Tell me what you think of this ;)

Jul 14, 2008
936
0
Usually if there's four minutes or longer, I get very bored. Your video kept me entertained for the whole time in which I am very impressed by your skills. However, there are some things that you need to work on. Don't take this the hard way. Work on your revolution cut because I noticed that you performed a bit slower than most cuts in your video. Lastly, work on your production of the return of the Four Queens. Other than that, you have 5/5 from me.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
I'll break it down by points as they occur to me.

1. Greyscale is acceptable in this context because the lighting is so aggressively contrasting. In color this would look god awful.

2. The Blair Witch-esque handheld is a bit dodgy.

3. Minus points for the quick negative flash.

4. That cut at 0:22 came in a second too late so the transition is jarring.

5. Camera pan at 0:27-0:29 veered too far off to the right. It made it hard to focus on what you were doing because the camera was moving the way the human eye reads, but you were remaining stationary as a focal point. The result was that it was difficult to concentrate when I was getting conflicting desires to watch you but also follow the camera.

6. Another unnecessary negative flash at 0:34. Visual effects like that are typically largely unnecessary. Also I'm not sure what you were going for with the tripod on the pool table. Meant to be reflexive?

7. The ace assembly using the Hot Shot Cut starting at 0:36 was neat, but the flow was a little jerky. Smooth it out and take it slowly if you have to.

8. The flow was going really good up until the cuts at 0:49, 0:50, and 0:51. That segment would have been much nicer with that gentle dolly in without those cuts. I also notice that without the ability to see your face, it's losing some of the human element. It's detached, but not in a very pleasant way.

9. Again with the hand-held cam. It's not doing anything for me.

10. At 1:07 I finally see your face clearly, but for some reason I'm reminded of Bono. The hand-held dolly probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but it feels like it's just padding. Did like the color change, I must admit. The use of greyscale once again worked to your advantage on this one by making the fire show up clearly in what would otherwise be a very washed-out, possibly over-exposed shot. The third negative flash was unnecessary. Also, button your shirt up, for god's sake.

11. At 1:25 the shadows made it hard for me to tell what you were doing and the whole thing ended up looking a little messy as a result. If you were going for the German Impressionist look, mission accomplished. It just didn't do this routine a lot of good.

12. The trick at 1:31 does not play well on camera.

13. 1:32 the routine is a little choppy.

14. Negative flash again 1:38. Very distracting.

15. Pacing at 1:42 feels inconsistent with everything else we've seen so far.

16. Repeat at 1:49 is a little redundant but passable.

17. The card throw from the bridge is an interesting touch. Though book-ended by two close-ups it might feel a little disjointed.

18. 2:02 another negative flash. Have I made it clear that I don't like these?

19. At 2:04 the effect itself is fine. A little difficult to follow in the middle. The distraction comes from the shakiness and speed of the dolly.

20. The title cards at 2:23 are getting dangerously close to pretentious territory.

21. My old nemesis negative flash makes another appearance at 2:48. Fancy ace assembly though. Nice piece of eye candy.

22. The framing at 2:57 is distracting for two reasons. One, I can get an all-too-intimate view of your junk. And two, the lens flare.

23. The outdoor shot at 3:07 seems more like an art student shot than anything else. YouTube's frame compression rate also made it hard for me to tell it was a card boomerang the first time. A medium shot would have been better than the wide shot with the reflexive reference to the camera.

24. Are you really pulling in at 3:13 or using the digital zoom?

25. Awkward for the camera to pan shakily away from you and then cut.

26. I did however like the slow pacing of the following two-handed cuts. Could be a little smoother, but it prevented the complexity of the move from being visually overwhelming and gave it a sense of elegance instead of just eye candy. Also, relax your shoulders more. They looked a little stiff and that tainted the pace with an undertone of awkwardness.

27. Immediately following that at 3:36 though you pulled in from too far away as you were doing the move and most of it was lost. Also the framing was a little too low to appreciate the toss and catch at the end of the arm spread.

28. Negative flash returns to torment me at 3:45. The toss on the arm spread was a little sloppy and the ace slipping right before took away some of the stylishness of the move.

29. I see an old problem from before at 3:47. The shadows are too deep and dark to tell what's going on.

30. Again the shadows detract from the image at 3:56 by making it impossible to see you.

31. The special effects at 4:01 were totally unnecessary.
 
Feb 23, 2009
49
0
30
I'll break it down by points as they occur to me.

1. Greyscale is acceptable in this context because the lighting is so aggressively contrasting. In color this would look god awful.

