Tuesday, December 2, 2014
One Night of Fear
Getting ready to spend some brutal quality time with the cast and crew of One Night of Fear!
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
Blood On Location
Written by Shiva Rodriguez
I am every home-owner's worst nightmare. They see me pull up in their driveway with a trunk full of nasty-looking props, spraying devices, big machinery pieces, and big bottles full of very red stage blood and they start to panic. They just know that I'm the one who is going to wreck complete havoc on their beautiful home... the one that they so generously volunteered for a film production to use.
They're in for a very pleasant surprise.
I'm very aware of how most stage bloods are a real pain in the arse to clean up. I try very hard to know exactly what to prepare for when I walk onto a set. I want to know what kind of textured walls (and ceilings) I'm dealing with, if there is upholstered furniture I should know about, and what kind of flooring is underfoot. If I have all this information beforehand, I can mix up some formulas for blood that is least likely to pose any staining problems.
Of course, I'm not always granted this luxury. So I take precautions by using detergent-based and water-soluble blood concoctions.
I'm also always armed with enough plastic sheeting to suffocate the entire crew six times over and a myriad of cleaning supplies. As soon as the director yells "Cut!" on a freshly blood-spattered set and then nods to me to re-set, the next thing you hear is my voice yelling "All hands on deck!" to put the clean-up crew into action. I often joke that my team could pass a Luminol inspection.
I was taught at an early age that if you're going to make a mess, you should always leave the area cleaner than it was when you found it. Those childhood lessons have really served me in my work with bloody effects...especially since I'm the one that nervous home-owners are keeping a very close eye on!
I am every home-owner's worst nightmare. They see me pull up in their driveway with a trunk full of nasty-looking props, spraying devices, big machinery pieces, and big bottles full of very red stage blood and they start to panic. They just know that I'm the one who is going to wreck complete havoc on their beautiful home... the one that they so generously volunteered for a film production to use.
They're in for a very pleasant surprise.
I'm very aware of how most stage bloods are a real pain in the arse to clean up. I try very hard to know exactly what to prepare for when I walk onto a set. I want to know what kind of textured walls (and ceilings) I'm dealing with, if there is upholstered furniture I should know about, and what kind of flooring is underfoot. If I have all this information beforehand, I can mix up some formulas for blood that is least likely to pose any staining problems.
Of course, I'm not always granted this luxury. So I take precautions by using detergent-based and water-soluble blood concoctions.
I'm also always armed with enough plastic sheeting to suffocate the entire crew six times over and a myriad of cleaning supplies. As soon as the director yells "Cut!" on a freshly blood-spattered set and then nods to me to re-set, the next thing you hear is my voice yelling "All hands on deck!" to put the clean-up crew into action. I often joke that my team could pass a Luminol inspection.
I was taught at an early age that if you're going to make a mess, you should always leave the area cleaner than it was when you found it. Those childhood lessons have really served me in my work with bloody effects...especially since I'm the one that nervous home-owners are keeping a very close eye on!
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Safety First in Death and Dismemberment
Written by Shiva Rodriguez.
There's a certain style of film-making where people get together with almost no money and must forsake all luxuries like insurance and safety equipment while they pretty much act like maniacs trying to shoot their projects as quickly as possible using whatever they happen to have access to by way of locations and props. This is known as "guerrilla film-making" in the industry, but some of us fondly refer to it as "Your First Several Films."
I've worked on many such projects and I've had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to pull off no-budget FX in the great MacGyver fashion.
However, I've also seen a lot of injuries happen on the sets of such films. Cameramen falling out of trees, actors twisting ankles while doing their own stunts, even food poisoning from the unrefrigerated fare on the craft services table.
I've also heard of a lot of pain and suffering from actors in regard to the makeup and F/X while working on films. I'm not talking about legitimate accidents, but rather little things that could have been avoided if the people in charge would have taken just a little time for precaution.
