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Copperfield Special My thought
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1994-10-27
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Monday, 24 October 1994 12:42:18 PM
aus.tv Item
From: Robert Whyte,e3307976@dingo.cc.uq.oz.au,Intouch
Subject: Copperfield Special: My thoughts on the magic tricks (LONG)
To: aus.tv
My personal take on the David Copperfield Special... One Trick at a Time.
These are not the definitive answers, they are just my
subjective observations and deduction. Do with them what you
will, but please e-mail me if you see a flaw in my logic.
The Orient Express:
My Theory:
The train car goes through a trap door in the floor. The sheet
is held by a collapsible wire framework which collapses when
pulled from the middle.
Indicators:
The floor under the train in the opening shots has been damped
down to give a nice reflective sheen. This section of floor is
seen to be dry when the sheet is removed. Plus, how else COULD
it be done?
All in all, VERY nicely done.
Fire Spikes:
No illusion, except the ropes that burn through only when HE
wants them to. In fact if you freeze frame the bit where the
last rope burns through, you can see what looks suspiciously
like some form of U-bolt on the end of the rope.
Graffiti Wall:
My Theory:
The picture is drawn by someone behind the scenes viewing a tv
monitor and is then handed to D.C. after he is finished drawing.
Indicators:
When he removes the envelope from the clip and picks up the
knife from the wall, he places the envelope flat against the
edge of the wall and then removes it, giving him the chance to
be handed a piece of paper which he then places behind the
envelope. When the envelope is opened, you can see that he
reaches *behind* it to pull out the picture. Also, the one he
pulls out of the envelope before is folded-edge down and the
one after is folded-edge up. Finally the drawings we can see
through the paper at the beginning do not match any part of
the tiger we can see through the same part of the paper
afterwards.
Swapping Places:
My Theory:
Twins in the floating thingy, black sheet under table to
hide D.C. after being placed in floating thingy and to conceal
girl after D.C. re-appears.
Indicators:
Before trick begins, we can see lights under the table. For
the whole rest of the trick, not ONE light is seen under the
middle of the table. In fact you can see one light appear as
if it can only be seen between the edge of the black sheet and
the leg of the table.
Appearing Girls:
Trap door a la Orient Express. Note the moving handlebars.
Elevator:
He's in the base. Damned if I know how he fits. Note shadow of
opened trap-door on right side of lift as shadow descends.
Falling Spikes:
He undoes the chains and moves to the front (you can see him
pushing out the fabric.
Sword Impalement:
Trick sword linked to body harness. Note how sword above body
appears suddenly almost as if it were folded out of his clothes.
Shrinking Box:
He's in the table with only hands and head appearing through.
Feet move very mechanically and appear out of box together
while ONE of his knees is still visible above the edge of the
box.
Appearing Motorcycle:
D.C. and bike are hidden behind box. Note 2 tracks for
wheeling bike and D.C. forward.
Niagra Falls:
Not having seen the whole stunt, I have no idea how he removes
himself from the raft, but remove himself he did. Notice when
he appears on the helicopter, he is wearing different clothes
and he is COMPLETELY dry!!!
Disappearing Girl:
A combination of a black sheet, some careful lighting and a
second girl hidden in the base of the box/table.
"This Pyramid Sucks!!":
Look carefully at the pyramid base/table thickness. Plenty of
room to hide a master illusionist!!
Water Torture/Falling Blade:
You can see D.C. outside the front of the tank when the blade
falls and blows the curtain upwards.
Travelling Head:
Girl leans head backwards and has identical twin hidden behind
the other box which has some form of forced perspective/mirror
trick. (Note the bars go back a fair way as seen at the very
beginning of the trick.
Disappearing Motorcycle:
Black sheet over the top section of the gantry and smoke to
obscure the top of the rider/bike. Note disappearance of track
which bike rides into at beginning. Remaining piece of metal
is too thin. Needless to say, rider ISN'T D.C.
Floating Glitterball:
Look closely for two wires at 45 degree angles.
Appearing Lady:
Clever lighting. 'nuff said.
Disappearing Plane:
My Theory:
The plane was slid out the back of the enclosure and the
'silhouette' was actually a design contained WITHIN the front
screens. The onlookers were in on the gag.
Indicators:
Damned if I can find any, but that the only way I can see to
do it.
Sawn In Half:
My Theory:
There is a contortionist bent over inside the table to play
the legs. D.C. plays the upper half, also bent over.
Indicators:
When they are applying the neck-lock to him, he leans up and
you can see where he disappears into the table. Even though a
sizeable section of his shirt is supposedly removed, it is
back at full length at the end of the trick.
Water Levitation
My Theory:
Some form of support from below, possible a seat for her to
sit on.
Indicators:
Sometimes, you can see something support her backside. Combine
black background, his black pants and a highly directional
lighting scheme and it shouldn't be too difficult to hide a
support of some kind.
Statue of Liberty:
My Theory:
Damn, this guy is GOOD!!! In the section we are shown, I can't
pick it except to say that the ring of lights looks distinctly
different without the statue as opposed to with it. For
instance, where is the hole in the ring we see with the
statue, after it disappears?
Floating Ball of Paper:
A wire from his lapel to the edge of the aisle. Ball always
stays same distance from lapel. A magician's classic.
Cigarette and Coin:
Look carefully and you can see the edge of the spring-loaded
hole in the centre of the coin.
Ring and Sneaker:
Ring is secreted into sleeve and placed on sneaker at some
point. They cheat by not showing us the whole trick.
Torn Card:
Card appears outside window while other thrown cards are
concealing our view. Card palmed from deck and passed to
assistant outside train(!!)
