Whip length?

Joe D. · Post by **Joe D.** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 4:05 pm

I’m not sure if this is the right forum for this question or not, if it is not I apologize.
I have been surfing this site for a while and have noticed the length of Indy’s whip is usually given as 10 feet. I have always been under the assumption that the hero prop for the whip was a 12 footer.
The reason I have thought this for so long is that when I was younger I subscribed to a comic book by the name of “The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones” and in the back of the book they had a place where fans could write and ask questions.
The first question to be asked was the length of the whip and they said it was a 12 footer, simply because Steven Speildberg liked the way it look coiled on Indy’s hip and the way it laid in the shoot where it was not on the belt.
I’m not saying you guys are wrong, far, far from that. Its I’d just like to know the length of the hero prop because my whip is 20 years old (and 12 feet long) and I am in the market for a new one. Not saying I’d give up the 12-foot whips, I’ve grown sort of attached to that length, but I’d just like to know for the sake of knowing.
Another reason I thought it was a 12 footer is the way it handles in some scenes. It looks more like its there for the show (sort of like comic book exaggeration) than accuracy. A 12 footer would be great for a scene where you wanted the whip to dominate but didn’t care about how easy it was to hit a target. But then again, maybe they used a 12 footer just for those scenes.
Ok, guys, I have to stop, I’m getting a serious case of ‘which came first the chicken or the egg’ syndrome going on here

Thanks for any answers you might be able to through my way.
Talk later.
Joe

P.S. I have about 25 years worth of research on the Ark of the Covenant that the gang might like to browse through, any suggestions on where I should post it?
Thanks again.

Sergei · Post by **Sergei** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 4:21 pm

Well, I am going to answer this question (again...) by just giving you what David Morgan says straight from his website:

We supplied over 30 bullwhips of the 451 series for the Indiana Jones movies. These ranged in length from 6 feet to 16 feet. The standard length carried in the movies was the No. 455 10 ft. bullwhip. The other lengths were used in special stunts. All were in the natural tan color.

Like David Morgan says above, the whip length did change to whatever the scene it called for. In my opinion, most of the time he carried the 10 footer. Somewhere in the archives here, I did an analysis of the length of the whip used in the Cairo Whip Cracking Scene. That was determined to be 8 feet.

Again, in my opinion, the 8 footer is probably the most versatile length. It looks very much like a 10 footer coiled up on the gun belt. And for whip for fast whip cracking scenes like the Cairo street scene, you need something shorter than the 10 footer to get the quickness and the logistics of dealing with tight camera lenses and tight alleys.

I am going to move this question over to the "BUllwhip" section. I think it's more appropriate there.

-Sergei

Sergei · Post by **Sergei** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 4:33 pm

I found the post that had my analysis of the whip length during the Cairo whip cracking sessions.

http://www.indygear.com/forum/viewtopic ... cairo+whip

Scroll down to the B&W picture of Ford, and continue reading from there.

-Sergei

Joe D. · Post by **Joe D.** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:01 am

Thanks for the help, Sergei, much appreciated.
Talk later,
Joe