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» David Copperfield's Teleportation, Here is the explanation...
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thomachan Posted: Jul 12 2008, 09:09 AM

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This is the explanation of David Copperfield’s Teleportation which
was shown at the end of Tornado of Fire.

A part of this trick was discussed in Billpage’s trickbusters thread
along with other tricks.

http://somf.ipbfree.com/index.php?showtopic=7182

I am not posting this post there because this almost unveils the
secret completely. And this is a grant illusion which must have an
identity separately.

Effect
Watch the video, unless you won’t understand what is written here.
David teleports himself and a guy to Hawaii islands and comes back. He
shows a photo taken right before the audience and the audience’s
writing on his hand in the video which shows him as standing at
Hawaii.

Explanation

The first part of this trick is the disappearance. This will be
discussed at the end.

A video which is specially recorded in the following manner is played
on a screen. A camera man shoots this screen and shows it live to the
audience. Actually what we see is live, a live view of a screen in
which the video is played.

In the beginning, DC seems to talk two sentences to the man in the
video. This is just a matter of timing as he just asks the question
before he answers.

The man in the video seems to have commented ‘TS’, the audience’s
selection. THIS IS ALSO DISCUSSED LATER.

The video is recorded as follows.

They both appear in the beach. The guy runs to the water and the
camera zooms to him. At this point DC walks away. After zooming out,
we see DC but he is not part of the pre recorded video. He just stands
in front of the screen. And that is why we are not shown his full
body. Now he just shows the writing on his hand TS live to the
audience. Now camera zooms to TS. At this point, in the pre recorded
video, the guy walks away. And after the camera zooms out we see the
real guy standing in front of the screen. Now he shows the photo of
the audience live to the camera. Now the camera goes sideways to show
the other man in the video. At a point both DC and the guy goes out
from frame. Now they both walk away from the front of the screen. The
camera shows the other man. And from there what we see all is in the
pre recorded video. Now as he went out very early, DC gets enough time
to appear among the audience.

While doing this trick, special care must be taken with the lighting
as the lighting seen at the beach and at the real men in front of
screen must be alike.

How they got off the platform?
I am copying from Bill’s thread, some views.

SUGGESTIONS:
1.) They get behind the curtain, attach it to special anchors on their
body and then when the cue comes, start running towards the back and
jump down a trap door. From our perspective it looks like the curtain
is pulled back and taken away, but what we don't see is that they are
part of the curtain. Keep in mind the pyros are there to obstruct your
view of the disappearing curtain. Notice no sign of the curtain
remains on the stage.

2.) Powerful stunt cables are used to pull Copperfield and assistant
off the platform, encased in curtain and pyro. A very jarring stunt,
but this is why he has a young healthy assistant and they both wear
loose clothing to cover their harnesses.

3.) As for how they get off platform I am not sure. You can see the
curtain get pulled quickly back behind the stage so at least the
curtain is hooked to cables because there is no way it would naturally
get sucked that fast clear off back stage. Whether or not they were in
that curtain I can't tell. If youdo watch after the curtain is pulled
off you can see a guy squatting down next to where the curtain went
and he crawls toward the stage.

4.) A high speed cable pulls them both off the platform. Do a frame-by-
frame, at 7:33 you can see them jumping down, one to the left side and
one to the right.

5.) At 7:33 if you look toward the back of the crane structure you can
very clearly see the two of them jumping down.

6.) another thing about the "pyrotechnics hiding their escape", if you
watch again, the pyro didn't go off until after the curtain fell. the
curtain falls, you see that it's empty and then it goes off. that
wouldn't hide much.

you can't see them jumping down, that's the curtain dropping.

7.) that's not the curtain dropping. Ever notice that things tend to
drop down and not sideways? The curtain is pulled back and with it
both people who can be seen on at least one of the frames of 7:33

8.) if you can see the people in one of the frames, you must be
watching a MUCH higher res vidoe than i am. there's no way you could
have seen one of them in any of those frames. now, i'm not saying that
that's not how it's done, it very well may be, but you sure can't see
it from that video. and i realize that things fall down and not
sideways, you can clearly see that the curtain is hooked to cables
pulling it back.

9.) Guys,pay attention to when the cover flies off and the smoke comes
up. You can clearly see on the right side of the screen 2 objects
project out right to the back. It looks like 2 bodies.They probably
got in a safety suit so they don't get hurt.

10.) I agree that is probably how they did it but if you notice there
are bars on the back of the platform they are on so I do not know how
they could have been pulled back that way

11.) something is definitely fishy at 7:33, look at the mirror and not
the crane, from the mirror it looks like they're running away just
before 7:33 and you don't see the flash of light in it either.

12.) The sheet flies back onto the stage, too. It almost looks like
they might be taking a zipline down to the stage or something.

