There is NO WAY the illusion of the orange tree growing from a seed in 30 seconds could have been realised/presented as it seen in this film! That was CGI, see- we cant even do it NOW, let alone then; we have to resort to computers to do effects like this.
If it was done back then, it was probably crude and relied on poor lighting and clever mechanics. Oh, and a gullible audience too!
Most of the tricks done by Eisenheim are absolutely impossible. That's one of the things that I almost didn't like about this film. I say "almost" because it wasn't really necessary for me to be convinced that the tricks could've been made in real life, as long as they served the plot.
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I believe I read or saw somewhere that they chose to represent these tricks as a contemporary audience member would see them--not as sleights of hand or extensive feats of trickery, that is, but as real magic. That's why they chose to make it look so fluid and flawless.
"Now, bring me that horizon."
Actually I've done research about the orange tree, and they used it in the film because back it he day it was an actual trick that could not be explained, I'm assuming never was but liked how they'd hook history into this movie
shareActually, the Orange Tree Illusion, created, perfected, or simply made famous by Robert Houdin, was a real contemporary trick. Only that, to the best of my understanding, it was presented as a fully formed "animatronic" tree that simply "bloomed" orange blossoms and then slowly revealed fruit hidden by the "leafs" of the tree. There was never an actual orange tree that grew from a seedling into a fully formed orange tree in thirty seconds. The butterflies and the handkerchief were also a common part of the trick. Those, however, were real; incredibly well trained butterflies (occasionally moths were used as the butterflies eventually unionized and had significant vacation time, dental and health coverage, paid pupa leave, and were--by union rules--only allowed to work five days a week and no more than two shows a day....)
something terribly clever.
I have no special inisght into the mechanism of how the growth of the tree was done (we get a little clue in the notebook at the end ) though I don't know why people here say it would be an impossible trick. It took me awhile, i confess, to realize how the real orange bit would have been done: the "oranges" that appear on the tree are devices like balloons: the magician then palms the balloons , produces real oranges from his sleeves and gives those to the audience
share'The Orange Tree Trick' was first performed by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (December 6, 1805 – June 13, 1871)
Here is British magician Paul Daniels in his tribute show to Robert-Houdin doing a version of The Orange Tree. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ht_afydffk
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I am the Queen of Snark, TStopped said so.
That is one WonderFul piece of video. Thanks for posting the link, it is quite apropos.
I had just seen the trick in the movie for the first time, and wondered why the butterflies carrying the handkerchief looked so fake. Now I know.
You are welcome. Every trick done in the film was based on actual tricks done by magicians during that period. Most of the tricks performed today by magicians are based on the tricks developed by 'magicians' in the 19th Century.
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I am the Queen of Snark, TStopped said so.
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