2. The Blair Witch-esque handheld is a bit dodgy.

3. Minus points for the quick negative flash.

4. That cut at 0:22 came in a second too late so the transition is jarring.

5. Camera pan at 0:27-0:29 veered too far off to the right. It made it hard to focus on what you were doing because the camera was moving the way the human eye reads, but you were remaining stationary as a focal point. The result was that it was difficult to concentrate when I was getting conflicting desires to watch you but also follow the camera.

6. Another unnecessary negative flash at 0:34. Visual effects like that are typically largely unnecessary. Also I'm not sure what you were going for with the tripod on the pool table. Meant to be reflexive?

7. The ace assembly using the Hot Shot Cut starting at 0:36 was neat, but the flow was a little jerky. Smooth it out and take it slowly if you have to.

8. The flow was going really good up until the cuts at 0:49, 0:50, and 0:51. That segment would have been much nicer with that gentle dolly in without those cuts. I also notice that without the ability to see your face, it's losing some of the human element. It's detached, but not in a very pleasant way.

9. Again with the hand-held cam. It's not doing anything for me.

10. At 1:07 I finally see your face clearly, but for some reason I'm reminded of Bono. The hand-held dolly probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but it feels like it's just padding. Did like the color change, I must admit. The use of greyscale once again worked to your advantage on this one by making the fire show up clearly in what would otherwise be a very washed-out, possibly over-exposed shot. The third negative flash was unnecessary. Also, button your shirt up, for god's sake.

11. At 1:25 the shadows made it hard for me to tell what you were doing and the whole thing ended up looking a little messy as a result. If you were going for the German Impressionist look, mission accomplished. It just didn't do this routine a lot of good.

12. The trick at 1:31 does not play well on camera.

13. 1:32 the routine is a little choppy.

14. Negative flash again 1:38. Very distracting.

15. Pacing at 1:42 feels inconsistent with everything else we've seen so far.

16. Repeat at 1:49 is a little redundant but passable.

17. The card throw from the bridge is an interesting touch. Though book-ended by two close-ups it might feel a little disjointed.

18. 2:02 another negative flash. Have I made it clear that I don't like these?

19. At 2:04 the effect itself is fine. A little difficult to follow in the middle. The distraction comes from the shakiness and speed of the dolly.

20. The title cards at 2:23 are getting dangerously close to pretentious territory.

21. My old nemesis negative flash makes another appearance at 2:48. Fancy ace assembly though. Nice piece of eye candy.

22. The framing at 2:57 is distracting for two reasons. One, I can get an all-too-intimate view of your junk. And two, the lens flare.

23. The outdoor shot at 3:07 seems more like an art student shot than anything else. YouTube's frame compression rate also made it hard for me to tell it was a card boomerang the first time. A medium shot would have been better than the wide shot with the reflexive reference to the camera.

24. Are you really pulling in at 3:13 or using the digital zoom?

25. Awkward for the camera to pan shakily away from you and then cut.

26. I did however like the slow pacing of the following two-handed cuts. Could be a little smoother, but it prevented the complexity of the move from being visually overwhelming and gave it a sense of elegance instead of just eye candy. Also, relax your shoulders more. They looked a little stiff and that tainted the pace with an undertone of awkwardness.

27. Immediately following that at 3:36 though you pulled in from too far away as you were doing the move and most of it was lost. Also the framing was a little too low to appreciate the toss and catch at the end of the arm spread.

28. Negative flash returns to torment me at 3:45. The toss on the arm spread was a little sloppy and the ace slipping right before took away some of the stylishness of the move.

29. I see an old problem from before at 3:47. The shadows are too deep and dark to tell what's going on.

30. Again the shadows detract from the image at 3:56 by making it impossible to see you.

31. The special effects at 4:01 were totally unnecessary.

Just out of curiosity, how many times did you watch the video?:)
 
Jun 24, 2008
493
0
Harrisonburg, VA
I have a feeling that Steerpike is the type to embrace what he sees in each moment. I doubt he had to watch it many times to give the information that he did.
 
Just out of curiosity, how many times did you watch the video?:)

I'm in complete aww of you right now Steerpike. I have never in my life ever thought I would see a video picked apart like this. I don't know whether to watch his video again or just read your post. Either way I get the picture. Wow Speechless. The time it took to write that.:confused:

The flourishing was good it's getting there it was entertaining. The shakiness of the camera was a little mind numbing but good job overall. I see you have the bar there I think it's party time!
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
I'm in complete aww of you right now Steerpike. I have never in my life ever thought I would see a video picked apart like this.

