# How is this special effect done? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364 "2013-05-02T22:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/1 "2013-05-02T22:35:00Z")
If anyone can find this video on youtube or another site, feel free to give us the link. [How is this special effect done with these stairs?](http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=85151) It’s quite well done if it is an amateur thing. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/2 "2013-05-02T23:23:56Z")
It’s just elaborate editing. Very nicely done - especially the acting and the gritty verité look, which obscures the sophistication of what’s being done behind the camera. Magic is more about patter and misdirection than technique. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/3 "2013-05-02T23:33:15Z")
The “gritty verité look” is more a matter of poor video quality. You can see better video on Youtube: [The Escherian Stairwell - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBY4HaAngaA) This is apparently part of [Imagine RIT 2013 festival](http://web01www01ms.rit.edu/imagine/planyourday13/exhibit.php?id=486), which opens in a couple of days at the Rochester Institute of Technology. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/4 "2013-05-02T23:46:37Z")
Just get some twins and no special effects are needed at all. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/5 "2013-05-02T23:51:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Just get some twins and no special effects are needed at all. Possibly. But editing would be easier. I am doing some almost exactly like it as we exchange these _bon mots_. (Commercial stuff, not very interesting, but I have to loop the action convincingly.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/6 "2013-05-03T00:16:30Z")
You know, in an HP Lovecraft story, that sort of blatant violation of the laws of the Euclidean universe would drive people insane. Here, people are using it for frat pranks. If we ever found R’lyeh, we’d turn it into a theme park. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/7 "2013-05-03T01:04:46Z")
There’s no editing or special effects involved. That stairwell is really like that. Just like the secret tunnel under the quartermile. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/8 "2013-05-03T02:39:26Z")
…the solution: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GiTK3tbNt4Q#)! ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/9 "2013-05-03T02:44:27Z")
Meh. They do this on the Big Bang Theory all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/10 "2013-05-03T03:30:07Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > It’s just elaborate editing. Very nicely done - especially the acting and the gritty verité look, which obscures the sophistication of what’s being done behind the camera. Magic is more about patter and misdirection than technique. How is the editing done so smoothly without the camera being locked down? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/11 "2013-05-03T04:45:28Z")
about half way through there is a change in the lighting. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/12 "2013-05-03T16:47:14Z")
I’ve no idea how the video’s created, but the camera motion at around 1:26 in the original video feels very unnatural. But worse: Go to where he’s walking with the glass of water at around 2:00. He turns the corner at 2:06. You can see the yellow poster and a blank wall next to it. There’s a little bit of a jump or something and suddenly the girl is standing right next to the poster. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/13 "2013-05-03T17:07:26Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > How is the editing done so smoothly without the camera being locked down? That’s the trick - I would crop the frame size to give me wiggle room around the edges, then tilt and frame-match the edits. There are also tools (such as Mocha) that automatically map inset video into footage - if you see a sequence, for example, where someone is walking along with a video showing on a phone or gadget, or there is a fancy reflection in the car window, it’s likely put there using Mocha. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/14 "2013-05-03T19:28:19Z")
If you watch carefully around 3:40, you can see some errors in the editing - a child in a red shirt appears out of nowhere from behind the ‘join’ in the two pieces of video - I managed to pause it at the point when his arm is still obscured behind the cut - here’s a screenshot: [http://sdrv.ms/13Skyel](http://sdrv.ms/13Skyel) ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-special-effect-done/657364/15 "2013-05-03T22:33:03Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > How is the editing done so smoothly without the camera being locked down? I’m sure it’s a take off on the tech that ‘steady-cams’ video and automatically stitches together panoramic photos.