Magic.

[FelixBodden]

I was going to post on the Saturday Night Contest thread but since is closed I'll do it here. Right now the amateur magician just cares about the visual stuff (eye candy) that's okay I don't have any problem with that, the thing is the SNC is starting to support this in a way that it doesn't matter if you can't do it in the real world maybe because the method is unpractical or you're just taking advantage of the angles of the camera. So, really is that what Theory 11 wants to promote? creating more youtube magicians?

The only thing I want is that the real work gets recognize, the things you can actually perform in a real situation that's why Calen Morelli is who he is right now because he created stuff like that every single day for a year.

Sorry about my english.

 

[CIassic]

That's the thing I don't get is how the winner of snc did his trick though was it camera edits or just a very angle sensitive trick?

 

[TerryAdy]

I understand completely, I feel like the SNC was a little messed up, I did a illusion that was one CONTINUOUS shot, it was done in REAL WORLD conditions and followed EVERY guideline that was initially stated in the competition rules.

You can check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jLzR0sB_UA

It was literally something i threw together in under 5 minutes but it was Christmas Themed, as specified and it was REAL.
YouTube magicians seem to be a dime a dozen, we ALL have our preferences. Soon, I'm going to try to start to bridge the gap between YouTube magicians and REAL magicians. I have been performing for REAL people for quite some time now and have began doing it even MORE often the past year.

I broke my hand a year and a half ago and spent around 6 months or more in a cast and doing physical therapy before i could even pick up a deck of cards again. I still struggle with moves at times, but the thing is, i DO IT because i LOVE it.

Magic is my life outside of my family, to be honest they kind of go hand in hand for me. But it does kind of irritate me when I see a contest being ran and judged by the "wrong rules" The winner was clean, agreed. Was it something that stood out as magical?? Kind Of.

Theory11...I have simply HEARD about you, but I've never heard that you promote mediocrity. I know that not everyone in this "community" can be satisfied, but sticking to your own GUIDELINES for Judgement would make sense when running a competition.

I hope things get better for all of you and I hope that the guy that DID win continues down a path of magic that leads him to be a better magician. As magicians we should all want that for each other. That is what COMPETITIONS SHOULD be about, about giving the best PERFORMER and MOST ACCURATE illusion that follows the rules the WIN.

Just my opinion, as a 30 year old magician.

 

[TerryAdy]

Lets put it this way, I have my 12 year old cousin here that LOVES magic and I let her watch the video that won and got bored with it after seconds. When you cant keep the attention of a "child" that LOVES magic, you know that things where judged poorly.

Honestly, I let her watch all of the videos BEFORE the competition ended and the one that WON was one that stood out to her, in a bad way. So it just strikes me as kind of funny.

Things are the way they are people. Just NEVER let these little "competitions" stand in your way of creating truly AMAZING magic, FOR YOURSELF!!!

 

[CaseyRudd]

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

 

[FelixBodden]

I agree but just to be clear the person who won is not guilty of winning, he just upload his video as everyone else.. I'm calling attention to Theory11 because a lot of people are following their guidelines so guys please be careful with what you teach to this young generation of magicians, this company has a big influence right now. I love this community that's why I'm writing this.