Inspiration for creating new magic
- Thread starter Martineau
- Start date
Depends on what you're trying to create. If I want to make a cool, visual monkey move that may not be the most practical thing in the world, I take older sleights and turn them into flourishes. If I want to make something practical, I take flourishes, draw inspirations from the movements and make something smaller. It's odd with me, it's a bit of a cycle.
Are you referring to creating tricks or just the overall act of creating magical experiences?
I come up with new tricks when there's something I want to do which I don't have an appropriate method for yet. Usually I end up doing a lot of research into existing methods and taking bits and pieces from one thing or another to create the overall exact method I need. I sometimes create simply as an exercise in creativity, but I rarely stick with those tricks and usually end up forgetting them rather quickly because I just don't use them.
If you mean the grander idea of why do I try to create magical experiences then the answer to that is ... because I enjoy it. I've been into the idea of urban fantasy (A la Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, steampunk, etc) for a long time and this is how I look at the world. It's fun to me to bring people into that reality for a moment and have them consider something more fantastical than the mundane day to day.
I come up with new tricks when there's something I want to do which I don't have an appropriate method for yet. Usually I end up doing a lot of research into existing methods and taking bits and pieces from one thing or another to create the overall exact method I need. I sometimes create simply as an exercise in creativity, but I rarely stick with those tricks and usually end up forgetting them rather quickly because I just don't use them.
If you mean the grander idea of why do I try to create magical experiences then the answer to that is ... because I enjoy it. I've been into the idea of urban fantasy (A la Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, steampunk, etc) for a long time and this is how I look at the world. It's fun to me to bring people into that reality for a moment and have them consider something more fantastical than the mundane day to day.
I creat effects after my needs, if I need a new effect envolving mind reading I do so.
An other thing that inspires me are other people. It's always good to watch application by other people and try to turn and twist their solution and you can come up with new things.
Also the world overall inspires me aswell go out find something that you see that you want to accoplish and try different methods lets say you go out and you see birds flying and you want to levitate you write it up in a little notebook and than try different ways until you accolpish what you want to.
An other thing that inspires me are other people. It's always good to watch application by other people and try to turn and twist their solution and you can come up with new things.
Also the world overall inspires me aswell go out find something that you see that you want to accoplish and try different methods lets say you go out and you see birds flying and you want to levitate you write it up in a little notebook and than try different ways until you accolpish what you want to.
If you'd asked me this back in the 1970's I'd tell you that I took two hits of blotter and just let my mind go. . . but as Dr. T. Leary points out, you only need to do such things once and from then on, simply think and it all comes back. That said, I have to say that it's my twisted imagination that let's me develop material. . . Just yesterday, I was tinkering with an old Artist Kit I've had for years, thought the case was neat so I snagged it out of some curb side recycling. . . I've done nothing with it until now and in playing with the little easel it dawned on me that I could haunt the kit and get a complete Seance out of it. . . an easy half hour show if not more.
This happens to me more than anything but then there are times that I hear a piece of music that gets me on a roll or I see some kids playing with a particular toy . . . ever take a look at those low sitting cabinets made for the new thin screen TVs? They make the perfect mirror base and so was born my girl from TV illusion. . . admittedly, there's more to it than that mirrored bottom but it's still mind-blowing, seeing someone step out of a 2" thin TV Screen. . . but then I'm a bit prejudiced when it comes to using Mirror Box systems, they defy the eye and the mind when things are set-up properly.
Most of the stuff I've had to come up with was product or client oriented, which meant coming up with loads of stuff with cars at one point in time, including Driving a Car through a Solid Block Wall. . . I blame that one on a Cartoon.
In short, inspiration can come from most anything at anytime of the day. I've found that when I try too hard to come up with something, it alludes me. Getting quiet and just allowing your mind to take a trip, really is the solution 90% of the time.
This happens to me more than anything but then there are times that I hear a piece of music that gets me on a roll or I see some kids playing with a particular toy . . . ever take a look at those low sitting cabinets made for the new thin screen TVs? They make the perfect mirror base and so was born my girl from TV illusion. . . admittedly, there's more to it than that mirrored bottom but it's still mind-blowing, seeing someone step out of a 2" thin TV Screen. . . but then I'm a bit prejudiced when it comes to using Mirror Box systems, they defy the eye and the mind when things are set-up properly.
Most of the stuff I've had to come up with was product or client oriented, which meant coming up with loads of stuff with cars at one point in time, including Driving a Car through a Solid Block Wall. . . I blame that one on a Cartoon.
In short, inspiration can come from most anything at anytime of the day. I've found that when I try too hard to come up with something, it alludes me. Getting quiet and just allowing your mind to take a trip, really is the solution 90% of the time.
Damn good question.
- Music
- Culture
- Art as a whole
- Replicating Science into a performance
- Movies (with special effects)