>> This episode of the Modern Rogue
brought to you by our friends at Bombfell.
>> Go to bombfell.com/rogue,
and get $25 off your first order.
>> Yeah, R-O-G-U-E, there's an OG in rogue.
Did you donate plasma?
>> Dude, a lot.
I donated a lot of plasma.
Let me tell you about the last time I donated plasma.
I'm laying there, and the needle rolled out of my vein.
So they pull the blood out, they cycle out the plasma,
they pump the blood back in, but the needle rolled out
when they were pumping it back in,
and my arm just started swelling up.
It was incredibly painful.
>> And you got paid for this?
>> I got paid a little bit, yeah.
>> So, you do know that in America, if you're paid
for any bodily fluid that you give,
it's most certainly not being used for medicine.
Somebody somewhere is wearing a cosmetic
that has bits of Jason Murphy in it.
>> God, that makes me so happy.
Smear my essence all over your face!
It will make you beautiful!
Let's do it right now!
[Brian laughing]
>> I'm so sad I empowered you [laughs].
>> I'm going to make you so pretty!
I'm going to make you so beautiful, Brian!
>> BRIAN: No, no!
[calm music]
>> NARRATOR: Real blood versus fake blood.
>> Last episode we talked about chocolate syrup
and why it works so well
in black and white movies as fake blood.
Now we're in full color, look at us.
You're welcome, we're in full color.
>> So, back in the 19th Century, they started
making fake blood for stage play in Paris.
And they called them the Grand Guignol.
They were opulent horror-stage plays,
with lots of spraying blood and everything.
Before that, a lot of times, they just used
red kerchief to indicate that someone was bleeding.
>> Oh, yeah, yeah, no, no, like a, sort of like
a Kabuki player or something, where they're like, "Ah!"
>> Right, yeah.
>> And out blood comes.
>> Exactly, but in the Grand Guignol,
they started making all of this fake blood.
And it became more important in the 1930s,
when we started to see the advent of color film.
>> Did color film start in the 1930s?
>> Absolutely, yeah, you started to see stuff like
Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz,
shot in beautiful technicolor.
>> With all the blood that we remember fondly.
>> With all the blood.
Right, well they had the Hays Code,
which limited the amount of violence and blood, nudity
that you could show on screen.
But you had, in 1957, The Curse of Frankenstein
from Hammer Films, one of my favorite movies.
And they were not beholden to the Hays Code,
because they were in Great Britain.
>> Color or black and white?
>> That was color.
>> Okay, right on.
>> It was color, and they started using fake blood for that.
But that fake blood looked silly,
and so people just started revising it.
It just, it was a recipe, like anything else.
And then, in the 70s, pioneer Dick Smith,
the guy who did the special effects
for Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Exorcist,
he came up with his own recipe that was
the staple for a very long time.
Unfortunately, it was very, very poisonous,
because it had photo-developing chemicals in it.
>> Oh, jeez.
>> JASON: Yeah.
>> Okay, that's bad.
Okay, so the big thing that we learned
in the black and white version of this
is that chocolate syrup worked very well
because it sort of, the viscosity flash-froze
what appeared to be the motion of dripping
and allowed you to get multiple shots from multiple angles.
It was very easy to work with, so that you could have
something splash on somebody and preserve that moment
of what we all associate with blood splatter, right?
>> Exactly, exactly, and really,
what you want to consider is, for movies,
a lot of times you don't need just one type of blood.
It varies from movie to movie, and sometimes,
from scene to scene, because maybe you want
an arterial spray, or a vein spray.
>> Like in a Samurai movie, somebody slashes a throat,
and it just shoots out like a fountain.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> That's one type of blood.
Separate, you get something like Kill Bill,
where he's throwing, basically, strawberry jam on everybody.
>> Well that was actually considered like Samurai blood.
But then you see like the Italian Giallo films,
like Mario Bava, or something like that,
where the blood is really like,
almost magenta, pink and thick.
And then other times, you see it where
it's more brown or realistic.
It really depends on what type of movie,
what type of scene, or what emotion you want to elicit.
>> So, specifically, I want to explore the territory
between what looks good in person
versus what looks good on screen.
