Guys,
Just thought I'd jump in to straighten some things up regarding the judging process of this week's contest. The rules stated that the more original your trick was, the better. We saw many videos that used the "card-to-impossible location" idea, and while it may have an original spin on it, it is a generic effect that isn't all that creative. We would have to see something else added onto it that would heighten the creativity factor. Otherwise, it's an effect that requires a card force (usually) and reproducing the card somewhere else. If the card was legitimately signed and reproduced somewhere impossible, there is a different argument. But as long as the card being reproduced has no signature, it's just a duplicate. Not much room for creativity other than where you can produce the card. The point of these types of contests where you have to create a trick is to step outside of your comfort zone and try different things. The contest asked to use holiday themed items, but some were just card tricks with an item thrown in. It wasn't the main part of the effect usually. The holiday themed items are supposed to be the main part of the effect as you are supposed to create an effect revolving around it. The winner created an effect that used Christmas tree lights as the main focus. That's what we were looking for. And it wasn't camera tricks, either. We are smart enough to look closely at each video to determine if any camera trickery was used. It is a legitimate method. We are also looking for tricks that are polished, clean, and deceptive. If we can see the method in broad daylight, there isn't a huge chance of winning. That's the way it has always been. We have been doing these contests since the launch of the website every weekend, and we will continue to do them every weekend. If you did not win this week, you have a chance to win another weekend. We don't have to hold these contests every week and give away great prizes for free, but we do them because it is our way of giving back and saying thank you for being a part of this community. Not everybody is going to like the winning video every weekend. That's perfectly fine. But we try our best to pick which video goes along with the criteria the best. I'd also like to add one more thing. We aren't promoting the "YouTube" magician at all. These types of contests used to be only 3 and a half hours long, but we extended it to 24 hours to give people around the world a chance. And not everybody is going to create a trick and perfect it in that short period of time, or go out and perform to an audience immediately if they think they need to work on their effect more. If we get a video of the effect that you're submitting, it could be in your bedroom or in front of an audience. We want the effect, because that is what the contest asks for. With that said, I'm going to close this thread. If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me a PM.
Thanks,
Casey
