talkmagic.co.uk

russpie wrote:I know that on the day it would have been chaos in the studio & the producers probably sweped him to one side with no time for rehearsal so the bad framing may not have been his fault. He still could've told the floor manager what he was going to be doing & that a wider shot should be used. He looked like he had set up the 'showing the signatures shot' though which was good.

I think his agent is a genius but he does always come across like a kid who got a magic set on Christmas morning & is performing by Christmas afternoon. Probably a really nice guy though.

Russ

He did the bill effect down by his groin.
No way would that be framed correctly.If it was done up at chest height, he would of stood a chance, because the others faces would of been about there. I just felt that maybe the choice of effect was ill advised, bearing in mind it was on television.

He picked it because it was money related for the charity. An appearing bill & bill change would have been better framed at head height though.

Russ

One of Geoffrey Durham's basic rules is to do magic at head height whenever possible so the face is in the shot as well as the effect - that's how people remember who they saw.

russpie wrote:He picked it because it was money related for the charity. An appearing bill & bill change would have been better framed at head height though.

Russ

Plus, he always does this trick on every show I see him!

When you have seen him do the effect before, It's usualy on something where he can have a little say on what shots to use. The cameras will know that they have to point down, in order to see the effect.
but in a live situation, you dont have that controll.
Now, he should of been aware of this, and chosen a different effect, or performed it higher up.

see, to me It's obvious. And i dont perform on television. He has been on teh box enough times now to realise simple things like this.. And he has worked with some good television guys in recent times.

If He's going to be performing on television, he needs to remember these basic common sense rules, because if he doesnt.. the public are going to end up moaning oh no not him... and they will turn off.
He has the potential to be good..But only if he follows, and fully understands the rules of the medium.

Dale...
Even just saying something like "Get a camera down here... got it? is the camera on this? Right... watch this." would be a huge improvement.

Not magic, but I've directed cameramen (and photographers) from in front of the lens before and 9/10 times they are thankful at being helped to get the best shot. That'd be a much better solution in a live setting than just getting on and hoping they got the shot.

Even some of the big names in street magic do things like that to the camera... I'd have hoped he'd pick up the tip from them... maybe he will (I don't suppose he'll see what I'm saying here and I'm not exactly in his circle of friends).

I think the framing you're referring to is actually down to the youtube clip being cut off rather than bad direction from Dynamo or the cameraman... see here for a better version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w7IIq3RYvw

It's worth remembering that with live TV you can block everything out with a cameraman but it doesn't guarantee it will be shot right on the night... on a show like sport relief there are hundreds of behind the scenes changes that people at home would never be aware of... anyone who has performed magic on a live show of this scale will appreciate how challenging it can be!

Ooooo i get to throw two pennies into the ring...

I don't think i've ever seen Dynamo perform an original effect. Like someone else pointed out on here, the lottery thing was basically Sander's Extreme Burn and the card doo-hickey was French Kiss by Wayne Houchin. Not sure about the Matrix style thing.

Thing is, look at Blaine's first special. You could say the same thing about the effects on there. 'Off the shelf' i've seen them described as.

I've read through this entire thread, and though a lot of comments could be considered accurate, i really do get the feeling that a lot of slating of Dynamo boils down to just plain old jealousy. Frankly, i'd expect a bit more from grown ups.

The boy's doing good, he deserves support. Yes there are magicians with better character, and yes the tricks could have been better, the angles could have been clearer, jeebus you can pick fault with everything if you are so inclined. There was another thread on here knocking him for his dancing. He's stopped doing that and it's still not good enough.

Let's not put someone down for raising the profile of magic in England eh? Whadya say?

I'm all for that so onto the next point.

I don't have a problem with him performing unoriginal effects. I perform that way a lot of the time & I don't see any shame in it. I'm not really a creator, I'm a performer. Elvis didn't write his own songs but he performed them pretty well.

Russ

raising the profile of magic in England?




That would be a valid case, if people outside the country knew who he was.. they dont.

It's got to be said that the only guy doing that at the moment, Is Keith Barry..

And I'm not a huge fan of his either. Mainly because most of his output up to now has been a bit "Dealer dem" if you know what i mean.

I'm told his latest thing is rather special though.

and yes i know Im looking at it as a magician... but there again, Im a magician.

I've never really liked Keith Barry either. It's just I find watching him uncomfortable, mainly in presentation. I have absolutley no idea why though. It may just be because I think he seems a bit 'magicky' for a mentalist, dunno.

From what Ive been told, He's no longer pushing himself as a mentalist.

( I was told this by a friend of his, who hates mentalism)

daleshrimpton wrote:raising the profile of magic in England?




That would be a valid case, if people outside the country knew who he was.. they dont.

Dale, you're obviously unaware of Dynamo's international work... just to keep you up to date, last year he performed on Ashton Kutcher's show in the US, F1 Rocks which was distributed to 182 countries and performed throughout Asia and South America where he has a growing following. His Adidas advert was rolled out to every footlocker in the US for 5 months and he has appeared on numerous shows stateside since.

I guess it's a valid case...

Donalbion- either your Dynamo in disguise or just a massive fan. Just saying.
On the subject of Keith Barry, I think I've workd out what I don't enjoy about his work. I find him a tad too upbeat at the wrong times. Don't get me wrong, I love a mentalist who can get away with being more upbeat, but they have to choose their times wiseley and I'm not sure if Keith Barry can pull it off too well. With magic it's a little easier to get away with the upbeat presentation, but I still think you need to approach it with a certain degree of restraint and remember that you're performing miraculous and impossible feats because you are a mystic, I think that can be done whilst being upbeat (by a very lucky few) but not by everyone. Also, I don't think that he takes himself to seriously, that is I don't believe his conviction- he says he is influencing spectators decisions but doesn't seem to believe that himself or behave as though he is. Maybe I'm jsut being picky, I probably am, but hey..

I'm his manager.