I really hate to post the same question twice, but I've found that the "specialty" forums don't receive the same amount of attention that the General Discussion page gets and I really need some feedback on this one. I've been thinking about making a cardistry project for a while now. It's always been a sort of personal goal to make a complete set of tutorials on my favorite moves. However, I just can't seem to produce anything that I'm proud of. I'm confident in my moves but I'm not confident in my ability to independently produce something worthy of mass-producing. Here is an unlisted video of the moves I intend on publishing at this time. My question to you, is do you believe that these moves are appropriate for a DVD project? Something that would be done on a large scale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k937VTfcYnk
Please feel free to tell me what you think about them and don't hold anything back. If something isn't good, just let me know. I really appreciate all the help you guys have been giving me, I don't know what I'd do without this community.
-Patrick V.
Why do you feel you must mass produce anything?
The generation before mine typically refrained from pooping out products until they were well established by 20 or more years, as a working pro. There were a few amazing exceptions such as that New England Plumber that "discovered" how to make a ball float behind a towel (Joe Carson, inventor of the Zombie), but in truth the whole trend that's unfolded in the past dozen or so years IS NOT what magic is about.
I think it was the
Amateur Magicians' Handbook that opens with the line "If you want to become a famous magician, write a book". . . in Henry's time that was the big statement in that books were costly to print and involved a lot more than we have today; a process few of us tend to consider now days, in fact.
By waiting a bit. . . by using what naturally comes to you over a period of YEARS doing the work and tinkering around, you will develop your own material as well as personalizations to classic effects; that is how magic gets developed in the real world. Granted, you'll hear stories about Max Maven and others that come up with a dozen pieces between breakfast and dinner but the other side of that coin is that they started out developing a single idea each day and only after they'd been working with an act for a number of years.
I've been very fortunate to be a part of several development teams, most notably Ken Whitaker's Creative Illusions in Las Vegas. Some of the material we produced from that shop took more than a year worth of experimenting and that's with three or four very experienced minds working on them.
Now, go back and count how many times I used the word EXPERIENCE in this post and consider the fact that this is the primary ingredient in ALL creative processes. Also consider that old farts like myself have file cabinet upon file cabinet filled with notes and drafting templates for "original" effects, including how to improve their own stuff. . . I'm presently working with a member of this very forum, up-dating an old piece of mine so we can put it on the market. That particular effect is 30 years old but was exclusive to me until now, as I prepare to release it sometime between Halloween and next February (manufacturing is the issue).
Don't be so hard on yourself. Challenge yourself for certain, but don't try to race to market with things, they are your "children" so nurture them and help them to evolve before you send them out, into the world. Let them help define you by way of your performances or, if you're like me, the performances of special friends with whom you share the routines for their benefit.
Just some food for thought.