The most obvious of the easily-preventable mishaps is also one I see over-looked the most often. I know that F/X makeup artists often have a reputation for whipping together all kinds of strange concoctions and won't hesitate to torture an actor for the sake of art. However, like any good chef, it's very important to know your ingredients while cooking up the nasty stuff to douse actors with. This means being very familiar with the products you use for a makeup and how they react when in contact with all other elements (including human skin.)
One of the most common examples is the use of latex. Many people do not realise that it comes in a variety of types with different applications and that there are some that you really don't want to use directly on skin. While most retailers (like Wal-Mart and Spirit stores) will carry bottles of skin-safe liquid latex that are clearly marked for makeup applications, some of the professional places that I get my supplies from in bulk don't bother with the warning labels because they assume that you already know the difference between slush latex and old age stipple.
And let's not forget about how many people out there are allergic to latex no matter what form it comes in.
Allergies is another thing that I've noticed are often over-looked. Often an actor will ask "What's in that?" when you're about to drop a spoonful of blood in their mouth and then let you know about any allergies to the ingredients. (Thus forcing you to whip up a suitable batch of blood on the spot and aggravating the waiting production crew on set in the process.)
However, many actors can't tell you if they are allergic to spirit gum or collodian, because they've either never had it applied to them before or they don't know what it is made of.
This is why testing for allergies prior to makeup applications is so important. If I'm working with an actor who doesn't know for sure how they are going to react to one of the supplies I plan to use on them, they get a small dab of it on the inside of their wrist. (I always keep a tube of hydrocortisone ointment in my kit!) Try to conduct your allergy tests as far in advance as possible, as once in a while you'll come across someone with ultra-sensitive skin and may have to re-think your entire approach to the makeup.
Now, I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and I learned the hard way never to take any type of makeup for granted when it comes to how an actor's skin might react to it.
While on the set for Psycho Chicks Anonymous, the script called for a woman who had dyed herself green to please her science fiction-loving boyfriend. I figured that the quickest way to give her a lovely green complexion was by painting her with water-based makeup. I didn't bother to test the makeup on her because it was the same kind used at amusement parks for face-painting kids, so I knew it was pretty darned safe for anyone.
But what I didn't take into account was how soft and supple the actress's skin was. The makeup when on without any problems, but when she went to wash it off with soap and warm water she discovered that her skin had actually absorbed the colored water in the makeup. Her skin had a noticeable light green tint to it for about two weeks.
Makeup application isn't the only place where actors can get hurt in F/X work. I myself do a lot of weapon gags, and many productions can't afford the materials to do completely safe replica weapon fabrications, so I often have to create my builds using real knives and whatnot.
The first thing I do with any bladed weapon to be used as a prop is dull it down as much as possible using a grinding tool. Then I coat the edge with an epoxy or other plastic-type material to give it a smooth (and dull) edge although it still appears to be quite sharp to the audience.
My rule of thumb when it comes to building blunt force weapons is that if I wouldn't hit my mother with it, I won't bring it on the set to bludgeon an actor.
With that rule in mind I've built rocks and bricks out of foam packing materials, tin cans out of cardboard and aluminium foil, and even tree spikes out of soft rubber.
It never fails to amaze me how often I see safety concerns go flying out
the window on a guerrilla set because of time constraints or just
over-enthusiasm to get the shots done and move forward.
NEVER let anyone rush you when you're preparing for a potentially dangerous stunt or effect!
I can't stress this enough. When you design an effect or plan out a stunt, you need to take everything into consideration from the actor's physical limits to what can happen if something goes wrong. The director will only be thinking about what he wants to see, the DP will only be thinking about how he's going to shoot it, and everyone else will be focusing on their own parts to play on set. It will ultimately be your job to make sure that the effect is done as safely as possible and no harm comes to the actor.
Make them listen to you if you have any concerns whatsoever about what they want to do!
Believe it or not, I have listened with horror as a director told me that he planned to do a car-hitting-pedestrian effect by having a car run into his actor at 20 miles per hour and then speed it up in post. I told him that it was extremely dangerous and that there were many safer and saner options to achieve the effect he wanted. However, he was convinced that 20 mph was "not that fast and wouldn't hurt the actor." Had I been given those orders, I would have told the director where to stick his car and escorted the actor off the set before he/she got seriously injured (or worse) for the sake of a shot. (I did contact someone I knew who was on crew for that production and voiced my concerns for the safety of the cast.)
