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Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
This is where my videos will go.



The first one is just me throwing an apple round, its what I do when I get bored. Its my own version of juggling, because

Its nothing special, but if anyone else plays around like this or can point me in a new direction to play, that'd be nice.

hug


StoutBRONZE Member
Pooh-Bah
1,872 posts
Location: Canada


Posted:
I got the butterfly hybrid things going today and I did it without any threading at all.

I've got to say, I found the idea of a threading component rather confusing, which limited me to thinking too much about the top half/ bottom half rather than a just making circles with my hands.

I found this great tutorial, which helped.

Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
Thats all very much fair criticism, Stout.

When I shot the video I had no intention of throwing the drums in... it was on the way home, tapping away on my steering wheel that I decided to throw the drums in over the top. But when I threw the drums over, yeah, the idea was that the poi were making the sound, had I had this idea from the beginning, I probably would have done the spinning at a pace that it could perfectly match up with the sounds of the drum, but I might be able to grab a few friends one night and do up a track for it myself so that the music DOES fit the spinning.

And the acting... theres lots of things that tampered with that... probably the fact that I didn't really treat it as a "discovery" I really should have put a lot more into it... but I guess thats suppression due to performance anxiety... but probably even more influential than that is my complete lack of acting skills.

When I've gotten over the whole performance anxiety thing I'll go back to this very location and shoot it again... probably not using facial expressions though... I don't tend to get people helping me with this kind of thing... I'm a one man band on that front.

I may well do this as a fire video instead(in which case I'd have help)... or perhaps glow (in which case it would actually happen) that would remove the problem of the poi blending in nicely.

Hahah, negating the joy expression occurred because I hadn't intended to jump over the camera... I'd intended to fade it out there, but I decided to be silly after I had finished making the thing... and decided to keep it.

Hows the progression of body movement in your opinion?? I feel I slipped back into robot stance a few times in there, but I had a go... How is it on its own and compared to my other stuff? (No need to watch the other stuff again, of course, just memory if you remember it (Or if you have seen it)

I may potentially just begin practicing in front of the camera with no intention of doing anything with it but watching it for personal feedback... perhaps that'll loosen me up a bit..

Thanks for your criticism, I'll keep it all fully in mind when I do a reshoot somewhere down the track.



Yeah, what I made was pretty well just a supplement for the other tutes, I don't really have time to make a full tute... I had intentions of doing a full tute for that one, but I have really been stumped for time (the other video was fun to make and was part of my leisure activities! :D). Glad to hear you got it! The threading was just an easier way to do directional changes (For me) My girlfriend got it that way as well, so I threw it out there.

Again thanks for your reply, any criticism is good to hear, I'd love to re-do this again with more time and effort put into it... this wasn't even one afternoons work from inception to editing and I quite liked the idea, so I'm keen to give it another go with better skills, better planning and more time and any tips on improvement are greatly appreciated!

hug


StoutBRONZE Member
Pooh-Bah
1,872 posts
Location: Canada


Posted:
I'm glad you're cool with the criticism, sometimes that sort of input can be taken a little too personally.

My preconceived notion, based on the title had you casually walking along, discovering these "things", picking them up out of curiosity, eventually figuring out what they were really for and then exploiting a natural talent for creating kinetic art with them. This is why I'm saying I didn't think the drum fit in too well, are these dance props or are they both props and musical instruments ?

It's a good idea I think, working "backwards" fitting the music to the spinning. Were I a musician, I'd probably give that idea a go. Film the spin edit the video and compose the music to reverse choreograph, if you will, the whole thing.

Yea..performance anxiety. That's one of the reasons I got into poi in the first place. I'm not one of these natural performer types and I was curious as to whether I could take up something like spinning and actually get out there and "sell it" At this stage of the game ( 5 years in ) I've come to the conclusion that it's a difficult thing to fake as my heart isn't really in it read..my inner drama queen isn't that strong and I'm perfectly happy in a "backup singer" capacity which is why I perform with a group rather than going solo.

If push comes to shove, I can "fake it" , like the time after an "incident" I found myself up alone on stage with a flaming staff and one flaming poi, thinking..now what?..wing it..It actually worked but it was all do to poncing and had nothing to to with my skill in manipulation a toy combination that I had zero experience with.

