Blood
The Mission
Carrie: The Musical is an infamously bloody show, with one of the more notable scenes involving an entire bucket being dumped. The goal was to create a cheap and simple blood solution that could be produced in bulk to use on stage, and enable precise control of the blood.
The Liquid
The props team conducted initial research into potential blood recipies, narrowing down the options to a base of corn syrup mixed with cocoa powder and food coloring. After they conducted small-batch testing to ensure the blood would not stain fabric, we took over and handled scaling to the show quantity. In total, we produced just over 4 gallons of blood for the blood drop, in addition to a smaller batch utalizing glycerin as a corn syrup replacement for a seperate effect.
The Effects
The main blood effect of the show is the blood bucket drop. For the sake of safety and simplicity, the bucket lifted by the actors did not contain any of the blood that got dropped. Instead, the empty bucket was hidden behind a border in the same location as a bucket filled with the dropping blood. This blood was released through a solenoid controlled by the SPX control module, and fed through a wide spray nozzle to give it a more authentic blood look.
The glycerin-based blood was used for an on-person rig. This rig enabled the actor to "bleed out" from their chest. The rig utalized a CO2 cartridge with a regulator, fed into a solenoid for activation. To prevent a misfire, the rig had to first be enabled by a second actor before the first was able to push the button on their chest and fire the rig.
The Results
