what's up with this whip?

From falls & poppers to plaiting & cracking technique, this section is dedicated in memory of Sergei, IndyGear Staff Member and Whip Guru. Always remember to keep "Celebratin' Life!"

Moderator: BullWhipBorton

Post Reply
User avatar
Holt
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 14469
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2006 10:40 am
Location: COW's Watch Tower

what's up with this whip?

Post by Holt »

or has this been discussed before?

what kndf handle is it?the pineapple knots are very different then what I am used to see
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g182/ ... cap163.jpg

Holt
User avatar
Vegeta
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 400
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 1:27 am
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by Vegeta »

It's a stunt whip....But I dont see any problems with it. The turks head knot is a little smaller but thats to be expected for any stund prop.
User avatar
Holt
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 14469
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2006 10:40 am
Location: COW's Watch Tower

Post by Holt »

here is a closer shot of it.in my opinion it looks different from the other whips.

it doesn't have that round pineapple ball on the end were the wristband is attached

Image

Holt
User avatar
Vegeta
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 400
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 1:27 am
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by Vegeta »

Alot of stunt props are just cheaper looking versions of the real thing. It's only purpose is to be functional and only sorta look like what its supossed to be. You only see it for a split second anyway so hardly no effort goes into it most times.
Last edited by Vegeta on Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Holt
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 14469
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2006 10:40 am
Location: COW's Watch Tower

Post by Holt »

thanks.explais alot.

kinda had that cs end knot to it

bests
Holt
User avatar
Indiana
Professor of Archaeology
Professor of Archaeology
Posts: 990
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2002 2:12 pm
Location: The University of Chicago

Post by Indiana »

It probably has a slightly different construction because of the cable inside that particular whip, maybe?
User avatar
midwestwhips
Vendor
Posts: 504
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2003 2:31 pm
Location: Hollywood, CA
Contact:

Post by midwestwhips »

Hi Indiana Holt,

That is definitely one of the whips that was braided around a steel cable core. That is likely why it looks a bit different. It is likely the reason the wrist loop looks odd too.

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.midwestwhips.com
BullWhipBorton
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 1967
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2003 11:28 pm
Location: Michigan, USA

Post by BullWhipBorton »

As mentioned its one of the stunt whips, but also keep in mind that David Morgan did not make these.

No idea if they where real leather whips made up over a cable or just a cable made up to look like a whip. No idea who made them either, but they where most likely supplied by the studios props/stunt rigging department. Only one that I know of has ever surfaced and that was a "whip" that was dragged behind the truck which was in a private collection in England. Unfortuntly i dont have a photo of it but basically it was discribed to me as a brown cable with a whip handle made up over it.

Dan
thefish
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 658
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:49 pm
Location: Athens, Ohio
Contact:

Post by thefish »

I didn't think David ever did a steel-cable-cored whip until Mask of Zorro, did he? I don't know.

For such things in Hollywood prop shops, it USED to be a Standard Operational Procedure to take a cast of the actual prop, (or simply make a kinda-close clay model, cast it,) and then create a hard rubber "Stunt prop" with a steel cable core that would be painted to match the hero prop.

It only had to work for a few shots, and if the paint started to flake or the rubber broke down, you got your on-set folks to patch it up until the shoot was over. At the end of the day, it's thrown back into a prop box and carted off to some Hollywood Warehouse, (like the Ark.) One of the reasons that this prop hasn't surfaced could very be that the rubber has either just dry-rotted off by now, or that the rubber was stripped off so that the cable could be used for another project. It's really hard to tell.

Something that we all have to remember, is that it's only been recently that filmmakers have had to take into consideration that their audiences would have the opportunity to watch high-quality of their films over and over again. When Raiders was made, Spielberg's thought was that bulk of it's audience was only going to see it once or twice in the theaters. It was a few years after the film came out that it finally made it onto Premium Cable and was released on VHS for home rental, (I remember how excited I was the day HBO and Showtime announced their next month's schedules and I saw "Raiders" in there.)

Single-Shot specialty props like that whip from the opening shots of Raiders were essentially made to get them through the day, and not with any sort of detail in mind, (hence all the variations in Fertility Goddess props we've seen, the differences in hats, whips, and other props almost from shot-to-shot, etc. etc. etc.)

Home video, High Def DVD's, and internet forua full of obsessed folks like us have had to make filmmakers, (and especially poor continuity directors,) work even harder to make a tight cohesive feature. I'm just glad that Steve Spielberg is aware of this, and seems to be up for the challenge.

-All the Best,

The Other Dan
Post Reply