Slashed Skin

intro -> Special FX: slashed skin

A quick and easy way to make a gross special effect. I probably did not invent this technique but came up with it on my own after experimenting a little bit.

I got called in to do sp/fx (that's "industry" for special effect makeup) the day before a shoot when the regular sp/fx guy had an emergency and couldn't make it. The makeup guy called me and asked if I could step in for him, since we've worked together before and I could keep continuity with his work.

The script called for the actor, in a state of mental anguish, to torture herself by pressing a razor blade into her palm. Not to slice it up a lot, just a little. Since this was being shot with hi-def equipment the cut had to look like a real cut, which meant thin layers.

I would have preferred to create a silicone appliance that she could actually slash up, put a little blood pack beneath it so they could shoot it all in one, but there was no time for that luxury. So I relied on the lo-tech old school method of latex, paint, and runny blood, and great acting, and we got it in one take.

I don't have access to the footage, as it's still in post production. The effect was so realistic that the producer, who was watching on the monitor, turned a funny shade of green and had to take some deep breaths before the cold sweats went away. So, not for the squeamish!

 

step 1 -> Materials Needed & Preparation

Liquid Latex
Baby Powder
Injury Stack Greasepaints
Small Palette Knife
Small Palette or Disposable Non-paper Plate
Runny Stage Blood
Small Paint Brushes (2)
Liquid Soap
Witch Hazel or Other Oil-Free Toner
Cotton Balls
Small Glass or Metal Bowl

If you don't have an injury stack or injury wheel, you can use greasepaints in red and black. If your trauma needs a little bruising, you'll also want blue and yellow paints, or a bruise wheel.

Begin by cleansing the area with toner to remove any excess oils and perspiration.

  

step 2 -> Add some skin tone to the latex.

Pour a drop or two of latex on the palette. Use just a teenchy bit of runny blood to tint it so that it doesn't have that strange yellow latex color when dry.

(BTW: test first for latex allergy if you have any doubts.)

It is important for sanitary reasons that you don't dip your brushes into product while it's in the bottle, but instead to dispense it onto a palette (or styrofoam or plastic plate). Cross-contamination can cause all sorts of yukky things to grow in your materials, and if you noticed, latex isn't exactly cheap (about $17 for a liter). This is even more important when it comes to greasepaint, and will be discussed in that step.

I have put a bit of runny blood in the lid here for the picture, but I would just allow a single drop to fall into the latex. Fake blood is worse than mustard in its ability to travel and stain, so use only what you need.

Stir the blood into the latex with the palette knife. *DON'T* use your brush; latex does not like to come out of nice brushes.

If you get it too dark like I did, pour out another drop of latex and use the mixture to tint it. It will dry a little darker, so err on the side of less tint.

All right: this is ethnically biased for pasty caucasians. If your skin is yellowy, you may be able to use just the latex without the tint. If you have darker skin, you'll need to use a little bit of ground eyeshadow or even a bit of instant coffee (mix with a drop of water first) to color the latex. While it's liquid, you can mix a water-based substance, including watercolors, into the latex. If you use anything oil-based, like foundation, it won't set up properly. But the runny blood will work for a lot of people, so try it and see how that goes.

  

step 3 -> Lay down a stripe of latex.

Using the palette knife, apply a stripe of latex wherever you want the cut to be. It should be somewhat wider and just a little longer than the desired finished cut.

Notice we are touching the skin with the palette knife. When you are happy with the stripe, let it dry. Don't allow the latex to touch itself or else it will stick to itself and you'll have to do it over.

Clean the knife with alcohol or the toner if it's got alcohol in it. Don't use it on the skin again, yet.

Instead, get out the injury stack and, using the clean palette knife, scrape out a very small amount of red, maroon, and eggplant onto the palette. You only need a little bit. Also place a very small amount of baby powder on the palette.

More on cleanliness: a pan of greasepaint might as well be labelled "petri dish". Never dip a brush or sponge directly into anything you're not going to throw away that day, because you'll be transferring all sorts of germy bacterial things into it. Greasepaint is a loving medium perfect for hosting loads of creatures.

On a side note, somewhat related to this: if you currently use a cover-up stick on your zits, and you notice that the more you cover them the worse they get... well, is it a surprise? Use a clean brush or a cotton swab to remove product from your cover-up stick rather than touching it directly to your face to avoid getting zit germs back on your cover-up product. Bluck!

Since I use my paints on multiple people, I have to be very careful about avoiding contamination. In the case of this model (my daughter), I happen to know that she has recently recovered from a fungal infection of the hands. However, if I didn't know that and wasn't using appropriate precautions, my greasepaints would now harbor that fungal infection and pass it to everyone I used it on from here on out.

