talkmagic.co.uk

Wow, allot of posts showed up over time. Well to answer your questions...

"Who are you going to get to produce the DVD?"

Well to tell the truth, I'm a super computer nerd who both has the know-how and the programs to back it up. I using an iMac G5, Photoshop 7, Final Cut Express, DV Camcorder ect. I'd be lying if I said it was easy, but things have been moving smoothly for the last have year.

"i dont want to sound like I'm putting a downer on things but at 15 years old do you truly believe that you know everything about card magic?"

I hear you mog. But to lay down the line, these are by no means meant for pro magicians. They are meant for (especially) Begginers and Intermediate level magicians. I realize this and have purposely priced them all much cheaper than the prices that Penguin would sell for. They range from 5-25 dollars and teach well worth what you pay for. The one hand cut DVD is only 15 dollars yet teaches more that most professional DVD's at 30 dollars would teach. The store will open hopefully some time in June 2006 with a grand total of 20 DVDs. It will open on an eBay store.

"There is a one handed riffle I believe - it's the same action as the one handed faro but if you don't do it perfectly then it's a riffle."

I've been waiting for someone to say something about this. To point out something, what many people can a "One Hand Riffle Shuffle" is a very incorrect name. A riffle shuffle literally means that you have to weave to packs together using a riffling motion. This shuffle does not. And if you consider to the end to be the riffle, your mistaken again. This is called a bridge. Ultimatly this is really a one have weave shuffle.

Whow, that was alot.

When I meant producing the DVD, I meant that if you are going to sell these DVDs then you will need somebody to mass produce them if you are actually wanting to make a ton of money out of this

Emm, the rest sounds like you have thought it through, and if you need any help with Photoshop 7, ask me

When you finish, why don't you send an email to Ellusionist ans see if they would like to produce your DVD, you never know

Hope you do well

Kev

I appreciate what you are trying to say Blade Master... point i think that Kev is trying to put accross as when selling DVD's like this its not just a simple case of burning a few bundered copies on your Apple Mac.

Whilst you do have some reasonably high grade equipment by the sounds of things there is so much more to take into considerartion. For instants, the final production should be Glass Mastered and then Pressed onto disks and NOT burned, otherwise you will end up with Cyclic Redundancy Error's all over the shop and alot of unhappy customers. Glass Mastering and Duplication isnt cheap.

You also have to take into account all of the complications of Copyright, ensure that you are not stepping on anyones toes is very important. Then thier is the complications of tax, I'm not sure how it all stands with somone of your age group, but it would be worth have a chat to the Inland Revenue about it.

I apploude your efforts, and love the concept, but i think that it is a little larger and more complicated then you seem to think ... thier is a reason why the currently market charges so much for thier DVD's ... you'd probably be suprised at how little of it is profit.

Rob

been thinking about this lately and i have a couple of questions..

1 when you say your going to teach everything about card magic do you mean every sleight/count/false shuffle/nuance of misdirection known to man?

2 i assume you will be teaching effects also? and if so will they be original effects of your own or simply ripping off others work?

3 most importantly what makes you think that you have mastered everything in card magic to the extent that you are good enough to pass on this as teaching material?

Ok, I guess its time to answer some more questions.

"When I meant producing the DVD, I meant that if you are going to sell these DVDs then you will need somebody to mass produce them if you are actually wanting to make a ton of money out of this " - ace of kev

To start with, this ins't meant to be a major business. Most will be sold by me as a lone distributor/magician for the first few months before making it to eBay. It was never intentioned to be this professional and super magical company. I simply love to teach what I know to learning magicians and if possible, make some cash.

"You also have to take into account all of the complications of Copyright, ensure that you are not stepping on anyones toes is very important. Then thier is the complications of tax, I'm not sure how it all stands with somone of your age group, but it would be worth have a chat to the Inland Revenue about it. " Sir Rawlins

I have noticed this and researched quite a bit into it. So far I've learned that I will have fully copyright laws on every aspect of my DVDs and will legally own them. However I think you were talking about a Trademark.
This has also be taken into account and have solved lose ends. But thanks for the advice.

"been thinking about this lately and i have a couple of questions..
1 when you say your going to teach everything about card magic do you mean every sleight/count/false shuffle/nuance of misdirection known to man?
2 i assume you will be teaching effects also? and if so will they be original effects of your own or simply ripping off others work?
3 most importantly what makes you think that you have mastered everything in card magic to the extent that you are good enough to pass on this as teaching material?" the_mog

All of those have passed through my mind several times. First off I already know that I don't know everything. If I did, that would be insane. Even Cardini had his limits. But because 98% of all my magic is with cards, I've been able to hone my skills and would love to teach all that I know. But this is by far not "everything." Sorry for the misunderstanding. Second, yes, everything I teach is my magic that I made up or composed using random pieces of magic. But i will be no means be selling others creations. Third, since this is the second time you've asked this I'm assuming that you think I'm going to far. But to lay the line, I do not think I'm a professional level magician. Not even semi-pro. But I practice my stuff day in day out to the point of performing with my eyes closed. And I also believe that whatever I do, someone can top. There are teenage magicians that perform ever better that Brain Tudor but they are hidden in our society. But because of my love to teach people (and that I have the nerd-gene and nerd technology) and want to express myself beyond just a few friends. I hope you understand. PS I like you Hobs avartar!

