Activity: How to make a fake wound

Stick a nail (or half a nail) into the lumpy bit of the wound, so it looks like it's sticking out of your body.

Use the makeup to add some 'bruising' around the edge of the fake wound for added authenticity.

On SCOPE's Special Effects episode, you saw Mac make a fake wound. Want to try it yourself? Here's how:

What you need

• Playdough (pale colour)
• Chocolate topping
• Instant coffee
• Red food colouring
• A nail (or half a nail)
• Some make up (blue eyeshadow and black eyeliner work well)

NOTE: This is a messy activity! It might be a good idea to do this outside and to wear old clothes.

What to do

1. First make your fake skin by kneading some instant coffee and red food colouring into the playdough. Experiment with the quantities so that the fake skin is the same colour as your own skin.
2. Make the fake blood by adding some red food colouring to the chocolate topping.
3. Pinch off a small piece of fake skin and stick it onto your body where you want the wound to go.
4. Leave a bit of a lump of fake skin in the middle of the 'wound' and flatten the edges out with the back of your fingernail so you can't see the join between your own skin and the fake skin.
5. Stick a nail (or half a nail) into the lumpy bit of the wound, so it looks like it's sticking out of your body.
6. Add the fake blood - not too much - around the nail and the fake skin.
7. Use the makeup to add some 'bruising' around the edge of the fake wound for added authenticity.
8. You can make fake bullet wounds in the same way - leave out the nail and mould a hole in the centre of the fake skin for the bullet hole.

What's happening

Film and TV make-up effects are generally a little more complex than this activity. Special effects make-up artists use a range of high-tech equipment to create wounds, monsters and other effects for films.

If a major change in appearance is required (such as to turn someone into a monster or alien), prosthetics are normally used. These are fake body parts, and can range from a nose to a full body. You can see thousands of prosthetics in use in the Lord of the Rings http://www.lordoftherings.net/index_production.html movie trilogy, including hobbit feet and orc heads.

Prosthetics are usually made from foam latex, a special form of latex which is whipped then baked, to give it a spongy feel. Foam latex is baked inside moulds, which can be made by taking a plaster cast of the actor's real body part, then sculpting it into the shape of the fake body part.

Make-up special effects can also be combined with computer graphics to provide film-makers with even more options for amazingly realistic effects.

You might like to try this other method for creating fake wounds. Which looks more realistic?