Getting Bloody

  In order to prepare for filming my project, me and my group realized that we were going to need blood, and lots of it at that!

 For the opening scene of our film opening, we planned to start off with the main couple watching a movie, and in order to make our lives easier (and not have to go through the process of getting permission to include another film in ours), we all decided we would create that scene ourselves. Since we planned to make it a murder scene, part of the issue at hand was figuring out the overall logistics for how we would create it, without actually hurting one another. When we went to talk to our teacher, and ask her for advice on how to make fake blood, she went a step further and provided us with some she had leftover from halloween time.

Our other concern, mainly, was the logistics of the scene, and how to go about making a kill scene, with an effective budget of $0.00. After a trip through the internet, as well as a review of my media studies notes, I came up with a number of way to execute the scene.

#1) Using angles to our advantage, we may be able to show the victim being stabbed, by assuring we cut away at the last minute, as opposed to showing the weapon hitting the victim, this allows audiences imaginations to automatically fill in the blanks, while creating a risk- free way of filming a kill scene. We can also go ahead and use POV shots, from both the victim and the killers POV, increasing tensions within the audience, while distracting form the fact that no actual harm is being done within the scene. Another possible way we can film it is by shooting against the light, in order to create a stabbing or slashing effect through shadows.

 

#2) Another important factor is the overall LOOK of the blood. For example, to emphasize the gore of a kill scene, I am going to fill a spray bottle with fake blood, in order for the blood splatter to look more realistic. We are also going to pre-pour blood on the clothing, so that the blood loss looks more realistic. And, using the small blood dropper that I have, I'm going to drip a small amount of blood out of my mouth, to recreate the look of internal bleeding, a common injury associated with stabbing.

#3) Editing wise, the use of fast cuts in order to not linger on the attack are crucial, along with the fact that the fast cuts help to create chaos, and realism. Also, sound design can become our best friends through the use of special sound effects (squelch, crunch), the sounds can either be made by us, using foley, or can be found on an online database of copyright free sounds. 

Finally, the importance of  good acting, with painful facial expressions is vital, especially when paired up with all other elements of the scene- such as the sound, editing, and angles.