| Re: PHENOM'S Polaroid Prophecy |
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Group: alt.magic.secrets · Group Profile
Author: mitchell_learymitchell_leary Date: Nov 21, 2007 22:59
Ed wrote:
> On Nov 21, 8:58 pm, mitchell_leary yahoo.com> wrote:>> I only saw bits and pieces of Phenomenon last week and meant to post
>> this earlier.
>>
>> If anyone is interested in the spirit writing trick the girl did with
>> the Polaroid camera, it can be found in the following book:
>>
>> ENCYCLOPEDIC DICTIONARY OF MENTALISM Volume 3
>>
>> This publication is available only from Abbott's Magic Company.
>>
>> The trick requires a Polaroid SX-70 camera, which I doubt is even
>> manufactured anymore.
>>
>> The female performer on Phenomenon, while she is lots of fun to look
>> at, didn't do this effect justice in my opinion.
>>
>> This is a very powerful trick when played right.
>>
>> About 12 or 13 years ago there was a show on late Saturday night
>> called "Sightings", which dealt with things like UFOs, ghosts, and the
>> paranormal. It was presented in a somewhat documentary style format.
>>
>> In one episode they went to a haunted house with some guy who was
>> passing himself off as a psychic. He said he could capture messages
>> from these spirits with his Polaroid camera.
>>
>> Well, these spirits weren't in a very good mood, as the messages
>> written on the pictures scared the people so badly they had to stop
>> filming.
>>
>> This is an excellent example of a well execututed effect. Not played
>> as magic, but as a genuine paranormal event.
>>
>> There is a world of possibilities awaiting the right presentation.
>> I'm not sure the best place to pull something like this off is in a
>> standard magic act--unless you're presenting your act with a
>> paranormal bent.
>>
>> Spirit writing on a stage is interesting, but done in a cemetary,
>> haunted house, or the gas chamber in a federal prison is an event.
>>
>> -Leary-
>
> Penn and Teller set this one up in one of their books. They gave you
> an insert of a "guardian angel" or "guardian carrot" (you could use
> whichever you wished) which were printed on clear acetate film. When
> you placed them in a film pack and put it back into the camera,
> anything you took pictures of got the image on the film.
>
> (Did the "psychics" have different messages on each picture?
Ed, yes there was a different message on each picture. All written in
that gothic chicken scratch type lettering. The presentation did
wonders for an otherwise stage trick.
Thanks for reminding me about the Penn & Teller book, I knew I'd seen
it somewhere else.
While I'm on the subject, there is another old manuscript floating
around using a Polaroid camera. It was written by UF Grant and I
believe is still for sale in the MAK magic catalog.
In this one you can make other people or objects appear in the
photograph that aren't there when you take a picture of the
spectator. I used it to make spirit writing appear on a piece of
poster board I had the person hold.
It involves covering part of the lense with black paper so part of the
photo doesn't develope, reinserting the film back into the package,
then you're ready to perform. You cn pull all sorts of stunts with
this idea. Maybe you can find those old Polaroid cameras on e-bay.
Of a more recent vintage is an updated version using cell phones with
the picture capability. There are a couple manuscripts on the market
now. One makes a chosen card appear and I believe the other one makes
some sort of ghost image appear.
It just takes the right person to see the possibilities in all this
new technology.
-Leary-
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