Frankenstein meets the 21stC
December 8, 2011 11:35 PM Subscribe
Do people donate their bodies to television?
I've been wondering this for awhile. In crime pathology programs like "Silent Witness" the pathologists dissect whole bodies and body parts that look like real human brains or hearts or other organs. Are they models made to look very realistic or are they real, obtained from somewhere?
If they are models, how do they make a realistic brain or other organs? I mean, is it pork mince and gelatin or what?
I've been wondering this for awhile. In crime pathology programs like "Silent Witness" the pathologists dissect whole bodies and body parts that look like real human brains or hearts or other organs. Are they models made to look very realistic or are they real, obtained from somewhere?
If they are models, how do they make a realistic brain or other organs? I mean, is it pork mince and gelatin or what?
Best answer: Are they models made to look very realistic or are they real, obtained from somewhere?
They're models. The demand for real human bodies in places that legitimately need them, i.e. anatomy and pathology classes, particularly for medical students, is such that a lot of bodies wind up there.
On the other hand, most actors really don't want to actually dissect a real human body, and there would need to be major precautions to protect the cast and crew from disease. Also, an actual body would smell awful with some combination of formaldehyde and rot, and wouldn't probably do very well sitting out under hot lights for hours at a time. It's cheaper and actually better to use silicone models, which is probably what most of the big special effects houses do.
posted by valkyryn at 2:39 AM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
They're models. The demand for real human bodies in places that legitimately need them, i.e. anatomy and pathology classes, particularly for medical students, is such that a lot of bodies wind up there.
On the other hand, most actors really don't want to actually dissect a real human body, and there would need to be major precautions to protect the cast and crew from disease. Also, an actual body would smell awful with some combination of formaldehyde and rot, and wouldn't probably do very well sitting out under hot lights for hours at a time. It's cheaper and actually better to use silicone models, which is probably what most of the big special effects houses do.
posted by valkyryn at 2:39 AM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I used to drink with someone who made these for TV.
They're 100% fake and 100% realistically creepy.
posted by rokusan at 6:00 AM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
They're 100% fake and 100% realistically creepy.
posted by rokusan at 6:00 AM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Film & TV production companies aren't set up to store remains. Those rows of refrigerated compartments you see at the "morgue" aren't really refrigerated. And when you shoot you have to save all the props at least until the show is totally locked --- completely ready to be aired -- and even beyond, which they wouldn't have the capacity to do. And paying to store your bodies/parts at an actual facility would just be expensive.
On my very first project, as a P.A., I had to walk across the lot to pick up a severed hand from the propmakers. It was gross, let me tell you.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:16 AM on December 9, 2011
On my very first project, as a P.A., I had to walk across the lot to pick up a severed hand from the propmakers. It was gross, let me tell you.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:16 AM on December 9, 2011
Best answer: Deluxe Autopsy Male Cadaver -- $2000. Just one vendor's offering.
Some of the props are real discards, though.
If you want some insight into the propmaking process, watch F/X [Netflix]. Bryan Brown is a special effects wizard who is asked to fake a murder (for the Feds). I doubt most such props would work in person, though, as they're really designed to look good on camera.
posted by dhartung at 9:16 AM on December 9, 2011
Some of the props are real discards, though.
If you want some insight into the propmaking process, watch F/X [Netflix]. Bryan Brown is a special effects wizard who is asked to fake a murder (for the Feds). I doubt most such props would work in person, though, as they're really designed to look good on camera.
posted by dhartung at 9:16 AM on December 9, 2011
On of my favorite tv games is to catch the dead body breathing.
The cut up ones aren't real (actually I was watching reruns of NCIS once so they were really out of order and I totally saw the same body being autopsied on two different episodes) but you'd be surprised how often you can see the sheet moving with the heartbeat or breathing if you really watch for it.
posted by magnetsphere at 10:13 AM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
The cut up ones aren't real (actually I was watching reruns of NCIS once so they were really out of order and I totally saw the same body being autopsied on two different episodes) but you'd be surprised how often you can see the sheet moving with the heartbeat or breathing if you really watch for it.
posted by magnetsphere at 10:13 AM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've actually "been" a dead body on television before (for Homicide: Life on the Street) and have seen the autopsy room body models up close. At the time, the bodies were made of a soft plastic-y material and the innards were silicone and kept shiny in order to look wet via a guy with a paintbrush dipped in silicone oil. However, at the time, non-union actor extras were the bodies under the sheets, because paying us for a day was cheaper than buying or renting a model, or so we were told. I suspect that nowadays, materials are always cheaper than human beings, so most bodies under sheets are models now.
posted by juniperesque at 12:05 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by juniperesque at 12:05 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
And not to state the obvious, but even though it's expensive to make such realistic body parts and organs, they can be re-used almost indefinitely.
posted by ErikaB at 1:04 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by ErikaB at 1:04 PM on December 9, 2011
« Older Cheer me up with awesome sexy female music videos! | Selling my own books through amazon Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by hasna at 11:48 PM on December 8, 2011