A Street Magic Video

[James Smith]

Well, I made a list of goals I wanted to accomplish in this thread here:

//forums.theory11.com/showthread.php?t=19721&highlight=summer+goals

Well, I have officially accomplished one of my goals---make a ten-minute-long street magic video. Well, last week a friend of mine and I set out to accomplish that goal. We failed---epically. We got 17 minutes and 14 seconds of us goofing around and absolutely no usable footage. We literally could not find anyone to perform for. Well, a few days ago I discovered that there was a farmer's market downtown every Thursday. So, today another friend of mine and I set out to film. I made a plan of the effects I would do and the order I would do them in. After four hours out and about we had ten minutes and twelve seconds of good footage. I would really like to hear feedback about the video, and I do realize that there are many things wrong with it, before you tell me these things, I will make a list of the problems I noticed:

• The camera is shaky at times
• It is so bright out that it is hard to see the cards
• Poor quality audio, can barely hear me speak
• Music is loud and over-bearing at times
• In a few effects I stumbled while talking which made my patter sound awful

So without any further ado, here is the video:

http://www.vimeo.com/5332041

I am looking forward to hearing your comments and criticism.

Dave

Oh, and you better like it, because we got really bad sunburns for this.

 

[chrystal baller]

hey that was nice man. the slight shakes in the camera in the begining added character to the clip for me. good to see someone getting out and performing. my only real criticism is try to be yourself, when you performed angle zero and you stared at the woman it looked to me like you were trying to b someone you are not with the way you stared and all. cant really explain it better than that im sorry. oh and this is not an insult or anything but i think you resemble fogel from superbad lol

 

[James Smith]

hey that was nice man. the slight shakes in the camera in the begining added character to the clip for me. good to see someone getting out and performing. my only real criticism is try to be yourself, when you performed angle zero and you stared at the woman it looked to me like you were trying to b someone you are not with the way you stared and all. cant really explain it better than that im sorry. oh and this is not an insult or anything but i think you resemble fogel from superbad lol

Alright, I'll re-watch Angle Zero to see what you're talking about. I didn't notice that before. Thank you for the kind words, and I don't find it insulting, but I hate Superbad and other movies like it.

 

[Faust]

That was entertaining and alot of fun to watch. The second guy was hilarious and great song choices, especially on the last trick (I love audioslave) My advice is to play up your endings. On the first trick you did, the lady seemed impressed, but I feel like if you would have added a little more build up she would have been amazed. There has to be this moment where the "magic" happens, and giving it a place and time to happen in essential in making the reactions happen.

Also, try to be more smooth in your handlings of the cards.

Great job with your magic, your spectators were entertained and they liked what you were showing them. They had fun. Thats really all that matters

 

[ZacEckstein]

I loved it!!!!! I even favorite it! The only thing was the beginning of angle zero was a bit.... what's the word....Well, for lack of a better word, a bit sloppy. still a 5 star video in my eyes Great job dude!

 

[Rockefella]

Great video mate! Props on heading out there to perform. I know how different it is to perform for friends and family and to perform for complete strangers on the street. You'll get more confident the more you perform, so don't worry if you thought that you were too nervous.

Just keep practicing and performing and I assure you your next couple of walk around performances will blow the spectators away.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Firstly, awesome for going out and performing.

My impressions. You already said that you stumbled through some effects and your patter wasn't great, so I don't feel the need to harp on it.

Don't look at the camera so much. For French Kiss, it seemed like you were playing to the camera, not to your spectator. Try to ignore the camera for the most part.

I agree about the odd beginning to Angle Zero. It looked odd. Also, maybe it was because you had to walk to show her the corner, but the reveal was anticlimactic. I think it might play better if you place it within sight when you perform the effect.

Lastly, and these are probably just me. In the beginning, don't list your name twice. There's no point. Don't space out your end credits so much, it makes it seem really slow.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I think you know what you need to work on and that you will be working on those things. Congrats and good work.

 

[James Smith]

Thank you to everyone who watched the video and gave advice. I don't think I was trying to be someone else while doing Angle Zero, I just think I had a lack of patter. This is the 4th time I've gone out to do street magic, and the first time I've actually found people to perform for. I always perform for friends, family, and people after school and during lunch. It was a very different setting and I will do more street magic this summer (as soon as my sunburn goes away) Once again thank you to everyone who watched.

 

[SHANE BLACK]

Man its Mclovin doing magic I'm freakin ecstatic right now. Good video not bad for being a new upcomer keep it up I look forward to more.