It’s a problem as old as time cameras — how do you simultaneously perform magic for people and cameras? Well, surprisingly often, you don’t. Frequently, TV magicians will opt to perform for people and shoot a “pick-up” shot separately to drop into the edit.
So, what is a pick-up shot?
It’s a shot that is “picked up” later but presented as if it took place during the original recording. This is standard practice across the TV industry. An interviewer might repeat a question to ensure the cameras capture it. A participant might re-send a message to record a pick-up shot of their phone.
Usually, a pick-up shot gets used because a shot was “missed.” Perhaps the action happened too fast, or there were not enough cameras to capture everything in one go. It’s standard practice for these reasons. It’s a bit different in the magic world.
In most magic productions, you’ll often hear about “magic eyes.” This is a term for a magician or member of the team who knows the secret. As a consultant, you’ll be radioed in to be the magic eyes for the next shoot. After a take, the director and their team might step aside to let magic eyes confirm the take.
It’s your job as the magic eyes to ensure a clean magic take is recorded. While the director keeps their eyes on multiple things like lighting, reactions, camera shots, etc., you’re only on the magic. It’s a similar role to that of a script supervisor, whose only role is to protect continuity and the script.
Being the magic eyes can be pretty stressful. There’s usually no time to playback or slow down a take. With confidence, you must watch the monitors and immediately decide if the team can move on or must record a “magic safety.” Most of the time, you’re not asked if magic eyes are happy. So, you’re sitting in a room full of important people, calculating in your head if you must halt the production, incurring many costs in the process.
And you’re not just looking for “flashes.” That’s when the method is exposed and visible to the camera. You’re looking for much more than that. Magic eyes might want to ensure you capture the whole trick in one take. Maybe the magician magically makes a coin go inside a bottle and immediately hands it out. Some magicians will be upset if the bottle exits the shot between the moment of magic and when the spectator examines it.