You guys are whereing my out here ( ) but I guess its my fault for speaking to loud.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Another answered question,

"Whilst you do have some reasonably high grade equipment by the sounds of things there is so much more to take into considerartion. For instants, the final production should be Glass Mastered and then Pressed onto disks and NOT burned, otherwise you will end up with Cyclic Redundancy Error's all over the shop and alot of unhappy customers. Glass Mastering and Duplication isnt cheap" Sir Rawlins

I think you are very mistaken about this. Glass Mastering is a technique of how to literally create a DVD disk. Trully burning is the only way to go. If any of you doesn't own a DVD made by a professional magician such as Greg Wilson, you may be surprised to find it very (VERY) basic. They have the lamest menu screens, the artwork could be made in minutes, and even the learning portion of the DVD is low quality. What I mean to say is that usually all they do is find a plain solid background, show up on camera day, and teach whatever comes to mind about the tricks. Some even look like they were rehershed once before the acuall filming. So overall, I should easily to able to create my own disks (perhaps even better quality than their).

I would also like to point out that these aren't just lame burned disks with the title writen in a Sharpie. No, each one has a fine and clean image printed straight on to the top of the disk using a special printer. Then they are placed into individual cases with another face image over the front. They trully look and feel professional (even though I myself isn't the greatest magician in the world). So I do hope I don't anger the magic world with my simple collection of asorted training DVDs.

Blade Master wrote:I have noticed this and researched quite a bit into it. So far I've learned that I will have fully copyright laws on every aspect of my DVDs and will legally own them. However I think you were talking about a Trademark.

I'm not sure he was talking about trademark? I won't open up the copyright issue here as I have whittered on endlessly elsewhere on the forum.

On the subject of mastering, well its really a question of economics isn't it. Glass mastering only makes economic sense if your mass producing, and I'm doubtful that Blade will reach these heady heights.

The only other thing I can think of is as well as your personal tax position, you need to be wary of VAT. This can get complicated especially if you ship internationally. Again, its worth getting advice about this before progressing.

Good luck Blade, who gets the review copy?

Well guys, you sure were interested in all of this. Thanks for all the advice. Now I have pulled together a teaser trailer for my store which has me displaying quite a few tricks and flourishes found on my DVDs. I'll post it in the video section. Get ready to be amazed ( I just had to say that).

i have mastered the charlier cut no problem at all. What im having trouble with is this. Im trying to learn the false charlier cut , triple and tokyo cut. Ive been using Showoff with cards as my tutor. When i cut a small portion of cards with my pointing finger and push them up, the remaining cards should fall down behind my pointing finger but when i do this the cards seem to get caught on the knuckle of this finger.

Does the tutor in this video have abnormal sized hands?

any ideas please.

highlander

It's all just a matter of practice and then more of the same.

Watch the video clip over and over again as you try to emulate and if necessary try breaking the movement down into stages.

Some moves will come easy whilst others will take days, weeks or even months to master. Once you've got it you'll wonder what the fus was about.

Until then , back to the first line!

the thing is when i break the move down i cant even pull the finger with my other hand so that the cards clear the knuckle. I read on another post about playing with a squash ball to strenghthen the fingers what can i do to make them more supple?

highlander

highlander wrote:the thing is when i break the move down i cant even pull the finger with my other hand so that the cards clear the knuckle. I read on another post about playing with a squash ball to strenghthen the fingers what can i do to make them more supple?

highlander

You can do exercises do make your fingers more supple. Go to www.handhealth.com and check out the videos for some exercises. BUT, to be honest, these are quite useless in terms of cuts. All cuts are practice, practice and more practice. Over time, you WILL get it. Once you get used to, let's say, the revolution cut, you can apply it to other cuts like sybil 2 and that makes it all that easier. If you were to learn sybil 2 without learning the revolution cut, you're just making it very hard for yourself!

The Revoloution is taking me forever to master!

ace of kev wrote:The Revoloution is taking me forever to master!

lol. Add me on MSN. When I come on (if I ever do, but I am on now) and I'll give you some tips on flourishes .

ace of kev wrote:The Revoloution is taking me forever to master!

When I first started this thread, I could only do the charlier cut (I didn't even know it's name back then lol ) but after watching a vid of the revolution cut quite a few times, I've nearly mastered it - just the odd slip here and there

I gotta admit though it's taken a fair bit of practice - although that depends on how you define "a fair bit of practice". 10-15 mins here and there in front of the TV, practicing my revolution cut, is a fair bit of practicing for me

I suppose having long fingers helps too