While I could go on for days about taking preventative measures for F/X makeups and gags, it really all just boils down to using common sense and planning ahead. Check for allergies, know your materials, keep a well-stocked first aid kit with your gear, make sure you always have access to water (even if it's just kept in bottles), and a cell phone to call for help in case of emergency. If stuntwork is involved, do your research on how to safely execute them and consult an experienced stunt coordinator if you have any questions.
You want your work to be memorable for the artistry put into it, not for the scars!
There's a certain style of film-making where people get together with almost no money and must forsake all luxuries like insurance and safety equipment while they pretty much act like maniacs trying to shoot their projects as quickly as possible using whatever they happen to have access to by way of locations and props. This is known as "guerrilla film-making" in the industry, but some of us fondly refer to it as "Your First Several Films."
I've worked on many such projects and I've had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to pull off no-budget FX in the great MacGyver fashion.
However, I've also seen a lot of injuries happen on the sets of such films. Cameramen falling out of trees, actors twisting ankles while doing their own stunts, even food poisoning from the unrefrigerated fare on the craft services table.
I've also heard of a lot of pain and suffering from actors in regard to the makeup and F/X while working on films. I'm not talking about legitimate accidents, but rather little things that could have been avoided if the people in charge would have taken just a little time for precaution.
The most obvious of the easily-preventable mishaps is also one I see over-looked the most often. I know that F/X makeup artists often have a reputation for whipping together all kinds of strange concoctions and won't hesitate to torture an actor for the sake of art. However, like any good chef, it's very important to know your ingredients while cooking up the nasty stuff to douse actors with. This means being very familiar with the products you use for a makeup and how they react when in contact with all other elements (including human skin.)
One of the most common examples is the use of latex. Many people do not realise that it comes in a variety of types with different applications and that there are some that you really don't want to use directly on skin. While most retailers (like Wal-Mart and Spirit stores) will carry bottles of skin-safe liquid latex that are clearly marked for makeup applications, some of the professional places that I get my supplies from in bulk don't bother with the warning labels because they assume that you already know the difference between slush latex and old age stipple.
And let's not forget about how many people out there are allergic to latex no matter what form it comes in.
Allergies is another thing that I've noticed are often over-looked. Often an actor will ask "What's in that?" when you're about to drop a spoonful of blood in their mouth and then let you know about any allergies to the ingredients. (Thus forcing you to whip up a suitable batch of blood on the spot and aggravating the waiting production crew on set in the process.)
However, many actors can't tell you if they are allergic to spirit gum or collodian, because they've either never had it applied to them before or they don't know what it is made of.
This is why testing for allergies prior to makeup applications is so important. If I'm working with an actor who doesn't know for sure how they are going to react to one of the supplies I plan to use on them, they get a small dab of it on the inside of their wrist. (I always keep a tube of hydrocortisone ointment in my kit!) Try to conduct your allergy tests as far in advance as possible, as once in a while you'll come across someone with ultra-sensitive skin and may have to re-think your entire approach to the makeup.
Now, I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and I learned the hard way never to take any type of makeup for granted when it comes to how an actor's skin might react to it.
While on the set for Psycho Chicks Anonymous, the script called for a woman who had dyed herself green to please her science fiction-loving boyfriend. I figured that the quickest way to give her a lovely green complexion was by painting her with water-based makeup. I didn't bother to test the makeup on her because it was the same kind used at amusement parks for face-painting kids, so I knew it was pretty darned safe for anyone.
But what I didn't take into account was how soft and supple the actress's skin was. The makeup when on without any problems, but when she went to wash it off with soap and warm water she discovered that her skin had actually absorbed the colored water in the makeup. Her skin had a noticeable light green tint to it for about two weeks.
Makeup application isn't the only place where actors can get hurt in F/X work. I myself do a lot of weapon gags, and many productions can't afford the materials to do completely safe replica weapon fabrications, so I often have to create my builds using real knives and whatnot.
