This is another one of my thoughts that I have been pondering over. Let me explain the background story.
A month or two ago, over on the Ellusionist forums, there was a thread was asking if it was okay to create a different variation on an already existing trick. Somehow this lead to me confessing that I had reverse engineered the Shapeshifter when it first came out. Well, someone who seems to have a lot of issues with me, jumped all over me for this, screaming about magic ethics, and why that's wrong, and blah!. Well, lt me tell you the story.
Okay, it was about two years ago when I first saw The Shapeshifter video on E. I was amazed, but I didn't have any cash for it, as I didn't have a job at that time. So, I decided to create my own variation on that effect. So I tried and tried and eventuallyI came up with a way of doing it that looked very good. One day, my friend calls me up and says: "Dude, wanna come over? My grandma just bought me a ton of magic DVD's for my birthday. Wanna come watch oe or two wit me?" So I went to his house and we put all the DVD's in a bag and pulled one out. It was the shapeshifter. Because I already had my variation, I wasn't too interested. But then the explanation portion came up and I realized that the guy in the video was performing it the exact same way I did. I had accidentally figured the method out.
So that whole ordeal got me thinking about the act of Reverse Engineering any effect. People make a big deal out of it, but is it really that big of a deal???
"Well, that means that the artist doesn't get money for that effect!!!"- is what many people would present as their argument. And yes they are correct. But perhaps the reason that they aren't geting paid is their fault, not mine...
"What???"
Perhaps that means that the magician who invented the trick didn't make it "good enough". Maybe, that magician created an effect the looks cool, but is easy to reverse engineer with todays technology. Perhaps, if you are able to rewind and watch that part of a video again, you might catch a slight glimpse of the card underneath the other one. Or maybe see the half pass.
Basically there are three types of effects...
Those that CAN be reverse engineered.
Those That CAN NOT be reverse engineered.
And the ones that can be recreated using different sleights, thus making it a "variation".
My point basically comes down to this. Today, technology is at it's peak and it's getting better. People, that means magicians and determined laymen, will have a better shot at deciphering our tricks. And if magicians still want cash flow, then we need to start smartening up and realizing that the only way for us to advance is to advance.
That means, that in order for us to be able to keep amazing people for future generations, we need to start thinking outside of the box. Start coming up with original concepts. Concepts that are utterly impossible to reverse engineer. I would estimate that about 95% of todays magic tricks ave been performed in the past, just using different sleights. That would mean that 95% of the effects we perform are unorignal and simply "variations". We need to start being original.
Thoughts on any of this???
Dylan P.
A month or two ago, over on the Ellusionist forums, there was a thread was asking if it was okay to create a different variation on an already existing trick. Somehow this lead to me confessing that I had reverse engineered the Shapeshifter when it first came out. Well, someone who seems to have a lot of issues with me, jumped all over me for this, screaming about magic ethics, and why that's wrong, and blah!. Well, lt me tell you the story.
Okay, it was about two years ago when I first saw The Shapeshifter video on E. I was amazed, but I didn't have any cash for it, as I didn't have a job at that time. So, I decided to create my own variation on that effect. So I tried and tried and eventuallyI came up with a way of doing it that looked very good. One day, my friend calls me up and says: "Dude, wanna come over? My grandma just bought me a ton of magic DVD's for my birthday. Wanna come watch oe or two wit me?" So I went to his house and we put all the DVD's in a bag and pulled one out. It was the shapeshifter. Because I already had my variation, I wasn't too interested. But then the explanation portion came up and I realized that the guy in the video was performing it the exact same way I did. I had accidentally figured the method out.
So that whole ordeal got me thinking about the act of Reverse Engineering any effect. People make a big deal out of it, but is it really that big of a deal???
"Well, that means that the artist doesn't get money for that effect!!!"- is what many people would present as their argument. And yes they are correct. But perhaps the reason that they aren't geting paid is their fault, not mine...
"What???"
Perhaps that means that the magician who invented the trick didn't make it "good enough". Maybe, that magician created an effect the looks cool, but is easy to reverse engineer with todays technology. Perhaps, if you are able to rewind and watch that part of a video again, you might catch a slight glimpse of the card underneath the other one. Or maybe see the half pass.
Basically there are three types of effects...
Those that CAN be reverse engineered.
Those That CAN NOT be reverse engineered.
And the ones that can be recreated using different sleights, thus making it a "variation".
My point basically comes down to this. Today, technology is at it's peak and it's getting better. People, that means magicians and determined laymen, will have a better shot at deciphering our tricks. And if magicians still want cash flow, then we need to start smartening up and realizing that the only way for us to advance is to advance.
That means, that in order for us to be able to keep amazing people for future generations, we need to start thinking outside of the box. Start coming up with original concepts. Concepts that are utterly impossible to reverse engineer. I would estimate that about 95% of todays magic tricks ave been performed in the past, just using different sleights. That would mean that 95% of the effects we perform are unorignal and simply "variations". We need to start being original.
Thoughts on any of this???
Dylan P.
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