Exploding heads

[dagnammit]

I'm a young film-maker directing my first low-budget horror film with a budget of about ?2000 max (it's more of an experiment than anything else). In the movie a vampire-like creature will (hopefully) have it's head blown to shreds by a shotgun (nice, eh?)
The guy's head will be covered by cloth/bandages etc. to protect it from the sun - this is good cos we don't have to build a realistic head, just something the right shape and size containing packets of fake blood and sponge dyed grey to look like brains. We're hopefully gonna have it wired to blow with a small charge (rather than shooting it with a gun for real).
Our problem is that we're unsure how to build the head, we don't know what materials to use, we don't know how to build it to explode realistically. Most importantly, we need advice on safety.
I'd totally appreciate suggestions or advice to help us with any of this.

Thanks
Dagnammit

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If a wool sweater shrinks in the wash, why don't sheep shrink in the rain?

[Mods]

You're the one with the money, get someone to make a hollow head for you!!


Mods

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Mark "Mods" Lovegrove

[deanl]

Hey there.

How about this. Get a balloon blow it up tie it up. Get yourself a load of newspaper rip it into shreds dip the shreds of paper into a bucket of wallpaper paste untill the paper is soaked in the paste. Now take all your strips of paper and layer them over the inflated balloon keep layering them over the balloon untill there is a thick covering of paper around it. You could now use the front of the balloon as your face and start to use the paper and glue to give it some simple features like a nose and some eyes when you have the shape your after put the balloon somewhere dry and warm and leave it to dry. When its dry you can cut the top off pop the balloon and fill the head with whatever you want if you put enough layers of paper on, it should be very strong like cardboard by now. When the head is full of brains and whatever your gonna use to make it go bang seal the top up and give it a few more layers of Paper. Now if you wanted you could paint the face and put a wig on it but I think you said it was going to be covered up anyway.

Ok. If any of that made sense I hope it helped.

Despin out.

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"Ive got bad feeling about this."

[Krazzymannn]

I have recentley done the paper mache head thing (only I hit it with a brick), some blood hit the camrea and the camraman, but the lens splatter effect looked great. You might want to try it. (just protect your camrea with plastic wrap or somthing like that)

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[dagnammit]

Thanks everybody... i appeciate all your suggestions... i think i'm gonna use the balloon technique,

Cheers
Dagnammit

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If a wool sweater shrinks in the wash, why don't sheep shrink in the rain?