The first thing I do with any bladed weapon to be used as a prop is dull it down as much as possible using a grinding tool. Then I coat the edge with an epoxy or other plastic-type material to give it a smooth (and dull) edge although it still appears to be quite sharp to the audience.
My rule of thumb when it comes to building blunt force weapons is that if I wouldn't hit my mother with it, I won't bring it on the set to bludgeon an actor.
With that rule in mind I've built rocks and bricks out of foam packing materials, tin cans out of cardboard and aluminium foil, and even tree spikes out of soft rubber.
NEVER let anyone rush you when you're preparing for a potentially dangerous stunt or effect!
I can't stress this enough. When you design an effect or plan out a stunt, you need to take everything into consideration from the actor's physical limits to what can happen if something goes wrong. The director will only be thinking about what he wants to see, the DP will only be thinking about how he's going to shoot it, and everyone else will be focusing on their own parts to play on set. It will ultimately be your job to make sure that the effect is done as safely as possible and no harm comes to the actor.
Make them listen to you if you have any concerns whatsoever about what they want to do!
Believe it or not, I have listened with horror as a director told me that he planned to do a car-hitting-pedestrian effect by having a car run into his actor at 20 miles per hour and then speed it up in post. I told him that it was extremely dangerous and that there were many safer and saner options to achieve the effect he wanted. However, he was convinced that 20 mph was "not that fast and wouldn't hurt the actor." Had I been given those orders, I would have told the director where to stick his car and escorted the actor off the set before he/she got seriously injured (or worse) for the sake of a shot. (I did contact someone I knew who was on crew for that production and voiced my concerns for the safety of the cast.)
While I could go on for days about taking preventative measures for F/X makeups and gags, it really all just boils down to using common sense and planning ahead. Check for allergies, know your materials, keep a well-stocked first aid kit with your gear, make sure you always have access to water (even if it's just kept in bottles), and a cell phone to call for help in case of emergency. If stuntwork is involved, do your research on how to safely execute them and consult an experienced stunt coordinator if you have any questions.
You want your work to be memorable for the artistry put into it, not for the scars!
It's All About The Blood
Written by Shiva Rodriguez
A conversation I had with someone recently has been bothering me, so I feel the need to rant a little about fake blood formulas and hopefully spare some actors some really unnecessary trauma.
Making fake blood isn't exactly rocket science, but it's not child's play either. (Well, at least when you start going beyond ketchup and corn syrup.) I know that most everyone who has ever mixed up a batch of the red stuff are quite proud of their concoctions, but there is a lot more to think about than just how realistic it looks.
In the aforementioned conversation I had someone was telling me that they made blood using laundry stain remover as a base so that it would clean up easily. Not a bad idea...if you are planning on soaking laundry with fake blood. I asked what they did when it had to go inside an actor's mouth and was truly concerned when the response was that it “just tastes bad”. That told me that this particular person was using one formula as an all-purpose blood and wasn't thinking about the safety of the actors.
Why did this disturb me? Please allow me to explain. Laundry stain remover is a powerful detergent designed to break up organic matter. Yes, most household stains are organic in nature. And by the way, so is human flesh. In fact, one needs to look no further than the warning label on such products to know that it can cause skin irritation. (And that label is assuming that you might just accidentally get some on your hands while using the product for its intended purpose instead of deliberately dousing people with it.)
My speciality is blood effects, so this is a subject I'm pretty damned familiar with. I hardly ever just use one blood formula on a job. On the average, I use at least three and sometimes as many as eight different concoctions on a set. I've spent countless hours in my studio like some sort of maniac scientist experimenting with different blood brews to give me the effect I want on various surfaces. Some formulas bead up on glass while others don't. Some evaporate quickly while others gel up and look fresh all day. Some you could drink like shots of whiskey and others might kill you if you did.
And some require protective gloves while handling. I wouldn't dream of putting those on an actor.
There are a lot of things to think about when using fake blood. The most important for me is the safety of the people who will be in direct contact with it. When I'm selecting a formula to go onto an actor, I have to consider things like sensitive skin, toxicity, allergies, how easy it is to clean up, and the environment.
