Levitation

[Max_mang]

So what then is the dividing line between "magic" and "SFX"/"VFX"? Am I right in believing that there might not be a hard and fast one?

In my opinion, if your trick can only be done on video in front of paid actors pretending to be astonished, that is not really a 'magic' performance.

 

[SumDood]

As someone who has had a lifelong interest in magic, and has worked as a magician, I will say this: Most of Criss Angel's effects can only be done on video. One of the biggest complaints people have with his stage show in Vegas is that he does the same tricks other magicians do and not the one's from his tv shows. Doug Henning, David Copperfield, Harry Blackstone, etc could all do the same tricks from their tv shows on stage and even the tv shows were done in front of real audiences. It's well known among working actors who read the trades that Criss Angel advertises to hire the 'random spectators' for his tv episodes.

Just to nit-pick: David Copperfield levitated across the Grand Canyon on TV. That would not have worked in front of a live audience. Pretty sure making the Statue of Liberty disappearing would have been less than impressive in front of a live audience as well.

 

[Max_mang]

Just to nit-pick: David Copperfield levitated across the Grand Canyon on TV. That would not have worked in front of a live audience. Pretty sure making the Statue of Liberty disappearing would have been less than impressive in front of a live audience as well.

And thus started the downward slide from 'let's make our magic tv show 90% magic performance and 10% special effects' to 'why not do the whole dang show in CGI?'

Actually the Statue of Liberty disappearance did have a live audience, though they did not have a choice of where to view the trick from. Just like in a theater.

 

[CORed]

I wonder if any of the believers have given thought to what must actually take place to
achieve "levitation"? Either local gravity must be supressed, in which case everything in the immediate area would likely start floating, including dust and gravel on the ground, or some sort of thrust must be provided from the person to counteract gravity... In which case you'd think there would be rather a lot of junk flying around as well.

I'll leave it to the imagination as to where the thrust might be coming from....

Beans and cabbage?

 

[Senex]

I'm an amateur magician who has a few levitation effects.

It's good most people are not scientific minded and ask me why if gravity has been defeated the earth doesn't leave the levitated object behind as the earth spins.

 

[carlitos]

Do you drink chocolate first like that priest in One Hundred Years of Solitude?

 

[Senex]

Do you drink chocolate first like that priest in One Hundred Years of Solitude?

Probably not -- but it may not suck to have an ice-cream with me.

 

[alfaniner]

I'm an amateur magician who has a few levitation effects.

It's good most people are not scientific minded and ask me why if gravity has been defeated the earth doesn't leave the levitated object behind as the earth spins.

Even I had to do a little thought experimenting to see what you were getting at here.

 

[Senex]

Even I had to do a little thought experimenting to see what you were getting at here.

Yes, not my most articulate sentence. My point is either gravity works or it doesn't. If gravity has been suspended the earth will spin (quickly) from under what has been suspended.

You can use the same logic to dismiss ghosts with no mass. Why are ghosts staying put by gravity? How can they propel themselves from room to room? People who believe in ghosts can be mocked easily if you choose to bring physics into the discussion.

 

[Beerina]

These magic guys control the card in spite of appearing not to. There is an odd camera edit at 1:53. He may have handed the card off to a shill. He doesn't let the crowd know that he is going to embed it in the glass door until he leads them over there. A shill could go unnoticed planting the card into a mechanism in the door (because nobody is looking over there yet). At the instant the card appears in the glass there is a mechanical sound. Comments on the video by Luxor visitors say that this door glass is laminated (2 panes) while all others are single pane.

Reading way too much into it.

You be the judge.

Actually, I was going to upload some pictures from the video, but I won't. It's no fun to bust someone on this It's a very cool trick as-is.


If he were a scammer that's something else.


ETA: Someone else busted it already That's what I get for loving puzzles and running off to figure stuff out right away!


ETA2: David Blaine did a levitation trick. I hypothesized a method he did this, which worked and is apparently used. In his TV show, he does this, and there's a reaction shot of some girls gasping. Presumably he did it for them right there. But then they show a closeup of some legs from the calf down, clearly both feet lifting off the ground by a good 6 inches or more. This suggested, dishonestly, that that was what the girls saw, when in fact it was probably filmed later hanging off a jungle gym or something.

That kind of crap needs to be busted. If watching a magician on TV, I expect the TV to be my eyes just honestly filming what's going on, and not to use editing or other tricks that you wouldn't see sitting in a live audience.

 

[kerikiwi]

David Blaine did a levitation trick. ... In his TV show, he does this, and there's a reaction shot of some girls gasping. Presumably he did it for them right there.

The girls' gasps were not in response to the levitation. It was something else he did for them right there.

