I need Squibs!

[Sulkdodds]

Right. For all those who don't know, a squib is a small explosive device attached to a bag of blood. I need a few for a laugh. So, I need squibs! Help me! And I've lookedon ebay. No dice.

 

[thehunter1320]

you can buy them at ur local magic or joke shop

 

[Sulkdodds]

I dont have a local magic or joke shop. Are you sure? Real, blood-detonating squibs?

 

[Xtasy0]

Originally posted by Sulkdodds
Right. For all those who don't know, a squib is a small explosive device attached to a bag of blood. I need a few for a laugh. So, I need squibs! Help me! And I've lookedon ebay. No dice.

a simple google search turned up this link which says:

Squibs

Squibs are used to create realistic bullet wounds and other injuries that require
a bleeding effect like you see in big Hollywood productions. If your like me, you've never even heard of a Squib until you needed one in your movie. I needed them for my action film which required 7 gun shot wounds.

After finding out about Squibs from somebody at Paramount Pictures, I thought that I would just buy some squibs from a Special Effects store and that would be it. Wrong.

When the time came to buy some Squibs I ran into some serious problems:

1 - they wouldn't even talk to me because I wasn't with a real production company.

2 - they wouldn't sell me the Squibs. It turns out that you have to be licensed to
use Squibs. The only way to get squibs is to hire someone licensed to do the work.

3 - A licensed professional is VERY expensive.



How I got Squibs: My friend went to Mexico!

My friend and I were working on another script that requires bullet wounds.
After having so many problems finding filming locations around here, we
decided to shoot our next movie in Mexico. So we also tried to get Squibs in Mexico.

My friend went to Mexico (Monte Rey) and visited some small TV stations. He would just
tell them that he was a 'Special Effects Coordinator' and that he needed some squibs for
an American production company. They told him that they would be happy to order them for
him and that they would have them in three weeks. I don't know how much they charged for
them, but I will find out.

you're probably SOL.

 

[The Dark Elf]

I'm pretty sure I'm licenced, haven't used them in like years though, last time was a low budget horror/sci-fi in Europe, I was in charge of the FX and makeup n stuff and the producers etc sorted out all the documents and legal stuff for us, so I _assume_ I became licenced at that point. I worked closely with another guy when they were used as he was a pyrotechnics expert and knew what he was doing when it came to any kind of explosive device, he handled the larger explosions and I stuck with the smaller stuff (safer..ish), so he will have been licenced for sure, we used them quite a bit and we never ran into any real trouble with them, though they are more dangerous than they appear, one guy did get a bit of a nasty burn on his chest from one that had come lose, however he had been picking at it so there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it, was his fault , deffinately no legal problems though, but we did almost get in serious sh*t with the firearms as one of the pistols had to be real for one shot, and someone forgot to contact the police first and sort out permits for it and other crap *gulp* getting into trouble with the law is not the smartest thing to do in Europe, not really known for their soft side ... and no it wasn't me who forgot! lol

So yeah, i think you should maybe reconsider playing about with them, they look like fun but there's a lot more to them and they are at the end of the day explosives, and in today's climate I really don't think you'd want to be ordering explosives or crossing back into the States from Mexico with them, you'll likely land yourself in prison. There are other ways though that you can fake bullet wounds, cheaper and without involving explosives of any kind, just doesn't looks as good, but then that depends on what your wanting to do

oh and yeah number3 is very true lol

 

[Sulkdodds]

Firstly, thanks for the info. Secondly, I'm British and live in Britain. Thirly, you have a point, but the reason I wanted them was to do an ameteur film. Fourthly, oh well, looks like I'll have to use bags of sheep's blood or something.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Originally posted by Sulkdodds
Firstly, thanks for the info. Secondly, I'm British and live in Britain. Thirly, you have a point, but the reason I wanted them was to do an ameteur film. Fourthly, oh well, looks like I'll have to use bags of sheep's blood or something.

well if its a film (I got the impression from your first post it was just for a laugh like playing a joke on someone) then there's a few ways you can do it.. an Old way that was used a few times early on and especially in low/no budget films is the fishing wire and lid trick. Savini used it in Dawn of the Dead for a couple of shots with the zombies, its far from perfect but a quick shot it can work, you basically place a small packet of blood behind a lid or flat round surface, the size of the bullet wound, and attach fishing wire to it. Then cover it over with the makeup and such so its not noticable and matches the skin (Thats the hard part unless you go to the expense of all the makeup gear and latex) then when the shots ready you just pull the string very very quickly and hard, and if you set it up correctly the packet of blood will burst as the front pops off, if its done right it can pass for a bullet wound, and much safer when used on someone's head/face than an explosive would be.