For example, I've done a lot of magic shows,
with a lot of fake blood in a lot of different places.
Everyone's got their own system.
When I did a thing in Istanbul, for whatever it is,
I don't know if it was the set,
I don't know if it was the way everything was arranged,
I don't know if it was the way I did the fake blood,
looked super cartoonish, like purple-y,
like unbelievable, right?
>> JASON: Mm-hm.
>> Separately, the best fake blood I ever did
was on Penn & Teller's: Fool Us.
And to be honest, I leaned almost entirely
just on red food coloring.
>> JASON: Really!
>> Like, almost nothing else.
And the downside, of course, was that
my hands were bright red for days.
And then, meanwhile, you get into weird legal territory
where, for example, when I did my show in Indonesia,
it is literally against the law
to have realistic fake blood on screen.
So we came up with a compromise, basically.
We just decided the blood was going to be green,
and we would never acknowledge why it was green.
>> So you've done this many, many times.
>> Sure, I can tell you what I think looks best
in real life, which is not what looks best on screen,
and almost certainly does not look like real blood.
>> A lot of times, blood is just filmed,
and then it's color-corrected to make it look like
the needs of the scene, these days.
Or, sometimes, there's not even
any blood at all, and it's added in-post.
>> Digitally.
>> Like in the Expendables.
>> Or the freaking Walking Dead,
where everything's digital blood.
I'm not a fan of the digital blood.
>> But show me your recipe, and try
to make it as real as possible.
>> Okay, so, first of all, there's a few different brands.
>> And I'll show you mine.
>> Oh, dear.
>> Sorry, couldn't resist.
>> I'm really glad I dulled this.
>> Oh, I checked, I checked.
>> So, for live stage blood, it depends
on what the effect is you want to do.
The first thing you want to decide
is whether or not you are trying to make it
look like real blood in the moment,
or if you want to be able to preserve it
so that people can get a shot or an iconic image
of what looks like blood splattered over your face.
That's a question of viscosity.
Everybody uses corn syrup, karo is the most popular brand.
This is like an off-brand right here.
But you can see, I mean, it's viscous.
It's a lot like the chocolate syrup
that we did, only it's totally clear.
Now, traditionally, you'll mix this with
straight-up red food coloring, and if you're doing
stuff, whoops, well, now I'm filthy.
[Brian laughing]
So, this is nothing but pure red food coloring.
By the way, food coloring does wash out pretty well,
just using regular detergent.
To you and me.
>> That looks like candy.
>> It looks cartoonish, right?
I'm going to suspect that, on screen, this looks pretty good.
So what I will often do, if I'm doing a show in real life,
real blood almost has sort of like
a coppery, sort of brown tint to it.
>> Yeah.
>> So what I'll usually do is I'll do an entire,
I don't know, container of red, and then I'll add
two or three drops of green in there.
And that'll give it a little bit
of that coppery brown look to it.
So now, instead of this cartoony red,
right here, I'm going to mix this around.
And now, you can see that we get.
>> JASON: Yeah!
>> We get sort of a little bit of a brown,
like a darker blood.
Because, of course, blood that is oxygenated.
>> Exactly.
>> Is redder than depleted blood.
>> Yep, and you want to consider how you want it
to look as it dries, if that's even
a part of your scene, or whatever you're shooting.
Blood actually does dry into a dark brownish color.
>> That's one of the other nice things
about using karo syrup is that when it dries,
it maintains that gloss on there.
It'll actually dry and still have that shine
as if it's still wet and lively.
So, as a result, if you're doing a costume,
then, you want it primarily, almost no water,
you want it pretty much just karo syrup
and whatever coloring you want.
And you want to flick it on you, and then as it dries,
it will stay shiny as if it's live blood
that just now splashed on your face.
>> When they were shooting the original Evil Dead,
Bruce Campbell said that they used the corn syrup method,
and that he had so much of it dried
on his shirt, that his shirt broke.
>> What?
Like, cracked in half?
>> Yes [laughs].
>> I totally believe that.
Okay, now, what's the story with this?
>> JASON: This is just flour, one of the many methods
that you can use to add texture to it.
