How to Make Fake Stitched Wounds
Special Effects are the bread and butter of any film that is from the genres of horror or science fiction. Doing good special effects with little money to spare is never an easy task. No effect is more popular than scars, cuts and bruises. They are fairly basic effects that are vastly make-up based, which usually spells cheap for you. This article will show you how you can make a cheap wound effect that you can stitch on camera.
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Things You'll Need
- Nose Putty
- Liquid Latex
- Basic Makeup Kit
- Black Nylon Stitching
- Needle
- Paper
- Pen
- Wax Paper
- Plastic Sculpting Tool
Instructions
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Fake Stiched Wound
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1
Design your wound by drawing the basic shape on a piece of wax paper to use as a guide.
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2
Open your container of nose putty (also known as scar wax) and remove some putty.
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3
Knead the putty in your hands until pliable, than roll the putty into a three to four inch long rope.
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4
Place the putty onto the wax paper and form into the basic design you have sketched out, then thin out the edges of the nose putty so it forms a near paper thin edging that will blend into your skin.
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5
Apply a thin layer of liquid latex to the area where you want to place the scar.
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6
Watch the latex for it to start to turn translucent, but still remains white in most areas, and apply your wound directly on top of the latex.
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7
Thin out the edges of the nose putty wound even more so that it appears seamless on the skin.
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8
Smooth out bumps and ridges with your finger.
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9
Apply one thin coat of liquid latex to the wound and wait for it to dry, then apply a second coat.
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10
Using your plastic sculpting tool make a gash the length of the wound mound. Using your fingers (or the tool) spread the gash apart and color the inside of the gash with dark red make-up.
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11
Apply two light coats of liquid latex (waiting for each coat to dry) to the outside and inside of the wound.
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12
Apply blending make-up around the edges of the wound using flesh tone as a base then yellow above it in very light coats. Add petroleum jelly to the inside of the wound to make it look moist.
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13
Stitch the wound with your needle and nylon thread as you would any wound or fabric.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Add stage blood to your scene to make the wound all the more impressive.
Never rush your projects.
You can adapt this effect to make it larger and different styles.
If you would like to just make wounds appear already stitched seal the putty ends and take little bits of the nylon stitch and tie them into knots then press into the putty and seal in place with spirit gum or a thin layer of liquid latex.
Putty can be very sticky so try dipping your fingers into vegetable oil or using baby powder to remove the tackiness.
If you are not needing to stitch the wound on camera then you could reuse the same wound over several times.
Be careful when working with latex as it contains ammonia and should only be used in ventilated areas until it dries.
When stitching always be careful to not stab yourself.
Do not use too much pressure when making your wound slit because you can hurt the actor.