Ring and Rose:
I don't see how it was done, but they didn't show the whole
trick again.
Matches:
Time-release chemicals.
Rubber Bands:
Watch VERY CAREFULLY when he pulls and twists. You can just
see him unhooking finger, and rehooking on the other side of
the bands.
Light Bulb:
Metal wires and contacts on the two "Glass" rods.
Pearls from Thin Air:
Pearl is on a flip-up rig behind his thumb. Necklace is hidden
behind arm.
Pencil and Dollar Bill:
pencil has notch in it like this
___________________________________________ _____
/ // |
\_________________________________________________|
notch goes over folded bill.
Torn Card 2:
Not sure, but this looks like it was filmed in reverse. No
proof, just a theory. (:
Paper Rose:
See floating Ball of Paper above.
Young to Old:
D.C. and girl hide in base of table while Old couple are
appearing.
Levitation:
Body harness connected down right arm to pole.
Floating/Disappearing Girl:
Girl buggers off as quickly as possible after she supposedly
steps onto pedestal. Check bottom of pedestal/thickness of
table.
Disappearing Girl:
See above.
Just Passing Through:
Check the side thickness of the apparatus and the fact he is
flat against both the front and back. See also height of
shoulders as girl passes through body.
Look!! You Can Take Part at Home!!
Simple Aritmetic.
Great Wall of China:
My Theory:
D.C. appears to walk into wall while secreting himself in the
base of the pedestal. He then climbs over the wall while the
camera is working it's way across and hides in the other
pedestal, only to reappear at the appropriate time. The crowd
is in on the gag.
Indicators:
In the scenes at the beginning explaining the camera, you can
see a ladder on the wall in the background on the end side.
The heart monitor is fake, you can see just as the CRT fades
off the screen, the beeps and blips no longer match!! There is
only 40 seconds from when we lose sight of one pedestal until
we see the other one, but then they pull in tight on the
pedestal and he could concieveably slip in underneath it
unseen. This would give him a maximum 1 minute 20 seconds. The
two guys holding the sheet are manipulating it themselves, you
can see that their arms are behind it pushing against it. While
they are pulling down the screens at the end, you can just see
the extension under the pedestal that makes it large enough for
D.C. to hide inside.
Exploding Building:
My all-time fave D.C. illusion. This one always leaves people
saying "How the HELL did he do that!?"
My Theory:
D.C. leaves the safe as soon as the camera leaves the room and
gets out of the building by another exit. He may be one of the
workmen running away from the building behind the camera. He
then secreted himself so that he is hidden by the steel plate
from the camera until a wire connected to the orange sheet is
pulled, making him appear to rise out of the plate. He then
slips in the back and pulls the orange sheet away. The crowd
is in on the gag.
Indicators:
The picture on the remote control camera and the real one do
not match. The chain over the safe is in a slightly different
position. Look where it is in relation to the combination
dial. The R.C. camera is therefore pre-recorded. Also, if you
watch carefully you can deduce the safe is at the right-hand
end of the building, but the R.C. camera dies when the
left-hand end of the building starts to go. I can't prove or
disprove the bit about the wire and the orange sheet, bit I
can see no other way it could be done.
Flight:
Wires. It's got to be wires. Contrary to popular belief, you
CAN see the wires in this segment, it's just that the
background and lighting have been selected so that the wires
blend right in with them. The background, with it's frequent
vertical line relections, hides any reflections from the wires
and the floor, with hundreds of pinpoints of light
illuminating it, hides any reflections that might be picked up
there. If you want to see a wire, look at the segment just
after he releases the hawk, as he is leaning back. Above his
left shoulder, you can see one of the aforementioned pinpoints
of light, and above it a reflection from the wire. The wires
are obviously controlled by a mechanical movement system, to
get the movement so free-ranging and smooth. They may even
be computer controlled. Getting onto the rings, the following
pieces of ASCII art will show you how the wires are missed:
_
|_| - David Copperfield
Crossing Rings
1 _ 2 1 _ 2 _ _ _
| |_| | \ |_| / |_| \ |_| / | |_| |
| | \ / \ / | |
| | \ / ________2 \ / | |
| | \/ 1________ \/ | |
| | /\ /\ | |
| | / \ / \ | |
| | / \ / \ | |
| | / \ / \ | |
1 2 2 1
Spinning Rings
1 1 1 2 2 2
\ / _ | _ \ _ / _ | _ \ /
\ / |_| | |_| \|_| / |_| | |_| \ /
\ / | \ / | \ /
\/ ____|____2 \/ 1____|____ \/
/\ | /\ | /\
/ \ | / \ | / \
/ \ | / \ | / \
/ \ | / \ | / \
2 1
With the box, look carefully in the middle each side of the
lid, you can see small sections where the wires can pass
through. They also make sure that the lid is passed through
the middle of the wires.
Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it. It was about 4 hours of
my life, but I think it's worth it.
To finish, I would just like to say that I STILL think D.C.
is the world's foremost proponent of "Big Magic". I can't wait
for next year's special!! (rumour says he's going to walk on
water in the middle of N.Y. Harbour.)
Robert Whyte
"Hey, I didn't really need to sleep tonight, if I can just get 20 minutes
sleep, I'll be right for the rest of the day." - Me, about 5 minutes ago.
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From: e3307976@dingo.cc.uq.oz.au (Robert Whyte)
Newsgroups: aus.tv
Subject: Copperfield Special: My thoughts on the magic tricks (LONG)
Date: 23 Oct 1994 18:30:02 +1000
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