I am watching Midsomer Murders season 1 episode 3, “Death of a Hollow Man”. In it, the first killing happens during a stage play. A character in the play slits his throat. This kills the actor because safety tape was not covering the blade of an actual straight razor.
This is, of course, ludicrous. It must be a clumsy conceit of that episode’s writer. In real life, no production of theater or tv or movies in the UK or US or elsewhere would ever use an actual straight razor as a prop by simply covering it with tape, especially for a throat slit scene. Right?
This made me wonder how straight razor throat slit scenes are really done in movies and TV. What I’m especially curious about is how the actor getting their throat cut makes sure the prop is fake? Do they look closely just before action? Can they determine it is fake by looking at it? Is there an industry protocol for this situation?
I suppose one way is to film a close up of a silicon sculpture getting its throat cut edited in with another scene showing a blunt prop razor for the full shot. But surely someone has filmed a full shot of throat slit scene? Probably using a prop that releases fake blood? Or maybe that’s not how it’s done?