Obviously I missed out a lot of detail there, your best bet would be to email Tom and ask him, he's a really nice guy and very helpful to people who are in the same boat he was when he started his career. There's similar ways to do bullet wounds, they can all depend on how and where the wounds are... Personally now though I'd probably substitute the actual event with CG, then you only need to worry about the actual wound in later shots being actual makeup. the CG is much easier to match up to that when your done filming everything and your doing the post work.

There's also the paintball technique, though thats not used as often these days, as its pretty dangerous if done wrong, as your basically using a paintball gun and shooting at people, get it wrong and you could take their eye out or worse. Something like that you'd need to be very very careful, making sure they have some kind of protection under their clothes, and someone who is a perfect shot to fire the paintgun off camera (then later you can just fill in with the shot of someone firing a gun, in editing it'll be easy to make it look like they fired the shot that was scene hitting someone)

If you end up doing something with the paintball method, I'd suggest getting insurance and making sure your covered, just incase. Though don't assume signing a document saying "any injuries caused can not be blamed on us" as those don't protect you, the courts, if someone got hurt and it involved them, would want to know what you did to try prevent such accidents, just a form wouldn't cover you.

Personally, if your running low on money, go with the lid trick or something similar. It's inexpensive and its pretty much safe, and providing the scene is lit correctly you can avoid the fishing wire being seen on camera, and so long as you plan ahead you should be able to setup the lengths of wires to create the wound effects in the right order, so eg: pulling a bar with wires attached you could setup the effect of a machine gun firing at someone's chest, but because the wires are different lengths, you'd get the wounds appearing at different times instead of all at once and looking unrealistic

oh for wounds where there's clothing, usually tear the clothes enough where the wound will be, then hold it together with weak and tiny amounts of tape (they should be visible when the blood packet bursts open) or even use small pins, but with pins be careful again, they'll easily take out an eye, and make sure you know how many pins were used initially so you can collect them all up when your done, its surprising how many accidents can be caused by pins laying around on the floor unseen... I know it sounds like a lot of work, but you can never be too careful

Edit: oh and here's a good blood mixture I just found on the net. Looks sounds similar to what we used back then, and non toxic (unless you add the glue that they suggest at the bottom )

Ingredients

2/3 cup Corn Syrup
1/3 cup Water
5 Tablespoons Corn Starch
3 to 5 Teaspoons Red Food Coloring
2 or 3 Drops Green Food Coloring

In a large bowl, mix the corn starch thoroughly with water. Next, add the corn syrup and stir for about a minute. Add only 3 tablespoons of the red food coloring into the mixture and then add a few drops of the green food coloring (this will remove the pink color). To ensure a dark red, add about one or two teaspoons of red food coloring. Note: Real blood is always a dark red or reddish brown.

To prevent the blood from being too transparent, which can sometimes happen, use milk instead of the corn starch. White school glue also works and gives the blood a thicker texture, but would not consider if applying the blood to the mouth.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the advice. Sounds like a good method. Don't worry, if we did use squibs, we know the risks and know they are explosives. Anyway, thanks again.

 

[The Dark Elf]

cool, no worries. have fun and good luck

 

[Brian Damage]

Here's a method I know. Tricky to pull off though, it's basically from the stone age of film...

You need:

1. A metal plate, at least 4mm thick, preferably 5 or 6. VERY IMPORTANT.
2. A small thin plastic sachet of tomato sauce. The less plastic and the more sauce, the better.
3. A small fire cracker, or for preference, a blasting cap.

Strap the metal plate to the site of the "Wound", blu-tack the the cracker/cap to the plate, then tape the sachet of sauce over it. The reason that a blasting cap is supposedly better is that it can be operated electronically. No telltale smoke like you'd get with a fuse-based cracker.

Once you detonate the little explosive, the sachet splits and sprays its contents all over the place. The plate protects the wearer by blocking and spreading the force of the explosion. Looks wonderfully messy.

You might have to cut little holes in your victim's clothes first, though. Or make sure there's a kind of "tear point" where the material can split easily.

I'm pretty sure Fenric knows more about this than me. hope I could help though. I'm more of an explosives and makeup man myself.:E

PS: You don't have to use sauce.