3 Simple SFX Looks

One thematic tie to all the looks. Blood, and lots of it.

Whether you're a beginner or advanced, easy looks like these are always a hoot to do. I did three quick SFX looks this week. Rips, shots, and slashes using gelatine, scar wax and liquid latex each. Three products you'll find in any special effects arsenal. I decided perhaps to show my favourite, all you can do in under an hour.

So here are three fun and almost effortless SFX looks for you to try!

No, this is not art imitating life. It is not based on my exasperation and wishes to have my sister shut up for once. Of course not.

The tongue is made from gelatine and filled her mouth with blood. Gelatine is one of the three prominent products of SFX, made from gelatine and glycerine which is easy to make. Well, if you can actually find glycerine. It took months to find vegetable glycerine.

A tutorial on how to make this gelatine tongue is up on Mykie’s channel here! Her tutorial shows how easy it is to make a fake tongue. I followed the instructions using Play-Doh to make the mould. While I held it in my hand, you can just stick it in a fork like she did. Or you know, do tongue things with it. Let your creativity run with this prop. Don’t worry, I won’t judge.

I pulled the trigger but you just can’t die.

Scar wax is a great material to use, with many disadvantages. While I do enjoy using it, it’s hard to blend and removes easily. In short, scar wax isn’t for long term wear nor is it re-usable like gelatine or liquid latex. While they create prosthetics, scar wax is a one-time use product that you have to practice often to use properly.

For a basic bullet wound, you need a little bit of scar wax, lotion and blood. I would go into the details but there’s a tutorial here on Hey Bash! I teach you how to make a fake bullet wound with scar wax through a pictorial.

Everyone involved in SFX has done a slit throat. Everyone. 

One of the most basic SFX makeup done, using just liquid latex and tissue. Liquid latex is an SFX beginner’s dream. You can create, apply and strengthen almost any prosthetics. The benefits are endless. But. (This is a huge butt) Once liquid latex on your clothes, you might as well throw it out. You will never remove it, as Faiz found out the hard way. 

There are a lot of variations to this look. Slit throat, sewn throat, detached throat and so on the throats rip.  You will find them with a quick google search in a minute. I an only tell you how much fun it is to slice throats.  

With every photo I post, I ask myself why I didn’t use actual models. Oh right, because I would have to pay them. So thank you to my sister, brother and cousin for helping me out. Quick to agree to have their tongue ripped out, or throat slit or brains exploded.

The reason why I used models for this post is because I’m giving my face a break. A tip when applying prosthetics. Try to space out the days you apply it to once a week. If you apply prosthetics regularly, your skin will dry out. A lesson I learned and won't ever forget.

Anyway, which one is for favourite SFX look? I’d love to know!