"How DID Derren Do That?"
Well, all will be revealed on Friday. Or at least, that's what is advertised. Or will it?
With Derren & Co. you never really know! Either way, Friday's show will get a massive veiwership and will have more talking all weekend.
So did you have a solution? An idea? See a flaw?
I thought it was a pretty good way to present it. Magicians have played with Lottery predictions for many years and many, including me, feature a version in their shows. But what was different about this was that Derren was allowed to run his adjacent to the live draw, on another channel, and use part of he live footage in his presentation.
Of course, seeing the live feed on screen was integral to the success of they 'stunt'. I'd even go as far as to say it was integral to the method!
Trailers for the series of four programs have alluded to four experiments in 'misdirection'.
Misdirection?
Yes, it's the misnomer magicians give to the process of directing an audiences attention (visual and mental) where they wish it to be and often away from an area where something is about to take place but which must not be seen or even suspected.
And I believe that the live link here provided a powerful underpinning to the presentation ... and afforded a useful dip in attention when that was over. My question is (ahead of Friday's solution), when did the live event finish, if at all? Was it at the end of Derren's show, or during the reveal. Remember - the BBC monitor was turned off before the matching balls were displayed.
So what?
Well, I believe this is crucial in understanding just how it were done an where there were opportunities for let's say stretching the truth.
A question for you to ponder: Once you were old it was live, and shown it was live and could go and channel switch and see it was live, is there a presupposition that it remained that was throughout?
Do you presume that, because the balls are on display, on top of a transparent tube, isolated in studio space, that, once the numbers are drawn, it's all to late? It's all over? I suggest you do. So at this point you relax. And it's at these low attention states, that you are most vulnerable to something taking place that will pass as unimportant. Some misdirection.
Did Derren fluff lines on purpose? Was the camera work shaky intentionally? Why did they need a second camera? Is this merely for Friday's reveal? Did he need to remain still during the draw? Is the snowflake in the subsequent vide a clue about freeze frame?
Is it true that the BBC DO have a 2 minute delay? If so, was this a clue?
Technicaly it was good. Nothing to see (not without very close multiple scrutiny). But in the moments (for that's all it was) between the BBC live feed being turned off and the balls being shown - this is where the 'work' must be done.
Maybe you will go and look at it again now.
And then all will be revealed on Friday.
John Gordon
The Infotainer
MagicWorks
