Bursting Testicle

[Meegers]

Yes, you read that correctly. Here's a fun one.

In the show I'm working on, a female character grabs a male character by the balls and squeezes until she pops it.

We are already using a jock strap and athletic cup to protect the male actor. The director wants us to rig up some padding in the actor's pants for a "bulge" that the actress can grab on to. We also want her to be able to pop something and have this blood/semen seep out all over the crotch of his pants.

Does anybody have any creative ideas about exactly how to rig this up?

I had another rig in mind, but the effect has changed somewhat, and I thought I would pick you all's brains.

Thank you!!

 

[Amiers]

Well if his crotch is truly going to be protected you could go with a needle ring/ assassin ring in the reverse fashion and put a balloon fill with each fluid. Gonna be a big mess for the pants each show though. Added sound effects for the popping unless its a small black box you might get away with just hearing the balloons pop. Sounds like a fun.

 

[carproelsofly]

Seems like a "strawberry" blood pack might work - put the liquid in a plastic baggie, move everything to one corner, twist and tape the rest of the baggie closed (ends up shaped like a strawberry). Experiment with different thickness bags until you find one that works for everyone.

HTH,
Jen

 

[gafftaper]

To me, this seems like one of those stunts which is better left to the imagination of the audience. As soon as the audience hears something pop you go from intense moment to uncomfortable comedy, and people are going to laugh. Let the screams of the actor sell the pain, it'll be much more psychologically intense than any popping sound.

I would be reluctant to do a blood pack as well. First off it's not realistic. I've seen two ruptures during baseball games on TV and in both cases the guy was in horrible pain but there was no blood. Secondly, how will the blood seep through the clothes? You have to either have the guy in thin white pants or shorts so the blood drips down the leg. Put the guy in most clothing and you'll have a mess but the blood won't show very well. If you absolutely have to have a visual, try hiding a VERY small blood pack in the hand of the actress doing the squeezing, let her go psycho and smear the blood around the outside of the pants so you can see it. But again it's unrealistic and as with all horror, it's much more scary if you let the audience's minds imagine it.

 

[Meegers]

I've researched what happens when testicles go "pop," and I know there isn't any blood. The concept of this show is "heightened nightmare," so we're playing around with the possibility. Thanks for the advice about the effect possibly waxing comedic., though I'll keep that closely in mind as we move forward.

Thanks everyone for the ideas! I guess it's time to play!

 

[JD]

I would cut out a section of large bubble bubble-wrap. (maybe two bubbles) Wouldn't bother with the blood. If the show is going to be a multi-day event, or a few weeks, you would go through a lot of pants as they never seam to wash out when stage blood is used.

 

[gafftaper]

I've researched what happens when testicles go "pop," and I know there isn't any blood. The concept of this show is "heightened nightmare," so we're playing around with the possibility. Thanks for the advice about the effect possibly waxing comedic., though I'll keep that closely in mind as we move forward.

Be sure to do a freinds and family preview show and be ready to cut/alter the trick significantly depending on their reaction.

 

[Beans45601]

I agree, this is better left up to the imagination of the audience. You are never actually going to hear anything pop, so you'd have to have a sound effect anyway. At that point, it could just be a empty grab, sound effect and a quick squirt of fake blood on the crotch