Since it takes a while to incubate, it could be weeks before an actor who got their eye blacked from my handiwork developed itchy scaly weepy skin around their eyes, and longer still before it was recognized as a fungal infection, and even longer before the treatment was over. That could ruin the actor's chance of working, and potentially contaminate other actors if the next makeup artist was slackerly. If it could be traced back to my mishandling of materials, I could be sued. So I'm extremely careful about making sure my products stay as pure as they can.

By assuming that everyone has some evil communicable disease, it's not hard to be in the habit of avoiding contamination.

Is the latex dry yet? Great! Make sure the lids are on all your products and let's move on.

step 4 -> Make a little "boat".

Using the palette knife, gently pick up the outside edge of the latex. Very, very gently. Do not stab your model's hand.

Carefully lift the edge on one side then the other, leaving the ends intact.

Now we exploit the sticky self-adhesive qualities of latex. On one end, push the two sides together to make a tiny triangle. Be careful to not let the rest of the latex touch itself.

Do the same on the other side.

Use one brush to dip into the baby powder. I prefer a round brush for this but it's all down to personal preference.

Liberally powder first the inside then the outside of the "boat". The color of the latex should mute down quite a bit with this step.

step 5 -> Add color.

Use the other brush (I use a shader, the flat chisel-y type) to build up the color of the cut. You just want to get the inside, leaving the flaps alone.

First use the bright red to color the whole inside of the "boat".

Then the maroon to deepen the bottom.

Finally, dab spots of eggplant on the maroon, but don't be obsessive about blending it together.

Nasty!

 

step 6 -> Get gross with runny blood!

Pour a couple of drops of the runny blood in the small bowl. This is to avoid contamination of your product.

Using the same brush you dipped into the baby powder, load up with fake blood. The powder still on the brush is fine, may even provide realistic clotting, but don't add more powder -- talc has a greasiness to it that won't mix with the liquid blood.

Dribble a bit of runny blood into the cut. Tip hand back and forth to get the right effect, to get it to run into the crevasses.

If you get too much, lift some out with the corner of a tissue.

When satisfied, shoot your f/x scene!

  

step 7 -> Clean up is easy!

To clean off the effect: simply grasp and pull. Dispose of in trash. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water, moisturize.

To clean your palette, place a tissue over the latex and wipe up. Use liquid soap and water.

To clean the brushes, rinse the blood out of the little bowl and add a couple drops of liquid soap. Dawn (non-ultra) is very good at getting greasepaint out of brushes. Moosh the brushes around in the soap.

Rinse things well and air-dry. Reshape the tips of the brushes before drying.

  

I Hope You Enjoyed ;D

How To Do Realistic Wound?

Into:  In this following instructable I will be showing you how to make a simple, yet realistic and reusable, latex wound effect on a tight budget.

step 1 -> Getting the Supplies

For this project you are going to need the following supplies:

Supplies

• Liquid Latex - $11 for a 8oz bottle.
• Stage Blood - $2 for a 1oz bottle.
• Basic Make-Up Kit - Should include foundation, basic creme pallet of at least 4 colors, setting powder and applicators.
• Toilet Paper

The most common place to find these out of the Halloween season is at a costume shop or online, especially for the liquid latex and stage blood. The make-up can be purchased at any retailer that carries make-up... usually for under $10. As for the toilet paper, that's practically free... and if don't have any at home, pocket a square next time you use the public restroom.

step 2 -> Building the Prosthetic

Begin by cleansing the desired application area, in this case my left wrist. Once the area is dry and clean, begin applying the first thin layer of Liquid Latex. You can use a brush, a wood applicator or a clean finger for applying the Liquid Latex. I find that the best results come from using your finger. Let the latex dry until it is tacky. (Quick Tip: Use a blow-dryer set on cold to quicken the drying process.) Allow the latex to dry completely if you wish to add another coat to thicken the base.

After the base coat of Liquid Latex has begun to dry, remove one square of toilet paper from a roll. Try to obtain a two ply kind with no texture or designs. Separate the plies and roll each side into a snake like structure. This will create the raised skin that forms the wound. Take one of the rolls and apply it to the latex base.

Using your finger apply Liquid Latex to the toilet paper now positioned on your application area. Be generous, blending the outside of the wound structure with your skin. The inside should be left at an abrupt edge.

Add the second piece of tissue to complete the wound. I prefer to join the top and bottom edges as to create a pool that will catch the stage blood when it is applied.

As you did with the first side of the wound, coat in a generous amount of latex, blending the paper into your skin.

step 3 -> Drying and Setting

Now let the latex dry completely. I recommend using the blow dryer to speed up the process for about 10 minutes and then taking a 15 min break to let the latex cure even more or until you have a dry application.

Once the latex has dried you will need to set it with some Neutral Set Powder to take away the tackiness and to make sure the make-up does not gelatinize the application. Shake off access powder.

