Mary Poppins Visual Effects

[EugLoven]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 10:26pm

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

"MARY POPPINS" VISUAL EFFECTS
HOW DO THEY WORK?

I'm looking for some concrete answers here.
Solid/supported speculation is also welcome.

I'm stumped on how some of the visual effects
work in "MARY POPPINS." Of course, some of the
answers are easy (like she's wearing a harness)
but I'm looking for more info like... where is it
strapped on? Is it automated or is there someone
back-stage controlling the rigging? Etc.

- Pulling the big/long things out of her suitcase
- Bert walking upside down
- Mary's flight
- Jester climbs out of the dollhouse
- Kitchen mayhem
- The house (set) moving and sliding and lifting

What are some other things I'm missing?

HOW DO THEY WORK? Updated On: 1/18/07 at 10:26 PM

[Yero]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 10:27pm

The bed during Practically Perfect.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 10:30pm

- Pulling the big/long things out of her suitcase
Some of the items are collapsable and they pull together while she's grabbing them, others are inserted through a hole in the table. The table legs are mirrored so nobody can tell.

- Bert walking upside down
Harness. Fake wall comes out. He walks on that.

- Mary's flight
Again, harness.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 10:31pm

Harness harness yes yes I know I know

But the counter-weight system...

I suppose I just need to contact someone
who works with the show! Haha

[juice23]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 10:52pm

I saw this last week from the front row, dead center...

Actually the carpet bag is done w/o mirrors... the bottom of the bag has a long opening in it, and the table obviously has a hole in it... everything that comes out comes out from an angle from the toy chest behind the table... not directly up ... which is why the bottom of the lamp is crooked until she puuts it on the ground.

The bed in practically perfect is just that they spread the sheet out, and a platform comes up from the floor as they are hiding it... it was a really cute effect, and pretty simple.

I would assume Valentine (God I love Tyler Maynard) is done somehow similar to the carpet bag? I was watching for it knowing it was coming and never saw him get in...

[AnythingCanHappen]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 10:58pm

i concur on the tyler maynard statement.

anywho, for the Valentine sequence, its an entirely different dollhouse from what i have heard him say.

[Bdwy24]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 11:03pm

From my seat in the Mezz I could def see a stagehands hand hand off the items in the bag.

[lite2shine]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 11:24pm

yes, it's a bigger doll house (deep in the back).

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 11:37pm

Wasn't there a whole other thread on this?

[AnaGFan]

Posted: 1/19/07 at 1:27am

here's what theaterdiva was talking about...

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?page=2&thread=916006&boardname=bway

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 1/19/07 at 5:25am

If you want to know about the flying, you could contact (or just google) the company that designed the system - Stage Technologies. There's also a web page on the general design elements here:
http://livedesignonline.com/theatre/show_business_poppins_fresh/

[pants2]

Posted: 1/19/07 at 7:14am

the temper temper dollhouse stumps alot of people, but the actor actually comes up a ladder into the house and out through the front, so he never actually has to fit his whole self in the house

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 1/19/07 at 10:43am

What's great about the effects for this show is that they are so well done that even when you know how they do something, it's still incredible to see.

[p.s.]

Posted: 1/25/07 at 4:19pm

juice 23:
"Actually the carpet bag is done w/o mirrors... the bottom of the bag has a long opening in it, and the table obviously has a hole in it... everything that comes out comes out from an angle from the toy chest behind the table... not directly up ... which is why the bottom of the lamp is crooked until she puts it on the ground."

Sort of true, but actually also does use mirrors to hide some open area under the table. I sat on the aisle (yesterday) only a few rows from the stage, directly facing the effect. I checked the view under the table. There is a counting board with colored beads leaning against the wall. During the effect, the right half of the board is a mirror image of the left side (same colors, same placement and spacing of beads) -- clearly a mirror image.
Later views (in later scenes) showed the whole board with randomly different colored beads, etc.


p.s. Loved the show, but I'd sure like to start a boycott of those noisy Skittles packages.
Updated On: 1/25/07 at 04:19 PM

[bundy5000]

Posted: 1/25/07 at 4:30pm

yes I could hear the skittle packages crumbling throughout the night during the show.