"Steve Tolin has created a wide range of amazing rigs, brilliantly designed to achieve various special effects. Whether it's creating a bullet hit, sword/knife slash, bite wound, severed limb, or vomit gag for a feature film, television, or theater/live performance, Squib FX have proven to be essential. The rigs are incredibly safe and easy to use and require minimal set-up time. Each rig is versatile and consistent making it perfect for capturing the director’s and producer’s desired spectacle."
EDDIE HOLECKO- Face Off, Season 5
"When faced with a production that required gasp-inducing special effects of a particularly violent sort, I was told there was really only one option -- and that Ws Steve Tolin. Thank goodness I listened to said counsel. Steve's work was fantastic -- highly evocative, thoroughly dependable and consistent, and gasp-inducing on a nightly basis."
SUSAN BOOTH- Jennings Hertz Artistic Director
"Steve Tolin’s is the special effects designer to hire if you want to work with a man who is passionate about his work and a remarkable artistic collaborator. We had quite a challenge for him at Chicago Shakespeare this year. His mission was this: every time someone died in Shakespeare’s history plays (that’s a lot of deaths) blood needed to drip from the top of 26 foot by 20 foot plexi wall. And then after 5 hours of blood that covered the entire wall – it needed to be washed totally clean within one minute’s time. Thanks to his genius-the effect was poignant, powerful and heart breaking beautiful."
BARBARA GAINES- Artistic Diretor, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
"Squib FX came through for me at the last minute and even called to make sure I understood how everything worked once it was received although the squibs came with their own instruction manual. He then followed up to let me know he was available for technical assistance should we need it during our shoot. We used the Kurasawa and The Bond and they did not disappoint! I needed the blood flow to look a specific way and with a little tweak to the blood consistency we got exactly what we needed. I loved the rigs so much that I wanted the directors to let me use them even more than we had originally planned."
STELLA SENSEL- Face Off, Season 7
"As well as pyrotechnics, Geelong Fireworks supplies SFX for various productions. We have been looking for a range of air squib effects when we discovered Steve Tollin's Bullet Hit Rigs. We purchased the Kurasawa as we had a tentative enquiry for this type of effect. Production proceeded with this effect. Steve had put in some optional connections for us as well. Whilst the director had seen the video, he had not see the product "live". He asked us not to be "subtle" with the blood flow...The Kurasawa fits the bill. On the first take he just let the camera roll longer that he originally intended - when he yelled CUT, the crew clapped and yelled. We did a 2nd take, just because we could. An easy to rig, easy to use product. We are impressed with Steve's product - so much so we are purchasing the entire range."
STEVE LAWRENCE- Geelong Fireworks, Australia
"Save yourself the trouble of one more build on your already short pre-production schedule! I ordered the "McDonaugh" rig for a head explosion effect, and the result was glorious! Not only did the rig perform with zero problems on set, it worked perfectly on every single test I ran in the shop. If you want a reliable rig that you know will deliver, order from SQUIB FX. You will not be disappointed!"
ERIC ZAPATA- EZMUFX, Austin TX & Face Off Season 4 & 5
"The bullet hits rigs by Steve Tolin are an example of years of dedicated craftsmanship by a special effects master. These rigs are consistent, effective and versatile. Steve Tolin's bullet hit rigs add huge value to our on set capabilities and what we can offer our clients."
MIDIAN CROSBY- Monster Makeup FX
"I take these rigs to every set. Everyone gets excited to see exploding blood! Plus, using these pneumatic rigs, there's also no worrying about gun powder safety that you'd encounter with traditional squibs!"
JOSHUA ADAMS- Monster Makeup FX
"I used The Tarantino rig for Crispin Glover for a film in Prague. Crispin was extremely happy with the device. I wish I could catch the look on his face with the first headshot. He was like a kid on Christmas. Also Jim Kunz from Grindhouse was there too, he seemed to enjoy it as well. Made my job a million times easier! For sure. You're a genius."
AUTUMN COOK- Face Off, Season 4
"Thanks for the quick turn around and the awesome rig. We used it as a back hit shot in profile. It looked great! A one and done set up. Gratitude."
WILL PURCELL- Special Effects Coordinator Bolden
"The rigs are not cumbersome or heavy, making it easy to move. And knowing from rehearsals that the effect was going to fire when I triggered it really freed me to focus on my performance."
ERICA HIGHBERG- Actor
"When we needed a bullet hit for our film, The Monk in the Trunk, squibfx.com/Tolin FX delivered big time. Steve was available to answer questions even on weekends, the rigs were easy to use and most importantly, we got the shot we needed. "
ERIC SIEVERS- Director & Screenwriter Monk in the Trunk
"These rigs work the same way every time without fail. It's nice to know you don't have to worry about whether or not the effect will work. I love how perfectly I can tweak the hit to exactly the look that I want. It's like painting with fake blood!"
JEFF WALTROWSKI- Producer & Director of It Came from Yesterday
"Thank you SO much for the rig. It made for an incredible shot. It was honestly so much easier to setup & use than I had expected and the final effect was perfect - looked just like a Tarantino blood hit."
THOMAS A.L. WHITE- Director & Screenwriter Mavericks
"We used it for the first time last night in a beer store shoot out.... The gunshot fn killed!!!"
BILLY PON- Director of Circus of the Dead
"As independent filmmakers we are often faced with tight lists of restrictions when seeking affordable production insurance. In particular, the use of explosives on set raises a number of red flags that most insurance companies are simply unable to work with. These issues are only further amplified when the expectations of the filmmaker require these explosives to be operated in close proximity to the cast and crew. As a result, these much sought after effects are far too often forcibly written out of scripts, sometimes at great detriment to the story and vision of the filmmaker. When going into production on our latest project BLACKWELL, a winter western, we knew that rewrites on that scale were not going to be possible. Instead, we would have to find an easy to use, dependable, cost efficient and (above all) safe alternative to the explosive squib systems typically used in mega budget productions. Working with Tolin FX gave us that solution. This is the first time I have worked on set with a non-detonation squib system, and I must say that I will now have a hard time looking backwards. Not only did this rig allow us to bypass insurance and state licensing restrictions, it afforded our production a degree of flexibility that we simply would not have had if we were using explosives. The rig itself can be reset an infinite number of times, with the only true expense being the few cents of blood fired each time. This offered us an immeasurable amount of freedom to perform extensive camera tests on set before committing to the final look of the blood hits. Above all else, this is where the air release rigs really shine. On a purely aesthetic level, I was most impressed with the sheer variety of effects that the system affords. Being able to finely tune the quantity of blood and the air pressures being triggered allowed us to craft a huge range of effects out of the same rig. High velocity impact sprays? Not a problem. Low speed, globular exit wounds? Easy! The reliability and consistency of the system is unarguably remarkable. So much so in fact, that we ended up using the rig for a number of additional effects that we had originally planned to create using other means. In addition, Steve Tolin himself proved indispensable, being on call for us in order to troubleshoot and advise us through our early tests. This meant we could go into production with full confidence in the rig, knowing exactly what we were going to get, and allowing us to focus on all the creative aspects around the effects and not just the effects themselves. Thank you!"
ED BARNES- Writer/Director of Blackwell
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