The blood that we used in the episode
with the blood stain pattern analysis.
>> BRIAN: Yeah.
>> Actually had cocoa powder in it.
That added a different color and
a little bit of better texture.
>> Throw some of that in there,
let's see what that looks like.
So right now, we've got a bit of green
and a whole lot of red.
How much you want to put in?
>> JASON: Yeah, see, I'm not really sure.
>> BRIAN: Keep it coming.
For the way I use fake blood, I want it to flow nicely,
so as a result, this viscosity, while it's a benefit
for cinematography, it's not a benefit for live stage show.
Actually that's pretty good, that looks really good, right?
>> JASON: Nice, right? Yeah.
>> I don't know how this looks on video,
but I'm going to say that live in and in-person, this is
a pretty good viscous, gelatinous, zombie compound.
I'm going to say that when I did Penn & Teller: Fool Us,
I almost went entirely with red food coloring.
In fact, this is the actual bottle.
[Jason and Brian laughing]
And this is pure Adams Extract food coloring.
Okay, that looks pretty good, right?
>> Oh, that looks great, yeah.
>> The bummer is, this will legit
stain your hands for days and days and days.
>> JASON: Yeah.
>> But if you don't care, then that's fine.
OxiClean cleans all of this stuff up really, really well.
>> Oh, okay.
>> So I'm going to guess, this one looks good in real life.
>> It's so thick.
>> Super viscous.
>> This one, I'm going to say, will very much
look good on camera.
>> JASON: Okay.
>> Which means there's only one-third variety.
>> You want to compare it to the real thing?
>> I just want to know how the phone call went,
when you got actual pints of pigs' blood.
>> The lady at the day care center
was just really nonchalant about it.
>> [laughing] I don't know how to feel about any of this!
>> It's thicker than I thought.
>> Okay.
>> Maximum science!
>> Everything I've read has indicated that actual blood
is fairly disappointing in the reality.
>> Okay, okay.
>> Oh god, oh god.
>> Jesus Christ! This is gross!
>> Oh my god!
>> I'm suddenly regretting this decision, Brian!
[Brian laughing]
I'm suddenly regretting this decision!
>> I'm sorry.
>> Me, too.
>> For the internet!
>> Yeah!
[Brian laughing]
[Jason laughing]
>> {Jason] There's always room for JELL-O.
>> BRIAN: [laughing] Okay, it's all
coagulated pigs' blood!
>> I didn't expect that.
>> BRIAN: [laughing] I didn't either!
This looks brown, brown, brown.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> It does not look like real blood.
>> Oh, yeah, it looks like you splashed soda on me.
>> So this is real blood.
>> JASON: That's real pigs' blood, according to
the woman at Blue Bear Daycare Center.
Yeah, just a little bit of water.
>> BRIAN: Uh!
>> JASON: Hey, good call on the flip-flops.
Oh, there we go, okay.
Man, this is fresh, this is from this morning.
>> Really?
>> JASON: Yeah, the pigs came in this morning,
is what they were telling me.
>> BRIAN: Okay, I, oh god.
>> JASON: Man, our job is awesome!
>> BRIAN: Just as is?
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> All right, I'm just going to let you have it.
We'll try to keep it to the right side,
so we have a comparison.
This is [laughs]
>> I'm ready!
>> Real blood, take one.
>> Oh!
Oh!
There it is!
That's real blood.
>> That's real blood.
It's soaking through, by the way.
>> Oh!
>> It's on my jeans.
>> BRIAN: Oh!
>> Oh my god, my wife is going to be so pissed.
>> Oh!
>> So, there's always room for JELL-O.
>> It's brownish, I mean, I'm going to say
that the coagulated bits look super-duper realistic, right?
>> JASON: Yeah, yeah, it's not the best.
>> Okay, all right, now we're going to do
real-life, believable blood, this is what we thought,
with a little bit of green.
>> Okay, ready.
>> Three, two, uh!
Okay, oh!
>> See, that looks awesome!
>> BRIAN: This is very close!
>> JASON: Yeah!
>> BRIAN: To that chocolate.
I would say in real life, it looks pretty good,
but it looks too dark.
