# Explanation for changing medecine colors in Mary Poppins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223 "2011-01-19T17:51:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/1 "2011-01-19T17:51:11Z")
A friend of mine just posted a question on Facebook about Mary Poppins: “In Mary Poppins there is a scene where she pours medicine onto three separate spoons. Every time she pours the medicine is a different color! This is all done in one shot. Any ideas on how it was done??” There are a couple of guesses about powders or liquids in the spoon halping with the color-change process, but overall our collective google-fu is pretty weak as we haven’t found much concrete information. There is a consensus that something happened in-shot (rather than edited in later), as the little girl’s reaction has been reported to be genuine surprise. Anyone on the Dope have more light to shed on the issue? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/2 "2011-01-19T17:55:17Z")
There was a thread on [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfAl8K9XCow) video a while back. Consensus was, different color liquids layered by density. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/3 "2011-01-19T18:19:18Z")
Thanks! I passed that video along to her. It’s funny how our minds are so attuned to “special effects” these days that we forget how to do things without computer wizardry. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/4 "2011-01-19T18:26:13Z")
> [@iftheresaway](#): > > Thanks! I passed that video along to her. It’s funny how our minds are so attuned to “special effects” these days that we forget how to do things without computer wizardry. Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/5 "2011-01-19T19:39:24Z")
Could it also be done using directed lighting, for instance blue and green light to change the color of a bluish liquid? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/6 "2011-01-19T19:52:48Z")
I have seen magician’s tricks that rely on containers with multiple chambers. You just have to make sure the right one is open or oriented properly to get the right liquids to come out at the scheduled times. Of course, I am also highly skeptical anytime people insist that an actor’s reaction had to be genuine. I mean, these are **actors** , people. It’s their **job** to make fake emotion look genuine. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/7 "2011-01-19T20:30:52Z")
I always assumed multiple chambers. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/8 "2011-01-19T20:34:11Z")
I’m wondering if it could be a trick done with the colouring process of the film. Mary Poppins was filmed in Technicolor and although there were numerous different post-production techniques in 1964 I suspect around this time they used the dye transfer process. I don’t know enough about this to know if it would have been massively more expensive to do it in post rather than using visual trickery on set. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/9 "2011-01-19T20:35:28Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Of course, I am also highly skeptical anytime people insist that an actor’s reaction had to be genuine. I mean, these are **actors** , people. It’s their **job** to make fake emotion look genuine. Counterpoint: this is usually a director’s choice, and there’s certainly directors nutty enough to insist on getting a genuine reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/10 "2011-01-19T20:37:38Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I always assumed multiple chambers. Reckon so - this really seems the easiest method. I can’t believe different liquids layered by density would pour so discretely. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/11 "2011-01-19T22:48:36Z")
Three chambers would be relatively easy, but you might pick up the move looking at the film, and I don’t have a copy handy. I don’t even know if it’s a continuous shot. It might be easier to do in processing some how. I assume its a close up, and a short piece of film between cuts, and actual colored liquid was used in post-pour shots. Using a white liquid, colored lighting could do the trick also, with the color enhanced in the lab. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/12 "2011-01-20T00:11:48Z")
> [@iftheresaway](#): > > This is all done in one shot. How do you know that? Just because it looks continuous? Filmmakers are experts at editing different shots together to make up a continuous scene. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/13 "2011-01-20T08:09:04Z")
I’ve got the film on DVD - I’ll check if it really is one shot tonight. IIRC, the bottle is quite large - it seems to me that it would be quite easy to install a dispensing mechanism of some kind inside it. Even if the pouring is done in one shot, I’m not sure it’s continuous with the bit where we see Mary pick up the bottle - in which case there could be concealed tubes or wires entering the bottle at its base, or where she’s holding it. The reason I don’t think the layered pouring explanation works is that I know how difficult it is to separate liquids by pouring (for example, when trying to pour off a layer of fat from a jug or other container of stock, it’s always the case that the stock layer below starts coming out before the fat is fully poured off) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/14 "2011-01-20T09:49:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve got the film on DVD - I’ll check if it really is one shot tonight. It’s one shot [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EQO9GBrtEEg/hqdefault.jpg "Mary Poppins Dispenses Medicine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQO9GBrtEEg) > [@RealityChuck](#): > > ``` > I always assumed multiple chambers. > > ``` Or trick spoons, that fill up from a bulb concealed in the kids’ hands. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/15 "2011-01-20T11:19:55Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Counterpoint: this is usually a director’s choice, and there’s certainly directors nutty enough to insist on getting a genuine reaction. Plus, with child actors, it’s often necessary. Most children just approach acting like they are playing pretend. They don’t really use a separate acting skill, and, thus, can’t really work to improve on it. Heck, almost all child actors are cast based on their actual personality and character fitting the character as written, while many adult actors can put on a fake personality for the role. And, if you’ve seen the Star Wars prequels, you can see what it’s like when even adult actors don’t have anything real about the environment. Acting without anything being real is hard. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/16 "2011-01-20T12:46:51Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Counterpoint: this is usually a director’s choice, and there’s certainly directors nutty enough to insist on getting a genuine reaction. The dinner scene in Alien was genuine surprise. The director told them something would happen at dinner, but not what. ---
**Author:** ![acetylene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/17 "2011-01-20T16:04:11Z")
I’ve never seen the movie but from the (poor quality) link above it doesn’t look like you can tell what color the liquid is as it is being poured. You only see the color when it hits the spoon. This is easy to do with [acid/base indicators](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_indicator). If the bottle contains a base, you can coat each spoon with a different indicator and get a different color. I have done similar demonstrations for my chemistry class. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/18 "2011-01-20T16:23:17Z")
However the effect was created, it was practically perfect in every way. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/19 "2011-01-20T16:44:42Z")
> [@acetylene](#): > > If the bottle contains a base, you can coat each spoon with a different indicator and get a different color. I have done similar demonstrations for my chemistry class. With edible liquids? ---
**Author:** ![acetylene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223/20 "2011-01-20T17:16:58Z")
I assumed they did a switcheroo before the kids ate the contents. From what I could tell the spoons were shown from the side, so you couldn’t even see what was in them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explanation-for-changing-medecine-colors-in-mary-poppins/568223.md?page=2)