Fish Tales: same tail maker as H2O?

[MermaidBrandie]

So I'm watching the 2007 movie "Fish Tales" and I noticed the actress's tail looks a lot like the tails for the H2O series. I like the "Fish Tales" one better though. More colorful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lily]

They look very similar!

Fish Tales:
http://www.themermaidmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/MermaidHannahStacey.jpg

H2O:
https://41.media.tumblr.com/b0200cab25c50a64366fb13328837db3/tumblr_mrdy01aKOV1rcrguuo1_500.jpg

The Fish Tales one has a more ragged edge though which I really like.

[MermaidBrandie]

Yea I like the ragged edge too. Thanks for the pictures. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AniaR]

yes it is. there's a few threads already about this :)

[MermaidBrandie]

Damn I looked and couldn't find them. My tapatalk app won't let me search in forums. Laaammmee.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OceanWhisper]

I've only seen the advert for fishtales, but I thought the exact same thing :) it's even an extended tail

[MermaidBrandie]

I think it's a cute movie.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OceanWhisper]

Ill have to find it, and 'splash' in the movie shop sometime :P

[MermaidBrandie]

Have you not seen splash? I love it! :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AptaMer]

The freediver (Hannah Stacey) who did the extreme mermaid swimming as a body double for Kelly Brook in Fishtales appears to have had the time of her life being a mermaid with a tail as close to perfection as is achievable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/6077522.stm

It's definitely a JMB FX tail


http://youtu.be/lKUAuu6Ctz0

You can see the neoprene hip sheath here, and how they make the extended tail swimmable


http://youtu.be/KaVh5cRwWtg

The tail in Aquamarine was also a JMB FX tail


http://youtu.be/njidMmtc3qU

[AniaR]

Hannah was the first to test the fish tails tail :) we'll have to merge the threads

[MermaidBrandie]

Those are all so cool! I didnt realize they were all the same maker. Although looking at it now i dont know how i missed it lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AptaMer]

Jason Baird seems to be the go-to guy for real-life (as opposed to CGI) tails for directors who want super-realism, including having an elongated, fish-like profile with no heels or knees visible.

[MermaidBrandie]

Apparently. Hope he doesnt fall into a habit of making them all look the same though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rett]

Jason Baird seems to be the go-to guy for real-life (as opposed to CGI) tails for directors who want super-realism, including having an elongated, fish-like profile with no heels or knees visible.
As much as I highly doubt it, I wonder if they'd ever make a tail for a regular person who approached them? I dont think they ever would (and it'd be SO expensive!), but just imagine owning a tail like that! :drool:

[Yulia]

The thing with these extended tails is that they are not made for swimming in, but to look good on camera.
It's extremely hard to move in them, and the actors only did for very short moments at a time.

[Merfin_Aurora_Oceania]

I went and contact JMB FX and tried to give me a good dose of reality saying that you woulnd't be able to afford their tail, I decided not to get my tail with them after that. Anything is possible if you believe.

[Talia]

The thing with these extended tails is that they are not made for swimming in, but to look good on camera.
It's extremely hard to move in them, and the actors only did for very short moments at a time.

I did not know that. It's interesting, because of all the kids asking where they can get a tail in which heels are knees are not visible, like in these ones. I bet they don't know they are hard to swim in.

TV is magical in that regard, the actors moving in them seem to be doing it effortlesly.

[AniaR]

The thing with these extended tails is that they are not made for swimming in, but to look good on camera.
It's extremely hard to move in them, and the actors only did for very short moments at a time.

Exactly. I know people like the way they look but they are not practical for what we do. Shimmerbaby has some and in shots they literally use wires to hoist them up. When you watch behind the scenes they have scores of divers and pully systems.


I went and contact JMB FX and tried to give me a good dose of reality saying that you woulnd't be able to afford their tail, I decided not to get my tail with them after that. Anything is possible if you believe.

Well they are right, not to be rude. I think their tails are between 30k-60 minimum? They're pretty much exclusively for films and TV. Not really something sold to the mer-market and you wouldnt be able to really swim in it anyway.

[AptaMer]

The tails are swimmable. If you're an ordinary person like one of us, you would probably find the tail challenging, but according to the director, Alki David, Hannah swam very naturally in it, and went down to 25 metres in it.

And when you watch her swim as a mermaid in this video, you can see how well she swims. Also, all those scenes in Fishtales where you see the mermaid swimming in open water at depth looking like a mermaid born with a tail, are live action shots Hannah Stacey swimming in her tail in the Aegean sea, no CGI or special effects hocus pocus.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKUAuu6Ctz0#t=213

Where the tails are impractical for regular mermaiding is on land. They are completely geared to giving a natural look in the water, and are made so heavy as to be neutrally bouyant. This is why it has such a great look, with the tail hanging naturally in the water, and why Hannah felt truly like a fish with the tail feeling weightless in the water, but this is also why it took two film crew guys to lift Hannah into the water in her tail. I presume that also why they had wired slings made for lifting the H2O and Mako Mermaids cast in and out of the water.

[Echidna]

The thing is, yes you can swim forward in this tail once you're in the water ("anything else is a challenge", I believe she said somewhere), but for all the rest that would be needed, like getting in and out and such, you would need a crew of helpers.

I also noticed that swimming scenes in H2O or Mako usually are only a few seconds long.
Not sure if this is due to the actors all being not the best swimmers or the lacking manoeverability of the tails, but I'm pretty sure this kind of tail could not be used without a back-up crew for lifting and safety.

Swimming in an extended tail is incredibly draining and difficult. (Done it myself, though mine isn't silicone so more drag).
Props to the stunt actress for pulling that 25m dive in one.

[AniaR]

No one said they aren't swimmable and Hannah personally told me it was difficult and also told someone that when they asked her on fb. Keep in mind when you see footage you're always seeing the best

[AptaMer]

Yes, Hannah's accomplishments in that tail are truly great.