Does anyone have any idea how Criss Angel did his Walking on Water trick...or the getting sawed in half one?

Question

I originally thought that maybe he was using wires for the pool one, but where would they attach to? The more i watch that show, the more i'm beginning to think he may have sold his soul to the devil. -laughs-

Just curious if anyone had any educated guesses to how he pulls those off. Thanks for answering guys. :)

Answer 1

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBQLq2VmZcA

As the others said, clear plexiglass under the water, for the performance for the "live audience". There were movable platform(s) under the water so that the "witnesses" in the water--actually his accomplices--could swim around and help dispel the illusion that there was some sort of single clear bridge; in fact, his accomplices helped move the platforms around. That's the one thing you have to realize about most of Criss Angel's major tricks--anyone close enough to see things well enough to figure out how the trick is pulled off is an accomplice. If there are real bystanders, they are usually kept far enough away to not be able to scrutinize the trick. Simply put: the only "real" audience is us, the TV viewers.

What really sells the illusion to the TV audience is that he carries around a camcorder during the illusion and is aiming it at his feet, and the footage we see from the camcorder clearly shows that there's nothing solid under his feet. Here's the trick, though--the footage we see from his camcorder is NOT taped at the same time as when he's doing the trick in front of the live audience cheering him on around the pool. He comes back to the pool at ANOTHER time, rigs up something with wires so that he can "walk" on water without the platform, and videotapes his feet then (some of the other close-up shots were done at this time, too) By combining the two pieces of footage of him doing the trick two different ways, the unscrutinizing viewer will be misled into ruling out both of those ways (i.e. we don't see him using wires when we see the footage of him using the platform, and we don't see him using the platform when we see the footage of him using wires).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CYc36RipYXk
Again, the guideline here is to not trust the camera--or any of the "live" audience--as an unblinking eyewitness to what's going on; there are plenty of cuts in the footage where shenanigans could be done. Ultimately, the trick is done the way it's done traditionally: Criss himself is bent over backwards--imagine someone kneeling with their thighs split wide and flat as possible, then lying back so that they're parallel to their shins--the platform is much thicker than it looks, and the "belt" around his waist is broad enough to accomodate him; his "other half" is a contortionist accomplice, folded around the other way so that only his legs show.

The kicker, of course, is the footage we see earlier of Criss being put on the platform alone, and the "volunteer" holding his legs there the whole time (the volunteer, I'm sure you've figured by now, is an accomplice). How this is pulled off depends on whether everyone present is "in" on the whole trick, or whether there are some genuine audience members standing back there. If it's the former, then it's easy--you shoot the "preparation," then bring in the contortionist and do the real preparation, then do the trick. If it's the latter, one can work around it somehow: for example, I'd bring in the audience with the trick all set up, pull it off, then keep the audience away for a few minutes before then explaining to them that something went wrong with the camera and that they need to film the beginning of the trick (which would then be done in the "normal" way).

Answer 2

Clear plexiglass under the water, like Jesus did.

Gettin sawed is usually mirrors and contorionalism.

Answer 3

clear class or plexiglass under the water. You'd be surprised how much clear plastic disapears under water. He's not majic, he's an entertainer