The Genii Forum

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/theat ... ?th&emc=th

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2 ... ATURE.html

How cool is that!

Not that is cool.
I don't understand a thing about it, but it is cool.

Gord

Rockin' cool.

Fantastic possibilities for special effects, however, this could do for "live" theater what the movies did for vaudeville: film or high res video the show once and then project it so it looks like a live show, but isn't. A perfect performance every time without those pesky actors to pay.

Every technology is a two-edged sword.

Think if the great theatrical performances of the past could have been captured and preserved in this manner ...

How about a Genii article on this new tech by Jim Steinmeyer?

Is it just me?

What is wrong with this article is that it is about the technolgy and not the play (which no one has seen yet)

How can magic (or magical science) be considered more than diversion when the "what" allows itself to be exposed before it can create a "why"

Imagine the buzz this play would have had if the producers had kept quiet about their methodoloy and got folks talking about "what is it?" and "how do they do it?"

I guarantee there is some NYC party planner who read the article and is already figuring out how to get it adapted to her next big B-Mzva.

Lucca
The reason they did this article is to create a buzz.
Even when the play debuts they would have done articles on the technology, doing one before it opens creates a buzz that something different is happening. That will draw ticket buyers.
As well, using this technology has gotten the play world wide exposure. Who doesn't want that?

Gord

I'd have to agree with Bob this would be an excellent issue for Mr. Steinmeyer to write about looks mighty cool SB

My theory on the working: the "mirror" is some sort of very transparent scrim hung vertically, not at an angle. The laser uses it as the substrate.

It may be similar to how smoke and fog are used with lasers -- you need something for the light to illuminate -- so maybe this is a sort of smoke screen.

Don't think so Bob... If you watch the slideshow, you can clearly see actors working on the floor reflecting off the mylar a la Pepper's Ghost. Frankly, the video still leaves a lot to be desired when compared with live actors on the floor.

That being said, using a filmed "aged" character interacting with his "younger" self is an appropriate use of the technology if, and I mean, *if* the technology doesn't get in the way of the emotional response.

In most productions I have been involved with, when handled appropriately, the audience is happy to "buy into" two different actors playing the same character in different stages of their life.

No doubt, if the technology is used frequently enough it will be "accepted" by audiences, but in the meantime it is more a novelty and hence the focus of the article...

ajp

You can see this in action here.
The other videos in the "related" section are interesting too, although without the live audience they don't give the correct context to understand what this system can do.

Looks pretty realistic. Do we magicians now have to make a disclaimer that during the following performance no trick photogrphy or holographic projection technology will be used?

I imagine this is what Senior Blaine utilized for his final effect at his LG performance...

I believe this clip will help clear up some of the questions.

IMHO this would not likely serve as a "great new method" as both perspective contrast ratio limits are significant.

the products web site has several videos, and a reasonably full explanation of how it works.
There is a better history of the ghost too.

http://www.eyeliner3d.com/peppers_ghost_history.html

Me, i'd love to have some hanging in the middle of my lounge. that way, people on both sides of the screen can watch a movie hanging in mid air..

I saw this play, Losing Something, in New York and the technology is stunning. For most of the show they are doing the digital projections which look great but you are very aware of the technology.

Near the end, the projections stop and the lights change for an actual Pepper's ghost illusion. It was perfect. I sat in a theatre and watched two men have a conversation. One man was hanging in the air and turning upside down. He was being reflected from the orchestra pit and my mind knew that but my eyes were being fooled completely. I wish that I didn't know about the technology when I saw this.

All that said, the play is crap. Absolute masturbatory crap. This show wants to be a MOMA piece. The acting technique is basically "I'm talking soft now, I'm talking LOUD now." Anybody see Waking Life? That's what this play wants to be. Someone out there will take this technology and do something wonderful with it. This play certainly did not.