Like I said, if magicians are going to use digital video as a medium to convey magic, you have to know how to use it.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
Truth is, I actually hate that video. The picture quality looks like it was shot from behind a bottle of wine and my performance is all stilted and off-pace. I only put it up on the site because it was the only a local agent would agree to talk with me, and he never did return my phone calls anyway. To this day I still don't know if he ever watched it.
 
Sep 25, 2008
2
0
Manchester
I'll break it down by points as they occur to me.

1. Greyscale is acceptable in this context because the lighting is so aggressively contrasting. In color this would look god awful.

2. The Blair Witch-esque handheld is a bit dodgy.

3. Minus points for the quick negative flash.

4. That cut at 0:22 came in a second too late so the transition is jarring.

5. Camera pan at 0:27-0:29 veered too far off to the right. It made it hard to focus on what you were doing because the camera was moving the way the human eye reads, but you were remaining stationary as a focal point. The result was that it was difficult to concentrate when I was getting conflicting desires to watch you but also follow the camera.

6. Another unnecessary negative flash at 0:34. Visual effects like that are typically largely unnecessary. Also I'm not sure what you were going for with the tripod on the pool table. Meant to be reflexive?

7. The ace assembly using the Hot Shot Cut starting at 0:36 was neat, but the flow was a little jerky. Smooth it out and take it slowly if you have to.

8. The flow was going really good up until the cuts at 0:49, 0:50, and 0:51. That segment would have been much nicer with that gentle dolly in without those cuts. I also notice that without the ability to see your face, it's losing some of the human element. It's detached, but not in a very pleasant way.

9. Again with the hand-held cam. It's not doing anything for me.

10. At 1:07 I finally see your face clearly, but for some reason I'm reminded of Bono. The hand-held dolly probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but it feels like it's just padding. Did like the color change, I must admit. The use of greyscale once again worked to your advantage on this one by making the fire show up clearly in what would otherwise be a very washed-out, possibly over-exposed shot. The third negative flash was unnecessary. Also, button your shirt up, for god's sake.

11. At 1:25 the shadows made it hard for me to tell what you were doing and the whole thing ended up looking a little messy as a result. If you were going for the German Impressionist look, mission accomplished. It just didn't do this routine a lot of good.

12. The trick at 1:31 does not play well on camera.

13. 1:32 the routine is a little choppy.

14. Negative flash again 1:38. Very distracting.

15. Pacing at 1:42 feels inconsistent with everything else we've seen so far.

16. Repeat at 1:49 is a little redundant but passable.

17. The card throw from the bridge is an interesting touch. Though book-ended by two close-ups it might feel a little disjointed.

18. 2:02 another negative flash. Have I made it clear that I don't like these?

19. At 2:04 the effect itself is fine. A little difficult to follow in the middle. The distraction comes from the shakiness and speed of the dolly.

20. The title cards at 2:23 are getting dangerously close to pretentious territory.

21. My old nemesis negative flash makes another appearance at 2:48. Fancy ace assembly though. Nice piece of eye candy.

22. The framing at 2:57 is distracting for two reasons. One, I can get an all-too-intimate view of your junk. And two, the lens flare.

23. The outdoor shot at 3:07 seems more like an art student shot than anything else. YouTube's frame compression rate also made it hard for me to tell it was a card boomerang the first time. A medium shot would have been better than the wide shot with the reflexive reference to the camera.

24. Are you really pulling in at 3:13 or using the digital zoom?

25. Awkward for the camera to pan shakily away from you and then cut.

26. I did however like the slow pacing of the following two-handed cuts. Could be a little smoother, but it prevented the complexity of the move from being visually overwhelming and gave it a sense of elegance instead of just eye candy. Also, relax your shoulders more. They looked a little stiff and that tainted the pace with an undertone of awkwardness.

27. Immediately following that at 3:36 though you pulled in from too far away as you were doing the move and most of it was lost. Also the framing was a little too low to appreciate the toss and catch at the end of the arm spread.

28. Negative flash returns to torment me at 3:45. The toss on the arm spread was a little sloppy and the ace slipping right before took away some of the stylishness of the move.

29. I see an old problem from before at 3:47. The shadows are too deep and dark to tell what's going on.

30. Again the shadows detract from the image at 3:56 by making it impossible to see you.

31. The special effects at 4:01 were totally unnecessary.


Unnecessary
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
Unnecessary

And grunt to you too.

He asked for feedback, so I gave it in a constructive and organized manner. If you think that's unnecessary, then I will kindly leave the room to give you some privacy in which to go **** yourself.

Jesus Christ on a bender, what is wrong with some of you people?
 
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