 

[Explorer]

Yes, not my most articulate sentence. My point is either gravity works or it doesn't. If gravity has been suspended the earth will spin (quickly) from under what has been suspended.

You can use the same logic to dismiss ghosts with no mass. Why are ghosts staying put by gravity? How can they propel themselves from room to room? People who believe in ghosts can be mocked easily if you choose to bring physics into the discussion.

Interesting point!

Another thought experiment. There is a fly inside a car that accelerates to a fixed speed. It is suspended in a trapped volume of air inside the car. The mass of air is moving at the same speed as the car, and when the car brakes suddenly and stops, the fly will carry on flying normally as if nothing has happened, and will not crash into the internal surface of the windscreen.

A person just prior to levitating is relatively heavy and is moving at the same speed as the earth is rotating. We can assume then that the person has inertia, and despite for a brief moment during the show, when the effect of levitation is demonstrated, that inertia is still moving that person at the speed of earth's rotation, so he would not be left behind.

Remember H.G. Wells's "The Man Who Could Work Miracles". In the book, the character commands the earth to stop rotating to delay sunset, resulting in the entire contents of the surface of the planet subsequently flying off into deep space. All down to inertia.

 

[NeilC]

Interesting point!

Another thought experiment. There is a fly inside a car that accelerates to a fixed speed. It is suspended in a trapped volume of air inside the car. The mass of air is moving at the same speed as the car, and when the car brakes suddenly and stops, the fly will carry on flying normally as if nothing has happened, and will not crash into the internal surface of the windscreen.

Are you sure that is right? I'm thinking that when a car suddenly stops, the air in the car will partly move towards the front of the car. The fly will do the same but since it's heavier than the air, it will do it a bit more.

The reason i think this might be the case is that when you take a helium balloon into a car, when you brake it moves BACKWARDS because the air moves forwards but the balloon is lighter than air and so it is displaced backwards by the air. An air filled balloon moves forwards as expected.

I could very well be wrong as these things are hard to think about I find!

 

[Explorer]

Are you sure that is right? I'm thinking that when a car suddenly stops, the air in the car will partly move towards the front of the car. The fly will do the same but since it's heavier than the air, it will do it a bit more.

The reason i think this might be the case is that when you take a helium balloon into a car, when you brake it moves BACKWARDS because the air moves forwards but the balloon is lighter than air and so it is displaced backwards by the air. An air filled balloon moves forwards as expected.

I could very well be wrong as these things are hard to think about I find!

Well, both the fly and the air would have some relatively small inertial force (compared to a person), so if the car stopped suddenly there may well be a slight and discernible movement. However, I have witnessed flies in my car before, and they have never actually "crashed" in a violent way forward when braking. I am willing to hear of others experiences with this though.

 

[Senex]

Unlike a ghost that has no mass and division by zero goes nowhere, a fly has mass and every principle of physics is in play.

 

[3point14]

Just to nit-pick: David Copperfield levitated across the Grand Canyon on TV. That would not have worked in front of a live audience. Pretty sure making the Statue of Liberty disappearing would have been less than impressive in front of a live audience as well.

Didn't he just move the camera?

 

[3point14]

Interesting point!

Another thought experiment. There is a fly inside a car that accelerates to a fixed speed. It is suspended in a trapped volume of air inside the car. The mass of air is moving at the same speed as the car, and when the car brakes suddenly and stops, the fly will carry on flying normally as if nothing has happened, and will not crash into the internal surface of the windscreen.

A person just prior to levitating is relatively heavy and is moving at the same speed as the earth is rotating. We can assume then that the person has inertia, and despite for a brief moment during the show, when the effect of levitation is demonstrated, that inertia is still moving that person at the speed of earth's rotation, so he would not be left behind.

Remember H.G. Wells's "The Man Who Could Work Miracles". In the book, the character commands the earth to stop rotating to delay sunset, resulting in the entire contents of the surface of the planet subsequently flying off into deep space. All down to inertia.

But he would keep moving in a straight line? While the earth under him kept moving in an arc?

Unsure...

 

[Spektator]

Didn't he just move the camera?

Not the camera, but you're getting warm.

 

[CynicalSkeptic]

100% of everything on TV serves only two purposes.

1. Entertain the viewer.
2. Get the viewers money.

Missing an apostrophe drastically changes the intended meaning of #2

 

[12AX7]

Some of the tricks Chris Angel does are just amazing, you know they're not real - they can't be. But still. The card between 2 panes of glass is cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0THAUHRC_DU

I believe there is an opening in the glass right above the word 'Luxor'. He inserts the card at 2:56.

Just a hunch.