How Fake Blood Is Made to Look So Real.

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Credit: Josh via flickr
▼ (Inside Science) — While most people think of stage makeup as big eyelashes and pancake foundation, Shannon Higgins specializes in a different sort of entertainment wizardry. "I make little teardrop-shaped baggies of fake blood and hide them around the stage for different productions," said Higgins, a hair, makeup and wardrobe supervisor at Steppenwolf  Theaterin Chicago. Actors then pocket the blood packets for use during the production.
In a recent show called The Doppleganger, actor Rainn Wilson wore a mechanized blood suit that squirted blood, and other actors had squeeze bottles full of blood. The stage, said Higgins, became a bloody mess.
There are lots of considerations when it comes to fake blood, which has come a long way since the days of chocolate syrup (used in Hitchhock'sPsycho) or the classic combo of corn syrup and red dye. For blood that's in an actor's mouth, some new formulations taste like mint and are safe for ingestion. Other blood is washable — something that matters a lot when a show is onstage for six to eight weeks, Higgins said.
One stage blood formula created by British company Pigs Might Fly Southwas used in the Harry Potter films. "It's a good density," for movie and television blood said Higgins, adding that theater sometimes requires special sleight of hand. She has to bend the rules of normal blood behavior a bit to account for stage lighting and people who may be seated in the back of the theater. Wounds that would gush out quickly have to be slowed down it order to make them more visible for the whole audience.
The audience view is also a major consideration for Anna Fleiner and Kelsey Boutte, who work on makeup and effects for the CBS show S.W.A.T.For gory crime scene inspiration, they scour the internet for photos of gore — and then they adjust for the camera. "Sometimes what may look really real actually looks differently on camera, because of high-def cameras," said Boutte. "A red color that looks correct in person may be too bright on camera." (▪ ▪ ▪)

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