Underwater Blood Effect

[andy duensing]

I have to show a character bleeding heavily in a pool. I am shooting with an underwater housing in an enclosed pool and trying to figure out the best way to do this effect. Originally it was going to be all CGI but I would like to try and do it as a practical effect or at least shoot plates for compositing. Any ideas on what kind of Blood mixture would not turn an entire pool pink/ other options to accomplish this.

[Lee Maisel]

I have to show a character bleeding heavily in a pool. I am shooting with an underwater housing in an enclosed pool and trying to figure out the best way to do this effect. Originally it was going to be all CGI but I would like to try and do it as a practical effect or at least shoot plates for compositing. Any ideas on what kind of Blood mixture would not turn an entire pool pink/ other options to accomplish this.

 

 

I would think, (as I have seen it done that way many times) that it would be pretty easy to do CGI. Any dye you put into the water is going to be pretty hard to get out. The CGI portion is basically just colorization and a mask, possibly an animated one.

[James Steven Beverly]

I saw 2 "blood in the water" FXs that really impressed me. One was the ghost, Santi, in "The Devil's Backbone" with blood apparently pours from a severe head wound up through an unseen pool of water each time the ghost appears. The other was in "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" when Jim Byrd (George Clooney) sits bleeding to death on the diving board over Chuck Barris' (Sam Rockwell) pool while he tells Barris of the assassin mole that has infiltrated the CIA. In each case the effect looked exactly right to me. I don't know how each was done but you might research the films anf find some information on the effects they used. I don't know how much that will help but maybe it's a start.

Edited December 16, 2006 by James Steven Beverly

[Tim J Durham]

I have to show a character bleeding heavily in a pool. I am shooting with an underwater housing in an enclosed pool and trying to figure out the best way to do this effect. Originally it was going to be all CGI but I would like to try and do it as a practical effect or at least shoot plates for compositing. Any ideas on what kind of Blood mixture would not turn an entire pool pink/ other options to accomplish this.

You could try oil paint which would stick together and not blend with the pool water. It would also be easier to suck up afterward with a wet-vac. You'd probably want to thin it.

[David Cox]

I would think, (as I have seen it done that way many times) that it would be pretty easy to do CGI. Any dye you put into the water is going to be pretty hard to get out. The CGI portion is basically just colorization and a mask, possibly an animated one.

 

If you were to just use a mask to effect a change of colour in post, you would end up with a very 2D effect and that wouldn't look that realistic. It might be possible to animate "clouds" of blood in 2D, but 3D liquid simulation software is likely to do a better job of it. However, this isn't quick and you'll probably find paying a few runners to clean the pool afterwards would give you a more convincing and cheaper effect!

 

David Cox

Baraka Post Production

www.baraka.co.uk

[Luke Prendergast]

If it's a big pool and a small (local) cloud of blood, I doubt very much you would affect the color of the water once the dye had dispersed. You could scale the values to test this in a cup.

[David Venhaus]

There is disappearing blood and disappearing red ink. I don't know if it is non-toxic or safe for a pool but it wouldn't turn it colors.

[Guest Tim Partridge]

I remember someone doing this effect for a movie, where they shot a pool plate with the actor and then dissolved over the top another element: a red paint cloud (probably food dye) in a small fish tank. I only knew because it was mentioned in the director's commentary.