13.) Well, I know how he disappeared from the box above the stage. If
you look closesly you can see the curtain getting pulled way back away
from the audience. My guess is that they were yanked back really fast
by some cables while they were engulfed in that curtain to disguise
their escape. This occurs around 7:30 in the video. Watch and see the
curtain pulled way back away from the audience and behind the stage.

14.) At 7:47 - 7:48, the camera rises above the platform and you can
see what looks like a square hole underneath their platform... ?? Is
he a volumetric hologram? : )
This photo has notes. Move your mouse over the photo to see them.
Comments
jbenson2 says:
Some additional comments:

15.) The onstage disappearing act was done with a fabric tunnel that
extends the length of the platform. It is made out of a extremely fine
black velor so unless it is directly lit it will not show any movement
in it. Also if you notice the camera angle they never let you see
above the device from the side before the disappear event.
I know this because I saw the show in a particular theater where my
seat was about100 feet directly over the stage.

16.) I am looking at the video in Media Player Classic right now. At
7:31 just as the cloth is about halfway down, I can see the back of
David's head and his white shirt. This disappears in the space of one
frame. Also, at 7:33 look directly under the platform at the back of
the stage. What is falling back there? It can't be the cloth over the
platform because it is still in place.

17.) yeah behing the main portion of thwe platform there is that long
black portion, like a walkway towards a backroom. Did anyone else
notice that? And just before they pull down the curtain the camera
turns so the long walkway isn't visible too.

18.) Best Trick: pulling off a picture perfect over crowd disappering
trick (with a guy whos wear jeans) yet getting everyone wondering how
he did the "I'm in Hawaii" bit. I mean guy did a disappearing while
above people, and unless they are all marks, wow.

Back @ this post…
This can be done in a variety of ways as discussed in the thread.
Inside the curtains, they hide behind a special layer of cloth. Now
they may be pulled fast by cables. At the end of the platform they may
have jumped out. Or they just run fast. The smoke appears there hides
everything and that’s why I said this can be done in a variety of
ways. I am not again talking about this much because I have only one
point which is not in Bill’s thread that is “They are between two
layers of cloth in the curtain”.

Now the excluded question…

How the man in the video said TS while his face was zoomed in from a
full body shot?

Actually this portion of video can be shown live from the beach as it
won’t affect what’s going on. But that was not what done. No one will
arrange a shooting set at Hawaii for all shows of a magic going on at
some other place when there are alternatives.

What we hear is TS and the voice may be from the backstage itself. I
said ‘may be’. I am not going to worry about that, because here also a
variety of methods can be applied.

Thanks… thomachan.

QED Posted: Jul 12 2008, 11:38 PM

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sorry, I stopped reading after the first couple of sentences of the
explanation of how they got off the platform...
that is NOT how the illusion worked... the weren't jerked off the
platform by cables... they used a version of Jarret's pedestal
illusion..
basically they slid thru the arm holding up the platform... it expands
as they slide thru...

--------------------

do or do not, there is no try....

“A conjurer is nothing if he only amuses and fails to inspire wonder.”
– Thomas Frost

thomachan Posted: Jul 13 2008, 12:43 AM

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QUOTE (QED @ Jul 13 2008, 09:08 AM)
I stopped reading after the first couple of sentences of the
explanation of how they got off the platform...

And that's why Q, you didn't understand what I said. Those suggestions
are just quotes from Bill's post. I just copied it for everyone to
think about the method.

I just don't worry about their vanish because there is enough smoke to
do anything. Anyway thanks for the new suggestion.

May I know your comments about the video part?

fata Posted: Jul 13 2008, 01:19 AM

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QUOTE (QED @ Jul 12 2008, 11:38 PM)
they used a version of Jarret's pedestal illusion..
basically they slid thru the arm holding up the platform... it expands
as they slide thru...

Q, i am interested, can you elaborate?

--------------------

=w=

QED Posted: Jul 13 2008, 12:32 PM

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sure.... the arm holding up the platform is a horizontal version of
Jarrett's pedestal illusion... it's based on the idea that the human
body is only 8 or 9 inches thick from chest to back but about twice
that from shoulder to shoulder. By keeping the arm skinny, but
allowing it to expand as they slide through and covering the expansion
with smoke and fire and other distractions they can get away clean...
here's a rough diagram of the Jarrett illusion... just apply that to a
horizontal position...

--------------------

do or do not, there is no try....

“A conjurer is nothing if he only amuses and fails to inspire wonder.”
– Thomas Frost

fata Posted: Jul 13 2008, 02:49 PM

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wow, very nice. thanks for that sketch. do you suspect DC and his
assistant crawl thru the arm (might be too slow) or do you think they
are helped thru by something pulling them thru? (quicker) i would
guess that while they are covered they strap something to their ankle
and just get pulled on thru. and one last question, is this just an
educated guess that thats how DC does it, or did you hear that from
somewhere? thanks!

