Bettering the cardistry community through the individual

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

All right, cardistry community, let's talk.

I've been speaking with another member over various issues with the cardistry community as a whole, the multimedia aspect, and how to possibly better the individual cardist.

Up until a few days ago, whenever someone asked me about cardistry and wanted me to recommend them videos to watch, I refused. I felt that a lot of the videos that are out there and could be accessed were, to me, 'show off' videos.
The thing is that I have taken a few art and art appreciation courses. By no means, am I an expert of art. But when you set up your tripod in your room, in regular clothes, with the newest deck on the market and tape a few moves; to me, that is not art.

I believe that THIS is a good example of cardistry art:

Let's start with the entire theme. It's very minimalistic and dark; not a lot of color is introduced other than the artists hands, black background, and the smart use of monochromatic cards. Color is introduced in the middle of the video shown as very quick sequences on the back of the cards. It's absolutely jarring because you're pulled into the minimalist nature of the video on top of the color reveal going along with the music. Which brings me to my next point.
The music in the video fits perfectly with the minimalist theme because there's not too much to the music. It's slow and easy to listen to--as well as the spoken word. It's when the offbeat drum sounding occurs is when the artist decides to cut to a shot of his hand holding the deck and having various animations occur. This leaves the artist to fully utilize the song in its entirety.
The moves he chooses to utilize are not 'sharp' sudden moves. Not obscure in nature and not very complex. The speed he does them at is very slow paced and kept even keel the entire video.
I believe that everything that every minute detail that could be focused on in making a cardistry video was done here.

And I think that every individual cardist is capable of achieving this sort of detail tuning and making the videos that they feel are deserving of their practice and time.

Here's the thing: everything in a video is up for grabs! If you show it, you can do something with it or about it.

Here's what I think can make a better video:

THEME: Every video should have some sort of centralized theme. A story, a message, an art direction. Something along those lines. Without some sort of theme in place, your video just...exists. It's just there. And you won't make the impact you want to make.

COLORS: Take your theme, and immediately go into what colors would represent your theme well.

CLOTHES: Do more than just your regular clothes and your favorite Adventure Time t-shirt. Dress as appropriate to your theme as possible. Depending on your level of dedication to your video, you might want to consider buying a shirt and/or pants or renting something like a suit (if appropriate to your theme). Art knows not pain--or limits.

DECK: Considering your theme, colors, and clothes; your deck is going to be your focal point. If your clothes are dark (as per your theme), you might want to utilize a deck with a VERY light color to them so they don't blend into your clothes. If you're wearing lighter colors (like a white shirt), you will want a deck color that doesn't wash out against the shirt--but is also bold enough as well as fit another color of your theme.

MOVES: The moves, honestly, depend on your theme. I can't say what moves would or wouldn't work. But I can say that you are able to change how fast or slow you perform your moves. And THAT is more important than the moves themselves. You could honestly perform a video of things you know and do them at an appropriate pace.

MUSIC: Here we go. Some people have an ear for it. Some don't. I can tell you right now. Dubstep ISN'T going to work here. Some royalty free music sites actually organize music by MOOD. If you don't have an ear for music, USE THIS AS A TOOL! I'm working on a cardistry video and it took me a considerable amount of time to actually a find a song that really worked with my theme and what I wanted to do as a whole. If it takes you a month to find a good song to fit your theme. Then thank you for taking your time and having pride in your work.

LOCATION: This is a bit of a harder one to do. Locations are a bit tricks--especially outdoor locations because wind conditions can send your cards flying. This doesn't mean you SHOULDN'T consider location, but you could use a certain location without card work to support your theme.

I think these are all factors that can and should be considered in making cardistry videos.

I think that the future of cardistry lies in the focus on the art aspect. It's no lie that we are gaining cardists every day and new moves by the minute. There are competitions for cardistry and even annual gatherings to celebrate cardistry. But the focus on the art of the multimedia display is not there--and needs to be there for cardistry to advance further.

I believe that everyone is capable of doing something great and creative with their videos and displays of their work. Take your time, don't rush it, take pride in your work.

That should be your goal as a cardist: TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR WORK

For the art to advance, it all starts at the 'individual' level. Not a dedicated cardistry 'central-hub' website. Not figuring out how to make money off of doing cardistry for a living, not buying the latest and greatest deck with a fancy card back. It starts by taking pride in your work.

What do you think would help the cardistry community?

 

[Bryant_Tsu]

And I think that every individual cardist is capable of achieving this sort of detail tuning and making the videos that they feel are deserving of their practice and time.

