Quicksand Fans

Edyll Ismail, the actress in the scene, has posted a few production photos to her instagram!

I have to admit that the production value they put into this scene was very good. Outside the fact that I can only count one or two live action tar pit scenes, this scene does a great job giving that illusion and viscosity effect you would expect from a tar pit all the way down to the bubbles. Very well done.

Could someone pull themselves out like that? Probably not but for fantasy purposes, it does the job very well.

My best guess is a water Guar-gum food coloring mix as it looks alot like the "syrup" pool from the swimming in syrup Mythbusters episode.....but you'll have to ask the la brea production crew.

Here are some links to the episode (will probably be locked after a week, requiring you to register to keep viewing it):

United States:

https://www.nbc.com/la-brea/video/maya/9000323506

Canada:

https://www.ctv.ca/shows/la-brea/maya-s3e3

Elsewhere, you need a VPN to view it.

boots in quicksand wrote:My best guess is a water Guar-gum food coloring mix as it looks alot like the "syrup" pool from the swimming in syrup Mythbusters episode.....but you'll have to ask the la brea production crew.

I was tending to wonder if it could have been molasses.

TK421 wrote:I have to admit that the production value they put into this scene was very good. Outside the fact that I can only count one or two live action tar pit scenes, this scene does a great job giving that illusion and viscosity effect you would expect from a tar pit all the way down to the bubbles. Very well done.

Could someone pull themselves out like that? Probably not but for fantasy purposes, it does the job very well.

Out of all the live action tarpit scenes I have seen (Last Action Hero, Beastmaster where bad guy throws his sister into a watery bubbling tarpit, 65 where they rescued a young dinosaur from a small tarpit only to have it attacked and eaten by predators, a movie about trying to escape Los Angeles before a nuclear warhead hits only to crash (I believe) a helicopter in the La Brea tarpit and after the the inside of the craft filled with yellow water and went black, everything went white from the nuclear blast, and a prehistoric movie where a blind caveman walks into a tarpit before being pulled out), this was by far, the most captivating! They did do a great job, although when in a tarpit, you tend to sink steadily, not staying at one depth and waiting until bubbles belch out before sinking down a little bit deeper. But, in the end, I was on the edge of my seat until she was rescued by the rope!

Boggy Man wrote:Here are some links to the episode (will probably be locked after a week, requiring you to register to keep viewing it):

United States:

https://www.nbc.com/la-brea/video/maya/9000323506

Canada:

https://www.ctv.ca/shows/la-brea/maya-s3e3

Elsewhere, you need a VPN to view it.

I watched it on Amazon. Very fine scene!

Picky 'ol me enjoyed it until the end when she starts escaping the pit.

Suddenly in an instant it went from thick, sticky tar that she says she can't move around in to thick, runny oil that she had no issue sliding through and even climbing out on her own.(say what?)

Visuals were awesome otherwise.

BTW, Could not watch the USA link (locked already) so I had to use a VPN connection in Canada to watch it via the other one.

BogDog wrote:Picky 'ol me enjoyed it until the end when she starts escaping the pit.

Suddenly in an instant it went from thick, sticky tar that she says she can't move around in to thick, runny oil that she had no issue sliding through and even climbing out on her own.(say what?)

Visuals were awesome otherwise.

BTW, Could not watch the USA link (locked already) so I had to use a VPN connection in Canada to watch it via the other one.

It may have been just oily syrup of some kind, used for that scene, but ultimately, it's up to the actors to make it realistic. Notice that Layla had to strain and grunt to pull herself out of the tar as if it was really thick and heavy. She strained and pulled hard all the way to escape that pit! Kudos to Edyll Ismail for a very convincing scene!

mudmaiden wrote:

BogDog wrote:Picky 'ol me enjoyed it until the end when she starts escaping the pit.

Suddenly in an instant it went from thick, sticky tar that she says she can't move around in to thick, runny oil that she had no issue sliding through and even climbing out on her own.(say what?)

Visuals were awesome otherwise.

BTW, Could not watch the USA link (locked already) so I had to use a VPN connection in Canada to watch it via the other one.

It may have been just oily syrup of some kind, used for that scene, but ultimately, it's up to the actors to make it realistic. Notice that Layla had to strain and grunt to pull herself out of the tar as if it was really thick and heavy. She strained and pulled hard all the way to escape that pit! Kudos to Edyll Ismail for a very convincing scene!

I wasn't certain if the USA link was locked or not, because I am outside its region. At least the VPN worked, and the other link to the Russian site works as well.

I feel that the rope escape would have been more realistic if she had moved back a little each time she pulled herself forward a few inches, making it look like the tar was partially pulling her back, but not fully, allowing her to slowly gain ground in the escape!