I know a lot of you probably already avoid these, but here is my list of the Seven Deadly Sins of magic videos based on observations I've made of people on YouTube and various other places on the internet. Feel free to add to my list if you can think of that I left out.
1. Trying to do a magic video too young.
Unless you can actually hold a deck of cards in a proper mechanics grip at age 7, don't try to do magic with cards. It usually doesn't look good because your hands are way too small. Granted, most of the people on this forum are older than that, but I had to get that out there. If you naturally have small hands, then work with a trick long enough that it doesn't look like you are trying to do the Pass with a couple of American Footballs.
2. Poor lighting.
Lighting is a must! When I do videos in my room, I have every light I can turned on my hands and my table. The more light you have, the better your video will look. Also, here is something I discovered today, if your cards look washed out on the video, maybe your background is too reflective. I discovered this while I was filming a trick so that I could critique myself. In the process of setting it up I saw that my cards appeared washed out and lacked detail. My background was a glossy black table. When I put my close-up pad down the problem was solved.
Videos taken outside usually don't suffer from the same problems because sunlight is so much brighter than indoor lighting. You do need to make sure that you watch for glare and bad shadows though. These are much more common outside because you don't have as much control over the lighting.
3. Bad angles.
This is huge! Film magic from the angle that you expect your audience to see it from. I've seen many videos where someone flashed just because their camera was in the wrong place. I almost always film magic form above and in front because that is where my spectators eyes usually are.
4. Trying to film the wrong tricks.
Another huge help for magic videos is this, know what tricks require misdirection and don't film them. If you can't do a trick with someone's eyes on you hands the entire time, don't do it on camera, especially if you don't have spectators. When a trick requires misdirection follow the example set in Dan White's one-on-one for Card to Mouth. He has a spectator, and his camera man films the tick the way your eyes would watch the trick.
5. Hands leaving the frame.
Keep your hands in the frame! If your hands leave the frame, who knows what you could be doing. It's similar to doing an ACR where you turn your back to the audience every time you want to make the card jump to the top. It takes away form the magic because people will say "Oh, he cut the cards when his hands were out of the frame" or, "he just dropped the coin when his hand left the frame." When they say that, the think they have it figured out, then there is no magic.
6. Shaky Videos.
Use a tripod when you can. It's very hard on the eyes to watch shaky video.
7. The wrong music.
Pick music that fits. Metal is great, but usually not for magic videos. I don't prefer Rap and Hip-hop in general, but in magic videos, it usually makes me wanna puke. Granted, the what I have said above is not set in stone. There are situations where those things work. The music used in videos here on Theory11 is a perfect example of good music for magic videos.
1. Trying to do a magic video too young.
Unless you can actually hold a deck of cards in a proper mechanics grip at age 7, don't try to do magic with cards. It usually doesn't look good because your hands are way too small. Granted, most of the people on this forum are older than that, but I had to get that out there. If you naturally have small hands, then work with a trick long enough that it doesn't look like you are trying to do the Pass with a couple of American Footballs.
2. Poor lighting.
Lighting is a must! When I do videos in my room, I have every light I can turned on my hands and my table. The more light you have, the better your video will look. Also, here is something I discovered today, if your cards look washed out on the video, maybe your background is too reflective. I discovered this while I was filming a trick so that I could critique myself. In the process of setting it up I saw that my cards appeared washed out and lacked detail. My background was a glossy black table. When I put my close-up pad down the problem was solved.
Videos taken outside usually don't suffer from the same problems because sunlight is so much brighter than indoor lighting. You do need to make sure that you watch for glare and bad shadows though. These are much more common outside because you don't have as much control over the lighting.
3. Bad angles.
This is huge! Film magic from the angle that you expect your audience to see it from. I've seen many videos where someone flashed just because their camera was in the wrong place. I almost always film magic form above and in front because that is where my spectators eyes usually are.
4. Trying to film the wrong tricks.
Another huge help for magic videos is this, know what tricks require misdirection and don't film them. If you can't do a trick with someone's eyes on you hands the entire time, don't do it on camera, especially if you don't have spectators. When a trick requires misdirection follow the example set in Dan White's one-on-one for Card to Mouth. He has a spectator, and his camera man films the tick the way your eyes would watch the trick.
5. Hands leaving the frame.
Keep your hands in the frame! If your hands leave the frame, who knows what you could be doing. It's similar to doing an ACR where you turn your back to the audience every time you want to make the card jump to the top. It takes away form the magic because people will say "Oh, he cut the cards when his hands were out of the frame" or, "he just dropped the coin when his hand left the frame." When they say that, the think they have it figured out, then there is no magic.
6. Shaky Videos.
Use a tripod when you can. It's very hard on the eyes to watch shaky video.
7. The wrong music.
Pick music that fits. Metal is great, but usually not for magic videos. I don't prefer Rap and Hip-hop in general, but in magic videos, it usually makes me wanna puke. Granted, the what I have said above is not set in stone. There are situations where those things work. The music used in videos here on Theory11 is a perfect example of good music for magic videos.
