I've got a challenge for you guys, at least it has been for me.

okay, so I want this shot: CU Pretty Girl, head tilted looking downward. she slowly looks up, straight into the camera, then blood starts to drip out of her nose.

Here's the problem, how can I get the blood to start coming out of her nose? I can't have her hold it in her nose that whole time can I? is the blodd capsules that somehow break in the nose?

any help would be greatly appreciated at this point.

Ewww!!!

One idea would be to just composite the blood in post (meaning you'd shoot a clean plate of her, and then do some blood drip stuff against green). You could even drip the blood down a green surface to simulate her face.

But assuming you'd like to do it physically, I'd experiment with blood soaked sponges stuffed up her nose. I've got no personal experience, but if I had to do it physically, that's what I'd be experimenting with.

SQUIBS!!!......ooooh you wanted a safe way? hmmm that's a tough one, i'll think about it.

Do it in two takes? First a CU of her looking up, then an extreme CU of blood running down her nose. You could put the blood in her nose then shoot her looking up (during the extreme CU) and wait for the blood to run down. Then cut between her looking up in editing. (hope I got my point across, sounds kind of jumbled )

A friend of mine achieved this effect by over-saturating a small piece of a paper napkin with fake blood and then, when he wanted his nose to bleed, he breathed hard through his nose, which seemed to push the blood out of the napkin and into a liquid drop.

Easy solution.

1. Girl raises her head

2. Guy is watching

3. Back to the girl; blood starts to slowly run out of her nose

In between shots 2 and 3 use a turkey baster or a blunt (no needle) syringe to put some *thick* blood into her nostril. Have her tilt her head back, like she had a nose bleed, until right before the cameras roll.

Is there any real need for the shot to show her for several seconds before it starts to run out?

If it's crucially important not to wedge in a reaction shot, you might try squirting in some very thick fake blood, then adding some kind of thin tissue paper membrane that will hold it back for several seconds.

I just had another thought - go in with a dental pick and cause an actual nosebleed. No?

Funk bombs idea sound pretty good . . . it would look pretty funny though if the whole wad of tissue came out shen she blew.

And yes, Helio, I cosidered squibs then I realized I was NOT trying to blow her WHOLE nose off.

If you can't get it to work as a totally real, practical effect you might need to try something like this:

Rehearse the head lifting movement a lot so she can repeat it almost perfectly. Lock down the camera and use fully manual settings.

Shoot the head lifting move.

Have the actress keep her head in the exact same place while someone squirts the blood up her nose and ducks out of the shot as quickly as possible.

Use some combination of fading or partial matting (like a fuzzy edged garbage matte around the bloody area only) to quickly morph between the shots.

All you guys are WAY OFF --

HERE'S HOW YOU DO IT:

Build a miniature set, complete with background and floor, and mount this set with pivot points so that it can rotate on an x-axis angled in the direction the camera will be pointing. Now make sure the tripod is secure (so it doesn't fall and break the camera) and the girl is somehow strapped to the floor (so she doesn't fall and break her head), and have a couple of strong guys rotate the entire set 180 degrees so that the girl is hanging upside down (the camera is rotating with her, of course...). Squirt some blood up (or rather, down) her nose, iris in, she looks up, have the two strong guys rotate the set back 180 degrees so that everything is level once again, and -- BINGO -- blood drips from her nose.

Easy, right? This set can also be used to pay homage to old Metallica videos.

[SARCASM]How about dripping the blood down her nose, start the shot of her looking up then have her snort it and look down. Play in reverse, and voila! [/SARCASM] (good thing I remembered my sarcasm tags.)

OK, I'll contribute--

Have the actress look up, pleadingly with those beady eyes you see in Bambi movies. Then, give her a good solid kick in the face. Blood should come at a pretty quick pace, and all you need to do is edit out the kicking motion. Of course I'd leave it in as good drama.

you could always build a mold of the actresses head (har har)...and then you could have fun taking shots at her with a bb gun or something after you're done.

(while you're at it, you could also make a shot of her head exploding)

You guys just make me so proud to be a filmmaker. We're all so clever.

http://www.mecfilms.com/moviepubs/memos/violent.htm