Yes, I said the environment. Gelatin-based blood won't solidify if the air temperature is too hot. Water-based bloods might freeze if the weather is too cold. And I refuse to use any blood that has a sugar or syrup base on an actor's body simply because it's a beacon for insects. In fact, I often mix insect repellent in my blood formulas if it's being used outside and especially in wooded areas. I call sugar/syrup-based blood “spitting blood” and the only time I ever use it is if it needs to go around or in an actor's mouth.
Need blood that will wash out quickly? Use a soap base. Need it to interact with water? Use vegetable glycerin base. Need blood that will stay put for long periods of time? Use a gelatin base. You get the idea. Nice, non-toxic bases that are often found in grooming products.
When making blood for skin applications, read the warning labels! Detergents can irritate or even burn skin. Soaps are very skin-friendly and work just as well for easy clean up. (Yes, detergent and soap are indeed two different things.) If something sounds like it would make a great blood base, check the ingredients first. Still aren't sure? Consult someone who knows more about chemistry than you do. And test your concoctions on yourself! Not just dab a bit on your hand for less than a minute to see if it looks good, paint your upper arm with the stuff and leave it on for a couple hours.
If at all possible, find out if the actors to be bloodied have any skin or food allergies. Some people have strange reactions to all kinds of things, so it's best to know this ahead of time. You don't want to mix up a beautiful batch of chunky, bloody vomit only to find out that the actor is highly allergic to the strawberry jam that went into it.
The second thing to consider (although many location-owners will insist that it should be the top priority)is how easy it is to clean up your bloody mess. This is important not only for staying in the good graces of the location manager, but also because it's quite likely you'll have to do a second take and you don't want the camera crew waiting around for hours while you're trying to make everything spotless again.
Consider everything on the set. What kind of floor covering is there? Carpeting is obviously going to be a far bigger concern than a hard floor is. Are there any soft furnishings (decorative fabrics like curtains) or upholstered furniture in the area that need to be protected? What's on the walls? You could have some big problems if they are papered or have paintings on them. Is the ceiling smooth or textured?
Cover everything that's not in camera frame with either drop cloths or plastic sheeting before you set off a blood splatter effect. If you have a stationary victim who is bleeding out, make sure the blood you use can be easily removed from the surfaces around them. And if you know that there is only one cleaning product in the world that will wipe up your blood, you'd better have a gallon of it onhand!
Which brings me to the subject of dyes. Very much like your base, you should match the type of dye you use with the application. If you need to dress a prop with permanent blood stains, by all means use fabric dye or ink to make your blood the proper shade of red. But don't use that same dye in blood that's going on an actor's costume or skin! Use cosmetic pigments. Food coloring seems to be the universal stand-by, but you do have to be careful with how much you use before it becomes a staining problem. And not all food colors are the same... the dye used to make cake icing red is much more housewife-friendly than the stuff used for coloring maraschino cherries.
Accidents and unexpected chemical reactions will happen, and it's important to make a note of them so you don't repeat the performance. I found out that one of my best“splatter bloods” is extremely difficult to wash out if it comes into contact with bleached hair. Guess what I now ask every blonde actor that needs head trauma?
If you don't want to bother with mixing your own blood and prefer to buy it ready-made, please don't think that you are out of the woods. Run stain tests with commercially-available formulas on as many different surfaces as you can and make a note of any difficulties. Figure out what cleaning products you need to remove any stubborn blood stains without harming the fabric, wood, skin, etc...
When running a stain test, you want to cover all of the common surfaces you are likely to encounter. Go to a home improvement store and get:
A carpet remnant (in a white or light color)
A tile of porous material (like stone)
A non-porous tile (like glazed ceramic)
A piece of untreated wood (pine is good)
A piece of finished wood (stained and sealed pine is good)
A piece of laminate
A vinyl tile
A piece of light-colored natural fabric (like 100% cotton)
A piece of light-colored synthetic fabric (like nylon)
A piece of white terrycloth towel (cotton-synthetic blend)
You'll also want to get a piece of drywall and leave one section plain, paint another section with satin wall paint, another with semi-gloss paint, paper another section with wallpaper and another section with textured wallpaper (or even better, fabric or flocked wallpaper.)