Setting will often dull the colors and leave a powdery residue on your application. Dabbing the piece with a piece of damp toilet paper will fix these problems.

The piece is now dry, set and ready for the next step of production, make-up application.

step 4 -> Applying the Make-Up: The Base

Make-Up application is an art and can be very frustrating at times. The following is just a guideline based on how I applied my make-up, but should be adapted to each individual situation. I begin my application with some liquid foundation to give a base color to the application.

I coat the application evenly with foundation using a flat brush. Use a foundation that closely resembles your skin color. (Quick Tip: To save on expenses, purchase brushes and applicators from art supply stores as the selection and price is better then the applicators found at normal super-markets.)

Blend the foundation into your skin using a blending sponge. I used one of those cheap little foam triangles. (Quick Tip: Make your sponges last, rinse them off after every use to keep make-up from building up on them and rendering them un-usable.)

Once the blending is complete. I prefer to add a darker foundation around the wound with a pad to create some depth.

The darker foundation will highlight the wound and draw attention to it and away from imperfect blending. It will also give the appearance of bruising which is common with large wounds.

step 5 -> Applying the Make-Up: Highlights and Meat

Now it's time to highlight parts of the wound using a lighter colored make-up. I apply the highlights using a small flat brush only covering the higher sections of the application.

Followed by some texture using a texture sponge. You can use any textured sponge for this, I used a plastic hive like one I had on hand.

Now that the wounds has been blended into the application area, it is time to start working on the inside of the wound. I begin by applying some darker make-up to the inner edges of the wound to simulate stronger shading and add depth. In this example I used black.

After which I apply a dark red make-up to the inside of the wound.

Set the make-up using Neutral Set Powder and the same process as setting the latex at the beginning of the tutorial. Blotting the piece with moist toilet paper will bring back the color and remove extra powder. (Quick Tip: Setting make-up is the most often forgotten crucial steps in make-up application and results in running and ruined make-up at the first sign of moisture such as sweat or water.)

step 6 -> Touching Up and Enhancing the Wound

Now that the brunt of the work is complete comes the fun part of applying blood. I prefer to use store bought stage blood and apply it with a fine tip brush. Although any common home-made blood recipe should do the job just as well.

The reservoir we created earlier does a great job of catching the blood.

To give it a more traumatic feeling I prefer to dab the wound and area surrounding it with a paper towel to spread and splatter the blood. After, I reapply blood to the interior of the wound.

If you wish, you can stop here since you've achieved a convincing wound. But I wanted to have little pieces of meat and matter inside my wound for a more nauseating look. I did this by saturating an end of a q-tip in stage blood, then pulling loose strands of the cotton from the stick with a push pin and applying it to the wound. The results are quite good.

step 7 -> Removing the Prosthetic

Before removing the prosthetic I gently rinse off the blood. Since the make-up has been set it shouldn't wash off. It might fade slightly but that can be retouched when it's applied again at a later time.

After rinsing I remove the prosthetic by rolling the edges towards the center of the wound. Latex tends to stick to itself after curing, so powdering it with talc or baby powder will prevent this. Removing the latex should be relatively easy and painless unless it has been caught in some hair. Do not use any oil based products to remove the latex piece as the oil will break down its structure. You can purchase silicon oil that will remove latex and leave it intact, although shiny. The silicon oil is often expensive and not worth the trouble.

And there you go... you know have a re-usable prosthetic application of a wound that can easily be used at a later time. Although you will need to purchase some spirit gum (and spirit gum remover) to attach the piece to your skin. With a little Liquid Latex to blend the edges and some touch ups on the make-up, the wound can be ready to go again in no time.

I hope you enjoyed this instructable and have learned some valuable information from it. Have fun creating horrendous wounds and scars.

Don't forget to leave comments and show off what you've accomplished using the Instructable.

How To Do Scar?

 
      The first step is,  

 -> Most importantly you are going to need
 
Some free time (it took me about 30-45 minutes to do this WITH taking the photos with one hand and WITH typing all the below. I recall making these in less than 5 minutes )

      The second step is,

        What you need?

 -> Glue
 -> a sharp scissors
 -> thread

 The basic ingredience could come down to only the above But to have the glue stick longer and better;
Ethyl alchohol would help.
Aditionally you may want to have some
painting material to your choice.
and a set of brushes for afterwards...

To remove the scar:
Aceton works best (NOT on the picture... sorry hadn't crossed my mind until I was finished with the instructions).



     The third step is,

 

 Now take a piece of string (here you can go very dramatic and make monstrous stitches ; but I am going to go for a thin ( burnt umber/dark brown) thread that pretty much resembles the medical ones used in hospitals );

fold it in two

And start tying knots in them.

Leave about half a centimeter (that would about a fifth of an inch ) gap between them. You may want to make them longer as they can always be made smaller later.

