Forums > Videos > My new Video / Choreographed Fire Poi

Posted: 6th Oct 2006
Yes, more light... And personally, Im not a fan of the music. At least not for a choreographed piece. Music dubbed over camera audio would be good. Also, cuts/different agles would be nice too to keep attention.

Let's turn those old bridges we crossed into ashes.
We'll blaze a new trail,
and torch the rough patches.

-Me

Posted: 6th Oct 2006
Yes.....light. I can do that. As far as the music goes. I'm more into experimental stuff. I'm making my own music to choreograph a piece to right now. I just picked Audioslave as a quick piece because the timing of the song was perfect for how long my flame lasts on the 2.5 inchers. I am spinning weights right now though so I will move up to the 3.5's soon. I never thought of taping two routines and cutting them at different angles. Maybe even some effects in video shop would be cool. Like in Nicks Deverishly where he added trails. Thanks for the advise:-)

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Posted: 7th Oct 2006
so...how many times did you watch dervishly yers before making this one=)
i see many things that are similar to it.

the only thing worth dying for is life itself

Posted: 7th Oct 2006
Yep, more light, but all in all that's a nice video you've posted, and for some reason it doesn't look pixilated when viewed full screen.
I noticed the dervishly yers influence, along with influence from both Icon and Yuta in there too. Not that this is a bad thing, as I suspect the majority are learning our "moves" from online videos.

If you're open to suggestions, then no camera effects ( I'm a purist )

Keep up the good work, looking forward to your next one

Posted: 9th Oct 2006
I would say I've watched Deverishly about 50 times or so before making this vid. Maybe more. I've also watched Yuta's vids quite a bit. Never heard of Icon. What can I say? I admire how clean they spin. There is a lot of spinners I have noticed that don't try very hard to take it to the next level. I'm one of those people "if your going to take the time in doing something you enjoy, then go all out!" I have gotten some bit of feedback through the community about seeing similarities in spinning. Well, there is only so many patterns you can make with the poi. The rest of the show is how you move, where you put the poi, and how close you can get to burning yourself without doing so. For the most part, all the moves I performed in the vid are ones that I really see as "eye appealing" to me. If I could isolate weaves back and forth I would have. If I could spin 8 rotations with arms fully extended keeping the plane clean like Nick and Yuta can I would have. If I could reverse butterfly alternating one going through the legs I would. I will implement these in future vids. These are my favorite moves and these guys make it look easy. Much practice is under way. I just hope the audience of the video is knowing that even if they see moves that Nick and Yuta perform, It is not Nick nor Yuta spinning. Everybody has a different style and look to them regardless of similar pattern structures. So if you are comparing me to two of the top ten spinners in the world (I have no Idea who the other eight are) I guess I would say thanks and wow, I've got some work to do to catch up with who I am compared with. My 720 giant windmill has cleaned up since the vid and is now on straight planes. So now I am working on the 900 giant windmill. It's hard to want to excel so fast in one direction when poi is just like freestyle footbag. You've got to practice your flipside as well Your only as strong as your greatest weakness.
Thanks for the feedback.
Mark "Tamed Fire"

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 10th Oct 2006
Icon was the first person to post on your thread, but maybe you know him as someone else, from somewhere else. The reason I mentioned thim was that btl stall->high turn->another btl stall, pattern. I've only ever seen that in one of his videos, from about two years ago.

Nobody's comparing you to "top ten" spinners, merely pointing out influences.

You do indeed need to practice your flipside, somthing I preach, but have to force myself to practice.

Posted: 10th Oct 2006
lol. Yeah, the goal is to wear out both of your shoe soles equally. My left spin is far greater than my weaker right side spin. Hoping to make the ball of my right shoe look like the left within the next month though. This will balance things out making spinning on my strongside even better. I know you weren't comparing me I was just giving you crap for mentioning the gods of poi around a newb like me. It's hard to look at someone who has near pefected the art as to someone who is working towards. Take care:-)
Mark

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 10th Oct 2006
Oh, that flipside, I was referring to spinning in both the "easy" and "hard" directions. e.g.windmill clockwise and counterclockwise.

Curious that you mention wearing out the soles of both shoes evenly. I went through two pairs of shoes before I realized what was happening and when I mention it in the local spinning community, I'm usually met with blank stares. So it's not just me then.

If you keep up your current practice regime, we may just be referring to you as one of the gods of poi too.

Posted: 10th Oct 2006
Exactly, "flipside." That is what your weak side is dubbed in the Freestyle Footbag community anyways. I am very new to the poi lingo. Over 3/4 of the moves I do I don't know what the hell they are called. I have been watching videos all over the internet, getting bits and pieces from things that I like, mimic, create drills. Oh and which by the way is one reason I am a big fan of Nick. In his video the scales of poi he talks about how sticking with the basics is important. VERY!!!!! Make what you can do as perfect as you can get it before moving onto the next. I love how he talks about simplicity over complexity as well. When he brought up plane control I had the biggest lightbulb go off in my head. Like holy crap!!! no wonder why I was sucking....He is a great teacher and one day hope that he can make it to Cali. I would definitely post a trip to meet up with him. He is, after all, a Pioneer.
Mark

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 10th Oct 2006
Again....



(plus all the added bouncing extras )

Getting to the other side

Posted: 10th Oct 2006
ugggghhhh..............want to clarify?......Clare?

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Posted: 16th Dec 2006
Not Bad Yo . Keep Up the good work .

