Costume - Female

In contrast to the plain black and white nature of the performer, his reluctant assistant is dressed in much more colour and appears to be a far more vibrant person. This is typical in all the films that i've seen which include an assistant, and it appears that they often wear very expensive looking dresses, which would also fit in with high society the magicians appear to represent. On the top is an image of Scarlett Johansson from 'The Prestige', and below is my own actress, dressed in what i believe to be a similar standard of costume.

Costume - Male

As there are only two characters within the piece, the costumes wont have to be expansive and I've decided they should conform to certain stereotypes. It is also important to realise that this is a scenario trailer and not a montage of clips, where there are a range of costumes and looks to convey a change over time. This means that there in only one costume required for each character.

In terms of the magician, my research has come up with a common theme throughout everything i've seen.

The above images are all from film set in the early 20th century, but the common theme throughout them all is the smartness and class portrayed by the male leads. All three images show the characters in dark suits as worn by people who at the time would be seen as high class society. Although this is set in a much earlier time than my own trailer, the theme of performers dressing smartly has continued throughout time. This is shown in the stage performances of Derren Brown in his productions such as 'Enigma' and 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'. He often comes out on stage in a suit complete with waistcoat, and has been known to change into a dinner jacket suit for certain sections of his shows as seen below.

Special Effects

A range of effects were used in the completion of the tricks performed in the piece, most commonly used were the removal of frames to make it look like the item had completely disappeared from my hands. This involved staying incredibly still as an item (either the coin or the pen) dropped to the floor, before the hand action resumed. Cutting out the frames where the item was visibly dropping meant that it appears like the hands had not moved and the item had just vanished. This was used on two occasions within the teaser trailer as the performer takes you through tricks progression as it moves from the small coin to the significantly larger pen.

The trick where the hand slammed down onto the nail was significantly harder to achieve due to certain complexities with the position of the light and shadows cast by the nail. With the camera placed in a fixed position, the nail was placed on the table, removed, and then the hand came down onto the point that the nail previously occupied. Due to the body staying very still, the middle sequence of the nail being removed could be taken out, and a still image of the nail on the table could be created. This still image of the nail was then put on a different layer within the project, and the nail was made into a matte which was placed over the moving clip. The difficulty came when the shadow appeared on the jacket of the performer and the table, so in all there were three different mattes. Then, frame by frame, they were edited to match the movement within the scene, and appear as realistic as possible. As the hand came down to the table, the matte was removed, making it appear as if the hand had passed all the way through the table and made the nail disappear.

Image website

The main problem with creating posters and magazine covers will be the quality of the images that are used on them, if they are not good quality, then they wont look as professional as possible. This is where stock image websites are useful, because they allow you to acquire copyright free images for use within your own work. However the images for my work must all relate to each other and contain a common theme, and the images should not be used simply because they are of good quality if they do not apply. The other problem with stock image websites are that you often have to pay for the images. This is where my discovery of www.sxc.hu comes in handy. It is a stock image website which you can join and use some of the services free of charge as stated on the homepage below.

Double

I have decided to take on the role of the main protagonist within the teaser trailer myself, meaning that the tricks would not have to be run through with another actor and would not have to rely on someone else for filming. However through a recommendation I've found someone who is extremely good at card tricks, and would look far more professional than myself. These clips i could easily film during school time, and by cutting out most of the body, keeping the same lighting throughout and the costume exactly the same, there should be very little obvious difference.

*Update*

Below (top) are my hands, used in most of the filming, Below (bottom) are the hands of my tricks double, although the hands don't look too different, there is a size difference, however with the costume being the same, its very difficult to tell them apart.

The Tricks and ease of completion

The tricks that i've come up with for this piece are:

• Disappearing Coin
• Card Tricks
• Disappearing Pen
• Nail Through the Hand
• Coin Jumping

Some of these may require some skill to complete, however with the amount of technology available and knowledge of how the tricks work, it is possible to pull them off within the teaser trailer.

Shock

One of the tricks I have chosen for the new idea involves shocking the audience, and attempting to get a reaction from them. The trick would involve a sharp object disappearing from underneath the character's hand, as they slam it down into a surface. The shock comes from the fact that the audience expects something to happen, yet the character is unharmed. The idea of someone impaling their own hand is a horrible one, and is not commonly seen on tv, and can be grouped with the very sensitive topic of self harm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHk7mUtC3To&feature=related

Above is a video of a magician getting the spike trick wrong, and as the audience, it gives you a horrible feeling.