vomit pump

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Chances are you’ve stumbled upon my website because of my writing, and are not here to learn how to construct your own DIY projectile vomit special effect. But it’s important to learn something new every day. And haven’t you always wondered how they get a projectile vomit effect in movies? And how you could go about doing so if you had to come up with it yourself?

Well, I’m here to impart that knowledge because while the vomit pump wasn’t the flashiest project I worked on, it is dear to my heart.

The conception

Something a lot of people don’t consider about puppeteering, unless you’re super familiar with it, is the close ties it shares with special effects. People typically ask what type of puppetry is my favorite, and it’s always a bit of a tricky question. Because the type of puppetry I love is more film-based and therefore often forgoes typical classification. You see, types of puppetry are often defined by the mechanism by which the puppet is manipulated, be that by hand, rod, string, etc. But TV and movie puppeteering, by virtue of the nature of filming, can be a mix of everything and change within the scene depending on the shot.

In that sense, it becomes like a puzzle. You have to know where the camera is going to be, and where you’ll need to fit yourself, and what effect the director is going for, and what specific movement needs to be filmed to lead into the next angle. I always tell people before I embark on a project with them that SFX only works with a great amount of previsualization and planning. It’s not something you can change on set with the snap of your fingers.

And in all that careful planning lies the coolest, funnest shot in the whole film. It’s usually the moment people remember. That makes the audience gasp, or groan, or laugh. It’s the climax, the part that the whole thing hinges on. And every time I successfully complete a project, it fills me with a great swell of satisfaction.

During my time at Columbia, I became a sort of budget-Stan-Winston. If you needed an effect figured out at the lowest cost possible, I was your girl. Just let me know what it is, and I’ll do my best to make it happen. Many utilized my talents. Some for puppet work, others for make-up effects, and some just for general blood and guts, ranging from a simple bruise to a rotting corpse.

The vomit pump was outside my usual wheelhouse. It was something I’d never considered before; I had to really research it instead of providing my typical advice on buying latex, fake blood, and animal organs from a local butcher. But I love a challenge. And so, of course, I said yes.

The project

The project itself was simple: a gender reveal party gone terribly wrong. Classic.

As I was not the writer on this one, I won’t go too far into the details, but the vomit pump was supposed to make its grand entrance at the story’s climax, when our protagonist would projectile vomit at the moment right before the reveal thus ruining the happy couple’s big moment with the color of her throw up: blue. Congrats, it’s a boy!

It’s a simple, elegant story with one very big question. How does one fake projectile vomit on a budget?

The planning

And so to the internet, I went!

There, I found that there are really two ways most fake vomit is handled in film and television.

The first is exceedingly simple, and not really the show-stopping, guisar effect the script desired. An actor simply holds some sort of food slurry in their mouth, and when the time comes, voila! Vomit. Selling it with a great deal of dry heaving and good old-fashioned acting.

The second requires careful set-up and pre-planning, and a sprinkle of movie magic. Using this method, a tube connected to a pump is run through the actor’s clothing and either hidden in their sleeve or adhered to their face, then the camera is placed to hide the pump. This was the method that we would be using.

And so the first thing I needed was a water pump. You know, the type you might buy for your aquarium or garden water feature?

I’ll link it in my Amazon storefront.

I’m just kidding! I don’t have one of those.

But seriously, if you would like to follow along at home. Here’s an Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/PULACO-Submersible-Fountain-Aquariums-Hydroponics/dp/B07VR1BGC5/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2W0GQCE0F5FN7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CiILrL_Eneea7RQ0Qbw8e-s9iUD5L85MSEziWwStTdas2bAfFdXjQ7mz6yCkUigKlxkAeF3FmWf8rAvA9kS2VVVu5it5LQ6pTcz0AJn7uybD96aBM_0Z5aL-vPwcKcmBjkCdqv_5aETw1vWkd7jo0p0WzuniWXAkFxdjTwQZVAGAORLHkVfOTo5eAzEizpta2vTSqTapEOVrYuFovM0INrS3_uyr6Wgl-sSUCfSTozLf0VUJjSvbmVMcQIlscjqlqipFoyCfWPhE8TuE1XWegJEgrMytxGnXb5ZudInSlIA.sR5X_I95-5RSavzuoObbdBzn_qBj2o0eUh2C8eUhwZ8&dib_tag=se&keywords=water%2Bfixture%2Bpump&qid=1776408120&sprefix=water%2Bfixture%2Bpum%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-6&th=1

In fact, just to get it out of the way, here is your shopping list:

A summersable, waterproof pump. The type you’d buy for a fish tank or garden water fixture.
Plastic tubbing, about a ½ inner diameter. I’d say a minimum of 10 feet, but it’s always safe to have more.
A large plastic bucket.
A mixing bowl.
A funnel.
Whatever you’re going to use for fake vomit (more on this later).
Medical tape.
Duct tape and/or zip ties.
Gloves if you are squimish (I am not).

The idea is to create something like the following diagram:

The vomit itself is then broken up into two components:

Dyed water that can safely travel through the garden pump.
The ‘chunky vomit’ that can really sell the idea that food is being regurgitated.

The 'chunky vomit’ is loaded carefully into the end of the tube that attaches to the face of the actor/actress (or, in some cases, hidden in their sleeve) and pushed out by the water passing through the pump. The actor can also hold some of this in their mouth, which, if timed right, they can begin to spit out up as the take begins, eventually giving way to the act of projectile vomiting.

For this shoot, we used a mix of blue food dye, mashed-up cupcakes, and apple sauce. I don’t envy the actress who had to hold that in her mouth, though at least it was sweet. Texture-wise, it was disgusting. I’d recommend leaving some chunks in. Chunks are always gross.

Once you have everything, the most time-consuming part is putting it all together.

First, there’s the setup of the pump itself. Then, preparing the vomit (my favorite part). Loading the tube takes some time, and then there’s the delicate act of running it through the actor’s clothing and adhering it to their face. There is also a special trick to making sure that the camera is angled in such a way that allows the tube to be invisible, and it’s placed just so on the face that it looks like vomit is coming out of their mouth. Timing can also prove to be quite difficult, as it may take the actor a moment to get a sense of when they should expect the vomit to spring forth, as there will be a slight delay from when the pump is turned on to when it begins to come out the other end.

All this to say, it’s something to practice outside BEFORE anyone even goes in for a take. And when you do, you’re going to want to make sure you save a lot of extra time for clean up.

But once you’ve perfected it, it looks pretty damn gross if I do say so myself!

Testing the angel that the pump can be shot at.