I'm going to bet on camera that doesn't look nearly as good.
>> JASON: It looks way better than the real stuff.
>> BRIAN: Yeah, the real stuff is pretty gross.
>> Now, this is the more watery one.
>> So we have actual blood, on the right,
real life-looking, pretty good blood.
Now, my guess is, this'll look cartoonish in real life,
but will be pretty red on-screen.
Ready, and [laughs].
All right, here we go, here we go [laughs]
>> It's cold.
Oh god, mother blood! Blood!
[Brian laughing]
Okay, that one is my favorite.
>> Oh, the cold one?
The viscous one.
You think the viscosity really matters
as far as it being a.
Because, I'll tell you what, this,
because it's so liquid, immediately just absorbs
and becomes just general red.
>> Yeah, it soaks in right away.
I'm really curious to what these
are going to look like once they dry.
>> Look at the shades of the real one, how brown it is.
>> JASON: Real blood looks awful!
>> BRIAN: Speaking of which, let's throw more,
let's just put more real blood on you.
>> JASON: Let's do it!
>> Let's just [laughs]
>> Get in there, man!
[Brian laughing]
>> JASON: I didn't expect it to be so gelatinous,
but I guess that's what happens.
>> BRIAN: That's what blood does.
Oh!
>> JASON: I think you got some on ya.
>> BRIAN: Real blood, not good, too brown.
And also too chunky.
Live stage blood, the viscosity really matters.
Like, look at that, here, look at this.
>> JASON: Yeah, give me some of that.
>> BRIAN: There you go, look at this, here we go.
>> JASON: Yeah!
>> BRIAN: There you go, whop!
[Brian and Jason laughing]
It does look pretty good!
it's all straight-up red food coloring in the karo.
Uh!
I feel like this is your life's ambition!
You finally have realized a dream [laughing]!
What have I done?
What have I become a part of?
>> I'm going to go introduce myself to the neighbors.
We haven't done that yet.
>> BRIAN: Oh my god.
>> Jason, you know what time of the month it is?
>> It's like Christmas!
>> It's time for Bombfell!
You get assigned an actual stylist,
who gets what you're about.
You describe brands that you would
never, ever be caught dead wearing.
Your body type, the size you are.
And then somebody puts together, basically,
the stuff you would buy for yourself.
>> Yeah!
[Brian gasps]
Whatcha got?
>> First of all, I already got a t-shirt.
That is perfect, all right, there you go.
>> Nice!
>> Right?
>> JASON: Okay.
>> Right? Right?
>> Okay, digging it, into it.
>> Right.
>> What you got for your bottom parts?
[Brian laughs]
That's what they call them.
>> I got sweet, sweet khakis.
All right, look, I'm going to put these on.
You open open up yours.
>> All right, all right.
>> BRB, BRB.
>> Oh, I got this slick t-shirt!
>> BRIAN: Wait, is it the same t-shirt?
>> It is not, it's better!
>> BRIAN: That is better!
>> Isn't it?
Got this long-sleeve button-up.
This looks kind of rugged,
and I got some tough-looking jeans.
I'm going to look slick.
>> BRIAN: Hey, where can people go
to get on the Bombfell train?
>> Bombfell.com/rogue, you get $25 dollars
off your first purchase.
>> Oh, hello.
>> Man, they are on point.
I'm going to look like a guy who carries a pocket knife
and knows how to change a tire.
>> Not only do you get your own personal stylist
who gets what you're all about, but the more of the stuff
you keep, the bigger the discounts you get.
>> It's so simple, and the more you use it,
the better your style gets, because you start
building a relationship with your stylist.
You can even edit your orders in advance.
>> Hells yeah, dude, they send you in advance.
They're like, "This is what we're going to send you."
And you're like, "I got a problem with it."
Or you're like, "I don't know, let me give it a try."
I want to know how Bombfell has figured out that all
of their outfits need to look great with my flip flops.
They always look great with the flip flops!
>> It actually works.
>> Bombfell.com/rogue.
>> BRIAN: Three, two, one.
Got it?
>> [Jason} Not Yet.
[spigot squeaking]
Uh, nothing's coming out.
Do we not know how to hose?