THE COLOR OF THE BLOOD

“ CUT!” said the director .” This scene is too full of objects ( things).”  “ And there’s also too much blood” the set designer intervened. It was the set of the film “ Domestic Murder” Two blooded corpses lay on the floor of a room full of vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, cabinets, and overturned drawers. The head of one of the corpses had been severed and was enthroned on the table. “ I would say we went too far with the blood,” the set designer said. He had a worried face. “ Okey, now let’s take a break,” the director said. “ And then we must set up the accident scene”  “ Even in the accident scene there is too much blood “ the still photographer intervened. “ Oh, blood flows freely in this film. Too much blood”

“ But ours is a film that has to show the violence that breaks out among the tenants of an apartment building. It must strike, shock and blood is fundamental for the visual impact( it has).”

“ But Charles so it will become a horror film” Frank, the set designer objected. “ And you said it has not to be a horror film” “ I agree with Frank. In my opinion, you should have focused more on the psychological violence “ Peter, the still photographer said.

“ Oh, in short, the director is me and if I don’t want to make a horror film I don’t even want to make a psychological thriller. People ask for strong emotions and I try to satisfy them. After all, ours is a damned job, even a thankless one. But remember that here I’m the director and I have the last word!” Charles said, getting up.  “ If anything…I find that the paint we use as blood is too bright red. We should try something else…maybe real blood”

“ Charles, are you crazy? Where could we find it ( real blood)?” Frank said, frightened.

“ Oh, we could find it at the slaughterhouses…Look, you Paul go immediately to see if they can get us some fresh blood. Of course, we need a large quantity of blood and it won’t be easy to get it “ Charles said thoughtfully and Paul, who was the property finder, made a shocked, even frightened face. “ Oh, then we need to contact other companies for the supply of paints and I want here that painter…oh, I can’t think of the name…however that one who was called the Caravaggio of the 2000s”

“ He is Dick Madison,” Frank said “ But right now he is abroad”

“ Then bring me his assistant!” Charles ordered, sealing his order with a clap of his hands.

Those were very difficult days for the filming of “ Domestic Murders”. The actor who played the main character had to be replaced at the last moment and the assistant director had fallen ill and could not be present for the shoot.

Paul returned from the slaughterhouse where he had managed to get a single bottle of blood from an attendant who had sold it to him at a high price and in secret because following the protest of the animal rights associations it was forbidden to use the blood of the slaughtered animals.  Finding the famous painter’s assistant hadn’t been easy either for Frank.  And when he finally found him the young man didn’t want to go to the set where the director was waiting impatiently for him. Frank managed to convince him by giving him a large sum of money. But he was rather reluctant to give information on the type, the quality and the combination of colors his master used for the reds. He began by saying it was a secret that Dick Madison had ordered him not to reveal to anyone under any circumstances.  Then Charles, very agitated asked him for Dick Madison’s phone, in order to get in touch with him, but he couldn’t find him.

The director was exasperated and very worried. He started to shout “ Damnation,  how can I do now? I urgently need to consult him, for all the devils! “ And he kept yelling at Dick Madison: “ “Where the fuck is that motherfucking son of a bitch with his secrets? I’m willing to pay him his secrets by weight in gold!” Everyone was embarrassed and also frightened by the outburst of the director who, still cursing Dick Madison and his assistant started kicking the stage where the workers were setting up the accident scene, which in part had to be shot outdoors. A big truck would have run over a boy on a bicycle. The boy and also the bicycle would have ended up squashed on the asphalt. There would have been blood in this scene too and Charles was all taken up with the concern of finding…the right blood, that is the color of the paint which could have the most effect. However, he didn’t want to resort to a too-bright color. He was looking for a color that could give the sensation of blood on the asphalt. The asphalt would be soaked in blood, it would absorb the blood but here and there had also to be splatters of blood that hadn’t been absorbed. The furious director was looking for a burnished red with flashes of fire. When he finally stopped ranting against Dick Madison and also kicking everything and everyone ___even his collaborators and workers ___ he began to try to experiment to find the color of blood he wanted. He was looking for colors that were at the same time realistic but also evocative, that is, he wanted them to accentuate the characteristic of the colors of the human blood when it is poured and impregnate a material such as asphalt. Assisted by the still photographer, the screenwriter, and the set designer he tried and tried again to add the most diverse dyes to the corn syrup. But, damn it, he couldn’t get the colors, the reds, he wanted.  In addition to the chemical dyes, he tried to add the color obtained by boiling the walnut leaves and reducing the walnut husk to a pulp. He tried coffee and cocoa mixed with boiled banana peels. The backstage looked like an alchemist's office or a witch cave. No way, he couldn’t find the color of the blood he was looking for. Even the still photographer was working hard to get the color they wanted.  Hours passed and their efforts kept failing to achieve the desired color.

Night came. It was a full moon night and under the light of the moon, the red blood absorbed by the asphalt with a few splashes of redder blood that hadn’t been absorbed was obtained as if by a miracle.