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Chris Angel.. Please explain !

Somewhere out there on the net is a video from the tv show where a garbage can is placed over him and within 20 seconds or so he appears on the roof of a building right next to where the stunt is pulled off. In it you can see people behind him blocking the view from the general public and looking around to see if anyone from the crowd is able to see him make his getaway. It's obvious that a lot of people around him are in on the stunt and are posed as general public.
Also, if David Blaine can levitate four feet in the air using wires and have them removed by computer for his show and have the stunt edited with reactions from a "Balducci" levitation done earlier, what's the big mystery with Chris Angel?....Probably done the same way is my guess.
 
I guess my point is this…

What he does seems impossible if there are NO camera tricks and the crowd is genuine (especially the “victim” he plucks from the crowd)

If it is just camera tricks then it might as well be special effects from the Superman movie (albeit better..lol)

But that is just ridiculous… you might as well call it a documentary.

If he is really pulling of a live trick with a genuine audience then it is the most impressive thing I have ever seen !
 
I saw Angel on TV doing outdoor levitations on members of the public, the ones where the "subject" is bent back, that is, their back is parallel to the ground and their feet are still flat on the ground, knees bent at 90 degrees. Then he lifts one of the subject's legs until it is straight out, so that the subject now appears to be held up in an impossible position, by only one foot. I would like to have been there to say, "Okay, now do that on someone who's wearing short pants."
 
Levitation Methods

Here is a frank site that describes partially several methods of creating the illusion of levitation. It doesn't give away their secrets but tells you the strong points and weak points of each: such as how angle sensitive it is, whether you need misdirection or "gimmicks", etc. It is trying to sell most of the methods but in describing them gives away their basic premises. The types are: Balducci, King Rising (done without gimmicks), Asrah (stage exclusive), Zero Gravity (requires some sort of gimmick) and the Elevator (another, better gimmick apparently). In fact, reading the strong points of some of them gives clues about the others. But the whole site is an interesting read.
 
sf108 said:
And where did you get your idea that the whole thing is a setup?

I've practiced magic for many years, and have seen many illusions. Angel's levitation is by far the most amazing. Public, outdoors, no stages, no assistants. Very convincing. Just because it looks impossible, doesn't mean it was done purely on camera tricks or stooges. I just want to know if this was done w/o using any dodgy tricks, provided there are sources for this.

Anyone else have better info?
Click to expand...

C'mon guys - get real!
Of course it is staged.
Of course there are assistants.
Of course it is scripted.
Are you aware of the mechanics of setting up and shooting a scene?

All of the 'crowd' and 'outdoor setting' are carefully stage-managed by the director and crew.

Some people are decieved by good production skills into believing that what they see on TV is 'real'.
But the only thing that is 'real' on TV is the reality of the direction, stage-managing, and post production - not the TV subject matter.
The reality of the subject matter must be determined by some other means - it certainly cannot be determined by watching TV.

$0.02
 
Flange Desire said:
C'mon guys - get real!
Of course it is staged.
Of course there are assistants.
Of course it is scripted.
Are you aware of the mechanics of setting up and shooting a scene?

All of the 'crowd' and 'outdoor setting' are carefully stage-managed by the director and crew.

Some people are decieved by good production skills into believing that what they see on TV is 'real'.
But the only thing that is 'real' on TV is the reality of the direction, stage-managing, and post production - not the TV subject matter.
The reality of the subject matter must be determined by some other means - it certainly cannot be determined by watching TV.

$0.02
Click to expand...

That's a very un-skeptical view of the performance by Criss. You have just provided proof that it's all fake by...using your OWN thoughts. Thanks for the valuable input.

Of course this is just an illusion. But there must be more to it than just camera work. I can see how he could've pulled off the levitation up the escalators...but all the others ones with crowds around him...seems very impressive.
 
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