Giant Bubbles on the Beach

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By Gareth Branwyn
Posted 2011/02/24 @ 3:00 pm
Category Kids & Family

In a follow-up to my recent post about Charlie Visnic’s B-Roll blog, and his recent attempts at making rigs for generating ginormous bubbles, here’s a video he posted of bubbles on Stinson beach. So gorgeous and lyrical, and something to long for as we’re teased by an imminent spring.

Giant Stinson Beach Bubbles

In the Maker Shed

Calculator Kit from Spikenzie Labs

Telegraph Decoder Kit by Spikenzie Labs

Brooklyn Aerodrome Flying Wing Kit

Getting Started with Arduino Kit v3.0

6 Responses to Giant Bubbles on the Beach

Anonymous on February 24th, 2011 at 11:06 pm said:

That is insanely awesome looking. I love how it looks like the video is playing in slow motion when it stops, even though that is how slow the bubbles actually pop.

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Anonymous on February 25th, 2011 at 12:07 am said:

OK I get the two sticks a thin rope part….

But what is the bubble juice he used? Is that normal dishwashing liquid?Or is there some super bubblicious juice that is available somewhere?

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Charlie Visnic on February 25th, 2011 at 4:38 am said:

I don’t know what bubble mix he’s using in the video but I found this site to be helpful (http://www.bubbleblowers.com/homemade.html). There are a bunch of mixtures to choose from. The only one I have used is the second from the bottom, the Big Bubble Magic’s Secret Formula.

It’s basically
1-part ultra joy brand or 1 and 1/2 “cooked” dawn
8-parts distilled water
1/4-parts Pure Glycerin (this can be gotten in the beauty aisles of CVS)

The glycerin is the special ingredient that works to keep the bubble in tact for longer periods of time but apparently it also weighs the bubble down. If you click on and go to the site which is the home of the mixture and click on secret formula you will get a very elaborate recipe with lot’s of variables. I stuck to the simple one.

There are apparently many factors to achieving ginormous bubbles. I still have yet to do it myself. I have made a large sheet of bubble but I haven’t been able to test it with some wind behind me. Most likely later this week, though.

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- Miguel on February 25th, 2011 at 5:36 am said:
  
  I saw some fantastic bubble making by Louis Pearl about 20 years ago. (Maker of the bubble trumpet). He posts 3 recipes here for super bubbles. http://www.tangenttoy.com/tips.html
  One of the issues facing bubbles is you really want a humid environment because any dry particles will break the bubble by reducing the surface tension and snapping it. I think this is probably why it works so well at the beach.
  
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Dino Segovis on February 25th, 2011 at 12:28 pm said:

I had a big grin on my face during the entire video! I love how the kids are reacting!!!

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Mark Day on February 26th, 2011 at 4:08 pm said:

Here’s some actual slow-motion footage from the same day on the beach (filmed at 60fps/720p and conformed in Cinema Tools)

and just for fun, the original video backwards….

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