Monday, November 30, 2009

And Now I Know…

… how David Copperfield did his Portal illusion.  Or at least part of it.  Here’s what I’m talking about:

 

The part I mean is where he shows up in Hawaii with the tattoo on his arm and the photo he just took moments ago in front of a live audience.

 

Now I suspected the first time I saw it that there was some digital imaging trickery involved, but I’d never seen it done for myself in such a speedy manner.  Now I still don’t know exactly what the technical aspects are behind this tech, but I’m pretty sure David’s illusion uses something similar to this:

 

 

It takes a minute or two to load, but once it does, it’s hilarious!

 

As for the part where David and his friend vanishes into thin air from that little platform, well that’s still pretty slick.  Thanks to David McDarby for pointing this out!