Test your blood formula on each one of these for staining and practice removing stains from any that prove to be tough to clean up. (If you're testing a blood to be put on actors, do a hair and skin test too!)
Yeah, I know... big pain in the ass. However, you'll find that it's time well-spent rather than getting screamed at (or worse) by a director, actor, or location-owner on a set.
Finally, please understand that nothing is 100% fool-proof when it comes to fake blood, so use your best judgement when asked to sling the stuff around. Inform everyone of any staining or reaction risks before you do the application. If you're using a soap-based formula, let actors know that if it gets in their eyes that they will probably be irritated for a short time but it is not very likely to hurt them. Make sure everyone knows not to try to taste any toxic concoctions. (Amazing how many people believe that all bloods are made with corn syrup.)
And above all, make sure you have a well-armed cleanup crew ready to spring into action when working with splatter effects!
A conversation I had with someone recently has been bothering me, so I feel the need to rant a little about fake blood formulas and hopefully spare some actors some really unnecessary trauma.
Making fake blood isn't exactly rocket science, but it's not child's play either. (Well, at least when you start going beyond ketchup and corn syrup.) I know that most everyone who has ever mixed up a batch of the red stuff are quite proud of their concoctions, but there is a lot more to think about than just how realistic it looks.
In the aforementioned conversation I had someone was telling me that they made blood using laundry stain remover as a base so that it would clean up easily. Not a bad idea...if you are planning on soaking laundry with fake blood. I asked what they did when it had to go inside an actor's mouth and was truly concerned when the response was that it “just tastes bad”. That told me that this particular person was using one formula as an all-purpose blood and wasn't thinking about the safety of the actors.
Why did this disturb me? Please allow me to explain. Laundry stain remover is a powerful detergent designed to break up organic matter. Yes, most household stains are organic in nature. And by the way, so is human flesh. In fact, one needs to look no further than the warning label on such products to know that it can cause skin irritation. (And that label is assuming that you might just accidentally get some on your hands while using the product for its intended purpose instead of deliberately dousing people with it.)
My speciality is blood effects, so this is a subject I'm pretty damned familiar with. I hardly ever just use one blood formula on a job. On the average, I use at least three and sometimes as many as eight different concoctions on a set. I've spent countless hours in my studio like some sort of maniac scientist experimenting with different blood brews to give me the effect I want on various surfaces. Some formulas bead up on glass while others don't. Some evaporate quickly while others gel up and look fresh all day. Some you could drink like shots of whiskey and others might kill you if you did.
And some require protective gloves while handling. I wouldn't dream of putting those on an actor.
There are a lot of things to think about when using fake blood. The most important for me is the safety of the people who will be in direct contact with it. When I'm selecting a formula to go onto an actor, I have to consider things like sensitive skin, toxicity, allergies, how easy it is to clean up, and the environment.
Yes, I said the environment. Gelatin-based blood won't solidify if the air temperature is too hot. Water-based bloods might freeze if the weather is too cold. And I refuse to use any blood that has a sugar or syrup base on an actor's body simply because it's a beacon for insects. In fact, I often mix insect repellent in my blood formulas if it's being used outside and especially in wooded areas. I call sugar/syrup-based blood “spitting blood” and the only time I ever use it is if it needs to go around or in an actor's mouth.
Need blood that will wash out quickly? Use a soap base. Need it to interact with water? Use vegetable glycerin base. Need blood that will stay put for long periods of time? Use a gelatin base. You get the idea. Nice, non-toxic bases that are often found in grooming products.
When making blood for skin applications, read the warning labels! Detergents can irritate or even burn skin. Soaps are very skin-friendly and work just as well for easy clean up. (Yes, detergent and soap are indeed two different things.) If something sounds like it would make a great blood base, check the ingredients first. Still aren't sure? Consult someone who knows more about chemistry than you do. And test your concoctions on yourself! Not just dab a bit on your hand for less than a minute to see if it looks good, paint your upper arm with the stuff and leave it on for a couple hours.
