Recipe 28: How to Make Movie Blood
- Koji Ohmura
- May 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 9
Today's SFX recipe is more like a real cooking recipe, and I make it in my kitchen. Yes! Let's cook movie blood! I will show you both a cheap blood recipe and an edible blood recipe. Normally, movie blood at makeup stores is very pricey. You can make it with a small amount of kits.
Materials you need...
Mixing Cup
Mixing Stick
Filtered Water
Hot Water
Methocel Powder
Food Coloring Red 40
Food Coloring (Blue, Yellow, Green)
Cocoa Powder
Karo Corn Syrup
Derma Shield
Barbasol Shaving Cream
SFX Book is coming out this summer!
Material links are here.
Lesson Video
Methocel Recipe (Cheap Blood)
Methocel Powder | Hot Water | Filtered Water |
Food Color (Red & Blue) | Cocoa Powder |
Methocel - For this recipe, I will use Methocel. It is also called Methylcellulose: it is a plant-based fiber that acts as a stabilizer and thickener. Many fast food restaurants use this to make milkshakes since it is cheaper than using high-grade ice cream.
Take 1 ounce of Methocel (methylcellulose) and put it aside.
Methocel Powder Hot Water - Pour hot water in a cup and mix them very well. Do not use cold water. It create chunks.
Do not use cold water! Filtered Water - Then, add filtered water. I recommend avoiding tap water since the fake blood tends to get moldy quickly if you use tap water.
I transfer this to a 1-gallon bottle and add more water.
Once it cools down, it gets thicker. Red #40 - Add food coloring. I added Red #40 and a little bit of blue. You can adjust it by adding yellow or green.
Blood is not just RED. Cocoa Powder - I also added cocoa powder to add some depth to the color. Fresh blood is brighter than old blood, and bright red blood tends to give a movie a Rated-R instead of PG-13. On CSI, we used darker blood since it is a TV show and did not want TV-MA ratings.
Cocoa Powder
Blood for Silicone
If you use this for silicone material or tubing effects, you can add a small amount of dish soap.
Gel Blood
For Gel Blood, you can add Cabocil to this mix.
Mouth Blood
Karo Corn Syrup - When you use fake blood near the mouth or in the mouth, you should use the Karo Corn Syrup recipe.
Food Coloring - Since Karo Corn Syrup is a little thick, I normally take a smaller cup and pour it into the cup to mix separately. I used Red #40 Powder and Green in this version.
Red #40 Powder Make sure there are no powder chunks. Then, pour it back into the original bottle. That's it!!
You can use this for tubing effects as well. Just thin it out with water so it goes through the tubing more easily. Use filtered water for the longer storing purposes.
Mix it in a bigger bottle.
Clean Ups
Shaving Cream - Fake blood tends to stain skin. Especially dry skin will get more stains. If it happens, use shaving cream like Barbasol. Massage well with shaving cream, then wash with hand soap. Do this before the blood dries.
Baby Wipes - If you do not have water nearby, use non-alcohol baby wipes. Sanitizer wipes have alcohol and dry the skin. Then, the pink stain will stay on the skin badly. So avoid using sanitizer wipes.
Derma Shield - Also, you can put Derma Shield on the skin before adding blood to the skin. This will create a layer of protection.
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