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Lou Hilario Inner circle 2235 Posts |
What side should the body of the floating lady be, left or right? My levitation can be done on either side but I want to know which side is best?
Magic, Illusions, Juggling, Puppet & Parrot Show ^0^
http://www.louhilario.net |
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
That is an inttersting question. I cannot recall seeing a levitation done in any way except with the assistant's right side facing the audience (head to the audience's left). Any connection to the fact that most of us read from left to right?
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
magicmarkdaniel Special user Bolton, England UK 831 Posts |
Isn't it strange how we never notice these things until someone brings it up then you think "oh yeah...". Kinda like the thin model sawing. 99% of the time, the head end is to the audience's left.
Mark
Mark Daniel
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Joey911 New user 84 Posts |
I have seen a sawing in half with her head to the right. I have also seen a levitation done this way.
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magicmarkdaniel Special user Bolton, England UK 831 Posts |
I have too, but the majority seem to be head to the audience's left.
Mark Daniel
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Spellbinder Inner circle The Holy City of East Orange, NJ 6438 Posts |
Let's confuse everyone! For the month of December, all illusionists should switch to having the woman float with head to the audience's right... just for that one month. Then on January 1st, all will switch back again. It will become known as the great left-right mystery that only happens during the month of December and no one can figure out why.
On second thought, no one will even notice. Never mind.
Professor Spellbinder
Professor Emeritus at the Turkey Buzzard Academy of Magik, Witchcraft and Wizardry http://www.magicnook.com Publisher of The Wizards' Journals |
adam christopher Veteran user 316 Posts |
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magicmarkdaniel Special user Bolton, England UK 831 Posts |
Spellbinder,
Great idea, I'll do the same with my Chair Suspension. I'll keep the setup the same, but just get the girl to lie the other way. I'll let you know how it goes! Mark
Mark Daniel
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Spellbinder Inner circle The Holy City of East Orange, NJ 6438 Posts |
If you use a volunteer from the audience for the chair suspension, I bet she would get a bit more of a thrill from the reversal, and maybe even a quick ride to the ground. Make sure your insurance is paid up before you try it!
Professor Spellbinder
Professor Emeritus at the Turkey Buzzard Academy of Magik, Witchcraft and Wizardry http://www.magicnook.com Publisher of The Wizards' Journals |
Donal Chayce Inner circle 1770 Posts |
It's my belief that the audience will (unconsciously) focus more of their attention on the side of the stage where the assistant's head lies. Because of that, I make sure that the gimmick for board-type suspensions (whether or not the board or other support is visible)is situated on the opposite end...provided that the gimmick can be set off-center, of course.
BTW--The drawings for "Hot Air" in Steinmeyer's "Device and Illusion" have the gimmick at the feet end of the assistant. I don't know if that was for the reason set forth above, but I wouldn't be surprised. |
Donal Chayce Inner circle 1770 Posts |
One more thing. One of the basic tenets of stage direction is that stage left (the audience's right) is a more dominant position than stage right (the audience's left) and, as such, will have a stronger command of the audience's attention. It is for that reason that I believe the gimmick for these types of suspensions should be situated stage left, and the assistant's head should be situated stage right.
The "Hot Air" drawing illustrates this perfectly. |
magicmarkdaniel Special user Bolton, England UK 831 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-11-26 10:37, magicmarkdaniel wrote: I joke, of course. Mark
Mark Daniel
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Lou Hilario Inner circle 2235 Posts |
Thanks everyone for your feedback. I like Donal Chayce's answers. I will now perform my levitation on the audience right where my assistant or volunteer's head is facing that way. The gimmick of my support is on my right (hip) side so that will take the "heat" off from the audience point of view. Besides, there is nothing to be seen on that side if ever there would be audience on that side.
Magic, Illusions, Juggling, Puppet & Parrot Show ^0^
http://www.louhilario.net |
Donal Chayce Inner circle 1770 Posts |
Lou, if you follow what I wrote then the support gimmick should be on your left hip (stage left/audience right), and your assistant's head should be on your right side (stage right/audience left).
Best, Donal |
magic4545 Inner circle Jimmy Fingers 1159 Posts |
Floating lady experts:
The setup of your mechanicals should tell you which direction to lay the head. A modern, well thought out, correctly designed Gwynne Harbin Super-X plus walkaway will benefit from being designed from the ground up with the direction of the head in mind. The feet and legs will cover the sightlines of the gimmick, and the woman's center of gravity will be in a very deceptive position, different than where the audience believes that the center is. The intelligent builder will take advantage of all of these nuances. When they look at the illusion before she gets onto it, they will have a perception of where the center is, but it is not. When you offset the gimmick, you lose some strength in many of these types of illusions, but you can really polish this to minimize weight supported too far from the upright. Some common sense thinking will help you get into a position where there is not too much sag or longitudinal bounce. On the video, you never get to see the assembly before she comes to the stage, but it's all centered. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yxNzniTwKs If you were to perform this particular one with the head laying the other direction, you're really fighting sag and excessive, unnecessary, directional stress from weight badly distributed. You would also be compromising your angles HUGELY!!! Walt, just pause the video at the point just before I go grab that silly hoop... Jimmy Fingers |
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