If at all possible, find out if the actors to be bloodied have any skin or food allergies. Some people have strange reactions to all kinds of things, so it's best to know this ahead of time. You don't want to mix up a beautiful batch of chunky, bloody vomit only to find out that the actor is highly allergic to the strawberry jam that went into it.
The second thing to consider (although many location-owners will insist that it should be the top priority)is how easy it is to clean up your bloody mess. This is important not only for staying in the good graces of the location manager, but also because it's quite likely you'll have to do a second take and you don't want the camera crew waiting around for hours while you're trying to make everything spotless again.
Consider everything on the set. What kind of floor covering is there? Carpeting is obviously going to be a far bigger concern than a hard floor is. Are there any soft furnishings (decorative fabrics like curtains) or upholstered furniture in the area that need to be protected? What's on the walls? You could have some big problems if they are papered or have paintings on them. Is the ceiling smooth or textured?
Cover everything that's not in camera frame with either drop cloths or plastic sheeting before you set off a blood splatter effect. If you have a stationary victim who is bleeding out, make sure the blood you use can be easily removed from the surfaces around them. And if you know that there is only one cleaning product in the world that will wipe up your blood, you'd better have a gallon of it onhand!
Which brings me to the subject of dyes. Very much like your base, you should match the type of dye you use with the application. If you need to dress a prop with permanent blood stains, by all means use fabric dye or ink to make your blood the proper shade of red. But don't use that same dye in blood that's going on an actor's costume or skin! Use cosmetic pigments. Food coloring seems to be the universal stand-by, but you do have to be careful with how much you use before it becomes a staining problem. And not all food colors are the same... the dye used to make cake icing red is much more housewife-friendly than the stuff used for coloring maraschino cherries.
Accidents and unexpected chemical reactions will happen, and it's important to make a note of them so you don't repeat the performance. I found out that one of my best“splatter bloods” is extremely difficult to wash out if it comes into contact with bleached hair. Guess what I now ask every blonde actor that needs head trauma?
If you don't want to bother with mixing your own blood and prefer to buy it ready-made, please don't think that you are out of the woods. Run stain tests with commercially-available formulas on as many different surfaces as you can and make a note of any difficulties. Figure out what cleaning products you need to remove any stubborn blood stains without harming the fabric, wood, skin, etc...
When running a stain test, you want to cover all of the common surfaces you are likely to encounter. Go to a home improvement store and get:
A carpet remnant (in a white or light color)
A tile of porous material (like stone)
A non-porous tile (like glazed ceramic)
A piece of untreated wood (pine is good)
A piece of finished wood (stained and sealed pine is good)
A piece of laminate
A vinyl tile
A piece of light-colored natural fabric (like 100% cotton)
A piece of light-colored synthetic fabric (like nylon)
A piece of white terrycloth towel (cotton-synthetic blend)
You'll also want to get a piece of drywall and leave one section plain, paint another section with satin wall paint, another with semi-gloss paint, paper another section with wallpaper and another section with textured wallpaper (or even better, fabric or flocked wallpaper.)
Test your blood formula on each one of these for staining and practice removing stains from any that prove to be tough to clean up. (If you're testing a blood to be put on actors, do a hair and skin test too!)
Yeah, I know... big pain in the ass. However, you'll find that it's time well-spent rather than getting screamed at (or worse) by a director, actor, or location-owner on a set.
Finally, please understand that nothing is 100% fool-proof when it comes to fake blood, so use your best judgement when asked to sling the stuff around. Inform everyone of any staining or reaction risks before you do the application. If you're using a soap-based formula, let actors know that if it gets in their eyes that they will probably be irritated for a short time but it is not very likely to hurt them. Make sure everyone knows not to try to taste any toxic concoctions. (Amazing how many people believe that all bloods are made with corn syrup.)
And above all, make sure you have a well-armed cleanup crew ready to spring into action when working with splatter effects!
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