Posted: 16th Dec 2006
Thank you so much. My new choreographed piece is in the works now. I have improved MUCH since this was filmed in September. It will have a more melodic piece of music tied to it. I can't stress enough how I put this video together in a day. Lol, and it sure does show.
Mark

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 19th Dec 2006
foookin good video... and extra awesome music...


videos can't half be influential... i blame that nick fella mostly, i'm sure those aliens kidnapped him back in 2003 and made him inflict wisdom into the poi community... its starting to show greatly.

(mark above is a joke.. damn nice video... mostly clean as it is cant wait to see how you clean up some moves in your next video.)

Posted: 21st Dec 2006
I got the joke....heh. Yeah, Nick is some sort of alien. I sponsor his cause though whenever I get a chance. It's why I bought his video. Too bad Bill Gates wasn't a poi artist. I'm sure his philanthropic ways would have gotten these amazing activities exposure. I think a lot of people like that it is underground though. Going to be interesting seeing what the future holds for poi:-)

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 22nd Dec 2006
future .. and poi... = nix?

Posted: 26th Dec 2006
hey Mark, you have a nice sense of timing in following the beats for your choreography. It's great to see a controlled pace in your rotations, although there were some moves that could have been cleaner... I'm sure you are your own worst critic, but if it helps I could point some out for you.

I really appreciate a lot of the aesthetic visuals in the moves you've chosen but I would personally like to see more transitions, more poi direction changes (i.e between weave and btfly moves). If you watch through ythe vid and try and see it as a non-spinner, (it helps if you go out of focus) you'll see that you have a lot of sequences that essentially are circles all in the same direction and for some sections also all the same size (although they move around your body plenty). Some more stops/stalls/wraps would break this up a bit and be more interesting for the viewer.

Also, I would love to see you lift your body posture a bit! dont let your shoulders hunch in too much, it's bad for you, and your viewer!

there's nothing quite as fulfilling as a tasty airwrap

if you're full of sh!t, at least you're fertile

"we are all flowers growing in God's garden... and that is why he spreads the sh!t around" - David Byrne

Posted: 27th Dec 2006
Thank you so much for the reply. Yes, we can be our worst critic. There is much improvement that you will notice on my next vid. I totally agree that there is some stuff that I could clean up. I just picked up poi for the first time in March and this was filmed in September so I have improved greatly since this was taken. I was unable to do a pre run so I threw this vid together in one night:-( I would have to say that it is not the kind of work that you will see from me in the future. Again, I can't thank you enough for your critiquing of the vid:-) Hope to hear from you in the future!
Mark

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 6th Jan 2007
Heyyyyyyyy Maaaaark

If you're around

FYI,,there's a footbag thread just started up in "other toys"

Posted: 10th Jan 2007
Sweet....I checked it out and made a comment in there. lol Most of the people making comments in there seem like they don't know too much about it. Good thing you caught me when you did:-) Take care and thanks for giving me the heads up.
Mark
Have footbag, will shred.

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 7th Feb 2007
Mark, I just gotta say your clean style is in itself inspirational! Keep up the grand work, the music isn't really my bag of candy, but your spinning makes up for that and MUCH more =)

Enjoyed watching the video alot, keep on working, I think you have a bright future ahead!

Cheers

Posted: 11th Feb 2007
Hey Mark,

First please allow me to say wow... for someone who's been spinnign for under a year you're totally stylin'

For suggestions of ways to improve choregraphy I'd like to say some similar things to Elasta who's pretty much summed it up but I'd like to delve a little further...

The first thing I noticed was that although you'd obviously paid attention to what your poi (thus arms etc...) were doing you'd not put so much time into your steps. I find that footwork is a crucial part to choreography...each step needs to be considered and placed or timed as much as your poi. In the same way that Elasta talked about your body position and shape...same goes for legs and feet.

Because you've opted to choose a track that uses 'organic' counds ie not electronic, you're not confined to, and can't fall back on, simply beatmatching your choroegraphy as one might be able to with a beats-based track. What you have with your track that (IMHO) you've not entirely capitalised on is the great vocals and guitar riffs in the song. For me less can be more - the guitar sound at 2.45 was captured or reprisented in a really cool way by your poi movement at 2.55 but then you went into other moves. Also as that riff came in you went into BTBW, which might feel good, but as an audience dude I felt that the movement you did at 2.55 looked better.

Maybe you could consider really picking out key moments of sound and sitting with one move or 'movement cluster' that you feel really encapsulate that sound?

You don't need to use every move you know (although I can imagine as a first video your ego is screaming at you to do just that!) in a routine. As you are obviosuly a talented spinner I'd have loved to see you 'express' the lyrics and the way the lyrics were sung in your choice of moves and speed. The singer is such a key part of this track it seems a shame to not pick up on what he's offering you in the music. (I'm not saying you didn't, I'm just offering possible ways to improve....)

I am amazed that you put this together in one afternoon... it's really good. If you plan to keep using this song (and indeed for any future track you choose), try counting the music out into bars so that you can really set your movements to what's happening in the music, so you can hit those music changes exactly and so that you can (if you agree with what I've said) implement these suggestions.

But honestly... really great work mate!

dave

Posted: 11th Feb 2007
Thank you so much for your feedback ladies and gents. I have been practicing very hard since my friend and I filmed this in September. My one year anniversary with spinning will be in March and have decided this will be when I post the new vid. This is of coarse after Blitzkrieg is done with his editing and stuff. I will be working with him from the beginning of March and will have it out by the end of March. Better lighting, music, choreograph, cleaner tricks, variety, transitions, and much more. Thanks again so much for your enlightening ideas.
Mark
Tamed Fire

Keep it Lit....

Posted: 13th Feb 2007
i appreciate long poi - it's a bit different to handle. less than a year and you are already sweet!

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