When done:

At a little bit less than a quarter cm (tenth of an inch ) cut them.


      The fourth step is, 

 Make as many of these as you want...

the more the merrier as it may not be as easy to make later if you are going to add a stitch to your hand as I am going to do in this instructable.

For me I think 7 or 8 should be more than enough but making extras won't hurt.

         The fifth step is,

 

 Obviously you have to decide where to apply this to!

It may be a wise idea to free your skin from any oily surface. For most cases I use something in the lines of ethyl alcohol. It works best to my experience. But maybe just washing with soap would suffice.

Since I am going to be doing this only for the photographs; I am going on with it as it is (thus not the best results& sorry. But that should give you an idea of how bad scars can look like to have refference of! Okay, okay... just too lazy ).

Oh and btw:
I have decided to use my hand for this time.



      The sixth step is, 


  
    Here is the really creative part:

 

 You have to get a sort of tacky but quality glue that you are not allergic to (When I was a child I had always used superglue of some cheaper sort. It worked perfectly, but I have my doubts on its good nature to your skin to be wearing in great amount for a long time ).

For this purpose I am using weak contact glue that was just simply lying around. If I was to be doing it really correctly I would use an adhesive that you would find in the costume shops or at beauty stores for fake eyelashes (not those for a fake nail& that's also super glue ).

I decide where I want the scar to be. And apply the adhesive along it (You may want to first darken the area with make up for your scar )

Once you are done with the glueing part: just take two sides of it and stick/pinch/crease them together.

Now try not to be TOO picky on what it is going to look like. Through experience I have to say that usually wounds tend to be a little random. But for forensically corrected results you may want to pay attention to the langer lines for small scars because the skin tends to pull to particular directions.

Here I have folded my skin thoroughly to each end making sure that it holds each other securely. This may requir some practice at first but it is not really too difficult a task to master.



You may always choose to lengthen the scar by adding more glue. I am going to leave mine such and add a little more glue to the ends to better cap it.

An important thing to keep in mind is to not make the fold with too much skin folded underneath it. As a result it will be an area that shall not get as much blood and can cause problems. Also the more skin it has to hold back the more strain the glue has. Thus it may be for the best of interest to make light stitches until you get the hang of it.


     
      The seventh step is, 

 Okay;
Let's take the little pieces of string and glue them along the wound.

Now here there are a few things to pay attention to:

_ Firstly you don't want to over glue it, because the amount of glue showing would be glossy and take from the convincingness (and they do have bad combination with the paint/make-up)

_ You want to try to think of the positioning tactically. Not one doctor has had a worry about the strings looking aesthetic that has tailored my skin& on the contrary they had all done a pretty rough job for the strings itself ; but they did however pay attention to where a thread was needed in order to hold it together.

_ Last of all try to pay special attention to not allow the thread tips to split at the ends (they are supposed to be IN your skin remember). I used to apply glue around the tips after or just before I cut them to prevent this from happening.




   The eighth step is, 

 Now to finish it off& lets cut the tips of the threads.

At this step you are going to be very greatful if you supplied sharp scissors. Since bad ones will make this step a big mess.
NEEDLESS to say: sharp things can do a boo-boo beyond reconstructability; so BE CAREFUL WITH IT!
(or you may need REAL'istic' stitches )

Well that just about sums it up!
Fast and easy convincing stitch that cost just about nothing , and didn't take any time at all!
(Sadly I've spent more time trying to figure out how to submit an instructable than preparing it :( ... maybe next time I'll stick to a video )

Next:
Taking the result a little further from here on in the next steps with paint (as an example )


   

       The ninth step is, 

 Add bandages, blood and what not. It's your wound: dress it however you wish to.

For instructasamplable sake I am going to apply a little paint postwork
(Using my airbrush acrylics for this one )

To add some realisticity (is that a word? ); don't forget to add marks of the blood being smeared off, or also some yellowness from chemicals used to prevent infections... or maybe a little bit of washed off blue to make it more pale around the area

Note:
I am reminding you that it was all done very crudely... the only reason it looks good here is because of the steps taken. The fold of skin is a real fold of skin and the strings knotted on top are real strings knotted on top.
I am SURE you can get much cooler results with a little bit of creativity.

    The tenth step is, 

 Now a little more work on mine& and Ta-daah!!

Well to be honest; I think I liked it in the last step before I added the last coats of paint. But oh well.. can always take it off and do it again.


The last steps were actually more to give you an inspiration/idea. The only real reason that this looks any good is the materials being realistic.
You can take this a good step further...
You can introduce fake blood under the stitch...
You can paint it more...
You can use staples or thicker thminereads or what not (pun unintended)...
You can mix the glue with paint to make it look more like a crust.
Etc...

There are a LOT of options you can go for from here.

Okay friends, this is my first tutorial on makeup for halloween. So I hope you enjoyed and please comment