesting. Then again, the costumer in me wished all the blood was CGI. So many good costumes are ruined by fake blood ( CMU's production of Sweeney Todd being the prime example).
Before I read this article, I never knew the complexity of the world of fake blood in film industry. I found this article especially interesting because it showed evolutionary step until use of CGI happened. I could never imagine that people used chocolate syrup for black and white movies. I have not really seen a black and white movie with blood in it, but looking at the pictures in this article, I thought the syrup makes a great bloody feeling with some thickness. What struck me the most was how director of Carrie, Kimberly Peirce, decided to use pig's blood with various heights and various amount. I was surprised by her meticulous effort in order to create the best, realistic blood scene. Although today CGI will make a perfect, realistic blood scene, it is sad how it can not be applied to theatrical area because it is just impossible. Since I agree with Jenni how fake blood sometimes ruins good costumes, I hope we can come up with better fake blood someday that creates the same effect, but gives less damage to the costumes.
Just as how all designers are intently interested in the very specific color choices they make, it makes sense as to why filmmakers are as specific as they are about fake blood. It is often so shocking and dramatic, it should always be just the right shade of red (or sometimes brown) for the effect that they are going for.
Its weird to think about fake blood seeming real in movies. Yes I have seen blood in my life and i know what it looks like, but ive never really seen enough of it in enough places to know what it actually looks like, hopefully the majority of america is like me. So this whole industry of trying to make fake blood seem real is kind of just basing it off of and entire population of people who wouldn't really know what a ton of blood would look like splattered against a wall. Having said that, I think its super cool! John Ward was teaching us about blood last year in props because he had to make it for R&J and he was telling us about his recipes and how he had to try 3 different ones to get the look just right on stage. Because the lights and costumes and set can all effect the appearance of blood, so theres ton of ways to change it! Its so fascinating.
I think this long history of the use of blood in movies is really interesting. I didnt realize what an impact chocolate syrup played in the black and white movies and how many different formulas there are for fake blood. When I learned to make fake blood, one scientific fact that i never realized was that when making blood, it often beads and is too thick so it doesnt run properly when dripping, but if you add a little bit of dish soap to the blood mixture it will disrupt the surface tension, similar to the poisonous substance they mention in the article, and will make it run realistically.
I think it is interesting how much thought is put into details like blood sometimes but the audience may have no idea. For example I had no idea that CGI blood was used in Expendables 2! Like Sara, I also watched Tim Burton's Sweeny Todd recently, In which I could tell that there was artistic thought put into the color of the blood but for what he was trying to get across I think it was a good choice. I hope that stage blood does still play a part in movies and that CGI does not take over completely since it can add a major effect in the story such as Sweeny Todd or the Expendables.
It's cool to think about how much work need to go into a thing like creating fake blood. It was interesting that the article mentioned that the only goal is not to make it realistic, but also symbolic. A brighter hue may be more noticeable and shocking while a deeper red may look more gruesome and disturbing. I give extreme credit to props masters who have to figure out all these details in order to create a a prop that is both realistically and symbolically accurate.
Who knew that fake blood went through so much change. It's just fascinating how much thought and effort went into/goes into making the blood for entertainment. It makes a lot of sense though. Blood hits many things, gets soaked by different, it affects all the costumes and set pieces, and is usually sticky & messy. So it makes sense how complicated it's become. You don't want to ruin anything else and want to be able to keep going or repeating the scene as needed.
This is a cool article. We just read the Pillowman for Props class and there is a ton of fake blood there. I know that there is a whole box of fake blood things in the props classroom.
I read somewhere that they sometimes use real animal blood. I think that's kind of gross but maybe it gets the actors to really feel the part. I'm not sure.
Anyway, I have to admit that there might be a lot of different types of blood but they all look quite the same to me.
There are tons of ways to make fake blood for theatrical purposes. During pre-college here at CMU John Ward showed us all of the strangest of ways to make blood. When he brought out the chocolate syrup I was a bit surprised, but as I used it the reasoning behind having it made it more clear. This is because it gives the blood a nice brown color.
One of the most interesting things to see is just how far theater advances in every field. I had no idea that they were using chocolate! That alone is cool just because it shows the ingenuity of people who were really dedicated to the entertainment business. Then the amazing progression over such a short period of time. One thing that sort of strikes me though is that the movie screening and rating because weren't MORE against the use of blood, chocolate of not. I would think they would have put up more of a fight against it. It could be a positive thing that they didn't a way of saying that even the stubborn ones like to see advancement in entertainment fields.
It's interesting with showbox app. High-end application platform brought from showboxvpn. Use showbox for pc to watch movies. Everyone can install it anytime, anywhere.
Post a Comment