--------------------

=w=

porter Posted: Jul 13 2008, 07:45 PM

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Guys David using the pedestral system but there is nothing there. You
can see clearly through under the cabin. What is happening is the ARM
has a trap under the cabin. At 7:07 to 7:14 David pushing out the side
of the courtain with his left arm so the courtain doesn't drop to the
ARM and people still can see under the cabin. Then the courtain
dropped fully on the ARM and they disappear through the ARM.

Stop the video exactly at 6:23 you'll see the end of the ARM. Is that
2 inches? I don't think so. To me it looks much more. You right the
ARM expanding but not that much as you think.

fata Posted: Yesterday, 12:15 AM

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what video is everybody referencing??

--------------------

=w=

thomachan Posted: Yesterday, 01:23 AM

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Q really thanks for completing the illusion..

I think it's better to discuss porter's point. Thread will be better
and better.

Anyone has any comments about the video part?

porter Posted: Yesterday, 01:44 AM

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcEqM8z1wgA

fata Posted: Yesterday, 02:43 AM

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thanks for posting the vid, now i can compare with u guyz!

--------------------

=w=

QED Posted: Yesterday, 01:19 PM

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QUOTE (fata @ Jul 13 2008, 02:49 PM)
do you suspect DC and his assistant crawl thru the arm (might be too
slow) or do you think they are helped thru by something pulling them
thru? (quicker) i would guess that while they are covered they strap
something to their ankle and just get pulled on thru. and one last
question, is this just an educated guess that thats how DC does it, or
did you hear that from somewhere? thanks!

we have discussed this several times before - I couldn't find the
previous threads so it must have been on the old forum...
These were the conclusions..
and some people who "know" contributed the part about the Jarrett
pedestal illusion..
plus the use of blue screen and mapped insert of the polaroid pic and
the initials on his arm...
There's no way they could crawl thru that arm, but they could easily
be pulled thru... the method of attaching a cable or laying on a
sliding panel or whatever is not really important...
I also think that the top of that arm might just be black spandex....
instead of having rigid panels that spread out, they could have just
been pulled thru the arm and the spandex would glide over the tops of
their bodies... just guessing there...

at 7:27 +/- you can see the platform bouncing... I believe that's
possibly the assistant going thru the arm and then (again just
guessing), and that the pulling of the curtain back along the arm and
over the support at the back of the arm is synchronized with David
sliding thru the arm (or maybe David goes first... who knows?) so that
his movement thru the arm is covered by the curtain sliding over the
top... his voice at that time could just be a recording... again...
all of that stuff is immaterial...

thomachan... I say the important and hard part of the illusion is them
getting off the platform...
True, from the AUDIENCE's standpoint, the PROOF (showing the pictures
and initials on the beach) is the important part, but that part is
merely video mapping which was available even years ago at the time
the trick was done...
For the picture part, the assistant could merely hand the polaroid
picture to the video guys after they got to backstage or beneath the
stage, and the production team could insert it quickly into the
scanner or whatever they used and then it could easily be mapped onto
the handheld picture in the prerecorded video of them on the beach....
same thing with the initials.... easily mapped onto a prerecorded
piece of video... the technical aspects of that video mapping is
NOTHING compared to the challenge of getting those guys off of that
platform... as for the guy saying the initials - he had a headset
microphone covering half his mouth... he could have just loosely
mouthed any initials and had a live voice over... again - that stuff
is nothing compared to the vanish from the platform... all are very
nice essential convincers, but technically they aren't that tough to
accomplish...

QUOTE (thomachan @ Jul 12 2008, 09:09 AM)
And this is a grant illusion which must have an identity separately.

Are you saying this is a U.F. Grant illusion? I seriously doubt it...
Chris Kenner might have been involved but I don't think Grant ever had
any involvement with Copperfield whatsoever...

--------------------

do or do not, there is no try....

“A conjurer is nothing if he only amuses and fails to inspire wonder.”
– Thomas Frost

porter Posted: Yesterday, 03:36 PM

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The reason I think David went first becouse he had to reappear among
the audience while the other guy had no more role.

QED Posted: Yesterday, 04:23 PM

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David had all the time in the world to get into the audience... but
he did have to get backstage so they could take a shot of the initials
on his arm to superimpose it on the prerecorded video, and the other
guy had to hand off his polaroid picture for the same reason... it
doesn't really matter who went first... they had all of that time
while the prerecorded stuff on the beach was playing to get to where
they needed to be...

--------------------

do or do not, there is no try....

“A conjurer is nothing if he only amuses and fails to inspire wonder.”
– Thomas Frost

1lpoock Posted: Yesterday, 04:23 PM

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Oh yeah...i think your right porter...but he would have to have a lot
of trust in that other guy..that he would do it right after he went
first.

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