MAGIC AND THE MOVIES

Most magicians, if not all, are fiercely opposed to divulging their secrets. ‘A good magician never reveals the secret,’ we’re told. And rightly so. After all, once the secret of a magic trick is exposed, the trick is no longer a trick, right? Wrong!   We still go to the movies even though we know the main character isn’t really shot … even though we know the super hero really can’t fly … even though we know the hideous monster is really just makeup and costume (or for today’s generation, computer enhanced.) So why doesn’t the knowledge of the secrets of movie magic hurt the experience of watching movies? It’s simply because movies don’t rely solely on the special effects (or tricks.) Movies encompass ‘the whole package’ ranging from music to script to acting to scenic design and everything in between. If the movie consisted of only special effects, it would become dull within 10 minutes … and some movies are just that. Think back at the last few big blockbuster computer enhanced summer movies … ‘Deep Impact’, ‘Lost in Space’, ‘Starship Troopers’. Now quick, tell me what the story was about. I, for one, can’t remember much about the story … too many special effects going on. Too much magic with very little substance makes for something totally forgettable. Ahhh, but add a storyline, add some appropriate music, add a logical reason to do the special effects, and now you’ve got something people can take home with them … something they’ll remember long after the trick fades from their memory. I always liked the ‘Red Ash’ effect. A long, rectangular piece of red paper is burned, the ashes float upwards and when the ashes are gathered together, the rectangular piece of red paper is restored. A very nice effect, but something was missing for me when I performed it. There wasn’t as much response as I would have liked. So I thought about it, and played around with it, and thought some more, and finally redid the whole effect. Here’s my revamped Red Ash effect: I changed the shape of the rectangular piece into the shape of a heart. Now it’s something the audience can relate to. I added touching music, specifically ‘My Funny Valentine’ as sung by Elvis Costello who adds feeling and emotion to his singing. I added a few tears of the paper heart before burning it which now adds a storyline (looks of sadness combined with a tearing of ‘my’ heart greatly enhances the atmosphere of the effect.) And last, I changed the method to suit my character, dress, and surroundings. Now when I perform my revamped version of Red Ash, I get ooohs and ahhhs like I never did before. With just a little change and thought, a cute, meaningless effect is transformed into a signature piece of mine that people have remembered long after the ‘how’ is figured out. You can do the same for all your existing effects. Think of how your routines can be enhanced with proper music, logical storyline, a change of props to be more in keeping with the times, etc. Now you’re starting to think like the director of a movie thinks, and not like a person that just does tricks. Infantino