Blood Rigging

Mauro Zenoniani

I watched all the video on SWSCA how to spray, eject, throw blood.

I would like to know if there is a way to have more control on the shape, size, drops of blood. There are many parameters that do influence the final result and some directors could be upset when you are at the 5th take and they still don't have "those perfect drops" or "blood flying shape" during the shoot. I understand that testing is the key but I'm also wondering how to prepare tubes, cannons, baloons, bladders etc.

Thank you very much.

Chris Ellerby

Hi Mauro,

There are a lot of things you can do to change the look/pattern of blood spray.

Here's a quick list:

• Air pressure.  The higher the pressure, the further the blood will go, and the more it will break up into finer droplets
• Duration of air release
• Volume of air released
• Tube size
• Nozzle size, the smaller the nozzle, the faster the fluid moves.  Look up the  Bernoulli Principle for more info.
• Volume of blood loaded
• Thickness of blood

For shaping blood, the nozzle you use really controls that.

When I'm testing a new blood rig I use water at first just to dial things in, and then move on to my thickened and colored blood.

I suggest starting at lower pressures and working your way up, as too much pressure can really kill the effect.  And make sure you don't keep releasing air after the fluid has left, otherwise you get an odd spurting effect at the end that looks kinda bad.

/Chris