FALL BY ERIC ROSS
Description: The label on a bottled beverage visually melts through the plastic of the bottle and onto the inside! Spectators can feel the side of the bottle as confirmation that the label is indeed now on the inside. To conclude, the label is then visually brought back to the surface and the bottle can then be examined.
Review: Eric Ross' Fall is a video download of about 10 minutes. The video and sound quality is very good, and Kevin Parker explains everything in a decent manner. In about 10 minutes time, Kevin Parker (who marketed this effect) demonstrates and explains the effect. It's quite obvious he did not rehearse his explanation because he sometimes seems to be confusedly stumbling through his explanation, and also studders numerous times. These issues aside, Parker does a decent job of explaining the effect and one will havev no issues with learning of it. Parker covers as much as possible, including gimmick construction, specific use, adding the gimmick to a bottle, ditching the gimmick, and more.
How does the effect look? Quite good. When watching the demo I was very impressed by the very visual nature of the effect. With minimal cover, you see the label on a bottle visually melt right through it... You see the colours on the label darken as it goes through the tinted plastic. It's a very nice illusion and furthermore, not too difficult to pull off. Using the gimmick will take definite practice but if this is the type of effect you're interested in, you WILL want to practice it. Even those with no plans of using the effect will likely make a gimmick for themselves to play with just to see how the illusion looks.
Numerous statements are made both in the video and in the ad copy on Parker's website. They state that the bottle can be borrowed. Is this true? Well, yes and no. "Yes" in the sense that it can indeed be done with a borrowed bottle and "No" in the sense that it cannot be ANY bottle. The bottle you use must match your gimmick. Size issue is also a problem... the gimmick has to fit the borrowed bottle. So yes, the bottle can be borrwed, but depending on your gimmick, you will rarely find the chance to do this.
I personally would never borrow the bottle, and for one main reason. Adding the gimmick to a bottle is simply not effective. For one, it is VERY noisy and also very fidgety. Parker suggests the use of patter as misdirection but you'd have to scream to cover adding the gimmick to the bottle. However, I do not see all of this as much of an issue. The effect is just as effective with your own bottle, on which you'd naturally have your gimmick set. Removing the gimmick from the bottle is much easier than adding it, and if properly done, noise is minimal.
The gimmick itself can be made very easily and will not cost more than $2 to make. It can be used over and over and will probably last a while if usec properly. this isn't really an effect you'll want to use constantly anyways... at least that's how I feel. I can definitely see its potential, though, and this could be a very powerful piece.
The effect looks best with specific types of bottles also... Bottles with clear plastic will not look near as good as bottles with a coloured tint. Obviously, the penetration is more visual with a tinted bottle as spectators can see the colours on the label darken as the label passes through. The gimmick is a very clever one and reminds me somewhat of the method for Kevin Parker's own Passing Thru effect. However, Eric Ross has created a practical, visual effect that will at least make a fun magic toy to play with.
Some with real interest in effects like this may find lots of potential for this and may use it frequently. It's not something I'd use but speaking generally, this is a very nice quick effect that I recommend to those who like this sort of thing. I give Eric Ross' Fall a 7/10 rating.
Fall can be purchased at www.illcenter.com
Michael Kras
Description: The label on a bottled beverage visually melts through the plastic of the bottle and onto the inside! Spectators can feel the side of the bottle as confirmation that the label is indeed now on the inside. To conclude, the label is then visually brought back to the surface and the bottle can then be examined.
Review: Eric Ross' Fall is a video download of about 10 minutes. The video and sound quality is very good, and Kevin Parker explains everything in a decent manner. In about 10 minutes time, Kevin Parker (who marketed this effect) demonstrates and explains the effect. It's quite obvious he did not rehearse his explanation because he sometimes seems to be confusedly stumbling through his explanation, and also studders numerous times. These issues aside, Parker does a decent job of explaining the effect and one will havev no issues with learning of it. Parker covers as much as possible, including gimmick construction, specific use, adding the gimmick to a bottle, ditching the gimmick, and more.
How does the effect look? Quite good. When watching the demo I was very impressed by the very visual nature of the effect. With minimal cover, you see the label on a bottle visually melt right through it... You see the colours on the label darken as it goes through the tinted plastic. It's a very nice illusion and furthermore, not too difficult to pull off. Using the gimmick will take definite practice but if this is the type of effect you're interested in, you WILL want to practice it. Even those with no plans of using the effect will likely make a gimmick for themselves to play with just to see how the illusion looks.
Numerous statements are made both in the video and in the ad copy on Parker's website. They state that the bottle can be borrowed. Is this true? Well, yes and no. "Yes" in the sense that it can indeed be done with a borrowed bottle and "No" in the sense that it cannot be ANY bottle. The bottle you use must match your gimmick. Size issue is also a problem... the gimmick has to fit the borrowed bottle. So yes, the bottle can be borrwed, but depending on your gimmick, you will rarely find the chance to do this.
I personally would never borrow the bottle, and for one main reason. Adding the gimmick to a bottle is simply not effective. For one, it is VERY noisy and also very fidgety. Parker suggests the use of patter as misdirection but you'd have to scream to cover adding the gimmick to the bottle. However, I do not see all of this as much of an issue. The effect is just as effective with your own bottle, on which you'd naturally have your gimmick set. Removing the gimmick from the bottle is much easier than adding it, and if properly done, noise is minimal.
The gimmick itself can be made very easily and will not cost more than $2 to make. It can be used over and over and will probably last a while if usec properly. this isn't really an effect you'll want to use constantly anyways... at least that's how I feel. I can definitely see its potential, though, and this could be a very powerful piece.
The effect looks best with specific types of bottles also... Bottles with clear plastic will not look near as good as bottles with a coloured tint. Obviously, the penetration is more visual with a tinted bottle as spectators can see the colours on the label darken as the label passes through. The gimmick is a very clever one and reminds me somewhat of the method for Kevin Parker's own Passing Thru effect. However, Eric Ross has created a practical, visual effect that will at least make a fun magic toy to play with.
Some with real interest in effects like this may find lots of potential for this and may use it frequently. It's not something I'd use but speaking generally, this is a very nice quick effect that I recommend to those who like this sort of thing. I give Eric Ross' Fall a 7/10 rating.
Fall can be purchased at www.illcenter.com
Michael Kras