I feel that for most people this level of production wouldn't really be a goal as they don't plan to create and distribute videos. To record, edit, and finalize a good quality video takes time. Most people don't have access to professional gear or software. We can't devote all our time to developing the next cool cardistry video (like the Virts). For the average joe to make a cardistry video will probably be done however is easiest or most efficient for that person. We all want to take pride in our work and devotion to it is a must but this level is too demanding for most people.

Perhaps you are looking at this differently since you are an aspiring content creator, in which case all of this is a must. But for most this isn't as realistic.

I'll finish off by saying I agree cardistry is an art, and it demands respect. However, most people don't have professional equipment and therefore don't expect that level of quality from their peers. If I watch a video for entertainment purposes and I didn't have to pay I don't expect perfection in the different aspects of making a cardistry video.

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I'm not asking for everyone in cardistry to get professional gear. If you can swing it, even better. All I have is an IPhone, windows movie maker, and a bit of knowledge about art.

I think I can make a great video. I think I'm kind of at a bare bones level. And others who can't afford much can make a great video too.

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I feel that for most people this level of production wouldn't really be a goal as they don't plan to create and distribute videos. To record, edit, and finalize a good quality video takes time. Most people don't have access to professional gear or software. We can't devote all our time to developing the next cool cardistry video (like the Virts). For the average joe to make a cardistry video will probably be done however is easiest or most efficient for that person. We all want to take pride in our work and devotion to it is a must but this level is too demanding for most people.

It's no lie that we all have different things in our lives and can't devote all of our time to cardistry. I just want to encourage others that taking what would be an average video into an excellent video is well within their grasp. I'm speaking from a standpoint to where I'm only working with a camera phone and Windows movie maker.

Perhaps you are looking at this differently since you are an aspiring content creator, in which case all of this is a must. But for most this isn't as realistic.

To be completely honest, I don't intend to make a lot of videos. I have plans on making only one cardistry video this year and a tutorial or two next year.
My biggest thing is that I don't want people to ask me about cardistry and possibly get the wrong idea about it. I feel cardistry has a very large degree of elegance and I struggled finding a video that i felt was tastefully done.

I'll finish off by saying I agree cardistry is an art, and it demands respect. However, most people don't have professional equipment and therefore don't expect that level of quality from their peers. If I watch a video for entertainment purposes and I didn't have to pay I don't expect perfection in the different aspects of making a cardistry video.

I don't expect people to buy professional gear. I want to cater to the lowest possible level of video production. All I'm trying to pitch is a different way of approaching the process of constructing a video that displays ones talent in cardistry. I feel all cardists have the ability to do so and its well within their grasp.
But like magic, taking a course in drama and theatre does nothing but benefit the aspiring magician.
The same goes for a cardists in taking a course that would benefit their hobby and maybe future endeavors such as art and art interpretation.
But if you're not able to take such a course, one can certainly take a few hours in learning about interpreting art. It would do nothing but benefit the cardist.

If one is looking for an entertaining video, why not ask for better entertainment?

 

[CaseyRudd]

My friend Jon Ramirez and I have dialogues about this all the time as we are pretty similar in terms of where we want to see cardistry going. I look back at this video from him and 4 years later it is still an artistic piece that I love watching. It brings me that nostalgic feeling of when I got into the scene around that time. That video was something different and still is something different than what we are used to seeing still to this day. I can't tell you how many times I've clicked away or just watched a cardistry video reluctantly because it had the same deck of cards as every other video and used the same genre of music that everybody else uses. The moves may be original, but the video itself is not, and I can't watch something that makes me feel that way. It's why I think the community needs to shift and be more personal, to tell a story and have meaning. I've seen countless amounts of videos that didn't make it onto the Media Section because the music contained extremely foul language, and that's just immature and inappropriate, and just reflects a bad attitude. If that's what cardistry is to some people, that's fine with me, but I see more people doing that just because their favorite cardist does it as well. It's a huge bandwagon essentially.

I've always wanted to make a great video and a project of my own, but I am still working on the ideas, and making sure I can do it right. In regards to having professional equipment, those videos back in the day did not have DSLRs and they were still amazing. I see tons of videos today that use DSLR's and they are pretty bad. It doesn't matter what equipment you have, it's how you use it. It's also how you bring all the elements together to make the video flow. It's a really hard thing to practice and work on but with time it gets easier.

I posted a thread a little while ago explaining a bit further in-depth about this issue and why the cardistry community really needs to change, but you explained it really well, Brett. Spot on.

 

[Nikolayonk]

verynice)