I figure there's two types of spinners, the natural performers who are coming into these arts with a performance/dance background, and the rest of us. Yuta's a prime example of the first, you know one of those spinners who gets the grown whooping and hollering, whereas I'm one of those spinners who gets *some* crowd appreciation yet I regularly get approached after the show and told "that was really great"

You footwork looked fine. There was one instance where you had to "catch yourself" and I attributed that to uneven ground.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm not the best person to accept feedback from when it comes to moving with your poi. I've noticed that *most* spinners tend to move in a standard fashion and I'm convinced that body motion is limited by the attitude of I'm a spinner first, a dancer second, so unless your standing rigid, I'm not going to be critical on anyone's personal interpretation of how these arts should look.

I'm more of a tai chi style of moving guy myself, constantly seeking stability and trying not to trip over my own two feet.

Meenick did a performance here a couple of months ago, a solo show, and I hear it was just stunning. Unfortunately i missed it as our group was performing at the same festival, but about half a mile away and there was no way I'd be able to run over and see Nick's show between sets. I'm looking forward to his next inspirational video.

Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
Originally Posted By: StoutI'm glad you're cool with the criticism, sometimes that sort of input can be taken a little too personally.

My preconceived notion, based on the title had you casually walking along, discovering these "things", picking them up out of curiosity, eventually figuring out what they were really for and then exploiting a natural talent for creating kinetic art with them. This is why I'm saying I didn't think the drum fit in too well, are these dance props or are they both props and musical instruments ?


The criticism is the reason I post these... to get criticism. I say rip it apart. I would really quite love to have all the nits picked out of it, to affirm what I knew I needed to work on, to point out new areas to work on and so I can get a basic idea of what to work on in what order.

The idea i was working with was actually going to be that I would create a proper drum track to the entire video... but I got lazy and anxious to see what people thought of the initial idea... and I was going away for two weeks from my usual PC and my drum... whenever I spin... I spin to music that I create myself in my head to match whatever movements I feel like doing at the time, so I was trying to express that, making it a much more personal account.

I switch between a very tai chi (not that I've done tai chi before) oriented style and a very interpretive dancey style... I tried to illustrate a switch in the styles, but I kinda just mashed them together instead because I was too nervous to slow my poi.

hug


StoutBRONZE Member
Pooh-Bah
1,872 posts
Location: Canada


Posted:
I figure you're on the right track with your approach. IMO videos with elements to them other than the spinning is a style that's underexplored.

I keep thinking about making a video in this style but, unfortunately my imagination runs away and I end up with this monster of an idea that's either impossible, or too expensive.

Hey, I just spent way too much time looking for that video of a French girl spinning on a stage, in lingerie to cabaret music.

I'd like to encourage to keep exploring these ideas. smile

Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
Well, I'll try to find some lingerie for you, Stout, but I really dunno if I've got the legs for it. grin

hug


StoutBRONZE Member
Pooh-Bah
1,872 posts
Location: Canada


Posted:
I dunno about that, I figure you'd look hot in stockings grin

it's been done though.

What i was thinking of that particular video for was using it as an example of one of the rare videos where stage, costuming, and music all come together in a common theme.

MikeIconGOLD Member
Pooh-Bah
2,109 posts
Location: Philadelphia, PA - USA


Posted:
I liked this video a bit more than the first. It held my attention through the whole thing at least. It had some sort of storyline and flow of progression which is a good start. I do feel like these things were a bit lacking, however.

I would have liked a more creative way of discovering poi instead of just randomly stumbling upon them on the stump... Ideally some way which leads you to wanting to spin them... And then a slower and more natural progression through learning how to dance with and manipulate them.

Again, the spinning itself was fine but I still didn't notice much in the way of interesting body position and movement. You also tend to go back to your base/idle moves quite frequently (weaves and reels) which you should try to avoid. Like I said before, try to come up with unique combinations of moves which don't involve ending up in a basic pattern.

Lastly, I want to say that I don't really like sock poi for a performance video unless it is absolutely necessary or part of the plot. Sock poi are just generally not visually pleasing (unless you have a specific effect which you need them to achieve). They're great for tutorial purposes or highly tech routines which can't be done otherwise, however, in this case, I would have liked to see you with a set of tailed poi (which are quite underutilized these days) or even basic ball and string poi. This is rather nit picky and personal preference but I figured Id throw it in there.

I suggest filming yourself much more often, even if you do nothing but watch the footage alone then tape over it. Over time this will help with your camera shyness and can also be a great way to see what you are doing from a 3rd person perspective so that you may learn what looks best and improve it in the future. At the very least, keep on keepin' on. I look forward to the next...

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

-Me


Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
Thanks for the blunt criticism, MikeIcon.

The way of discovering the poi comment is fair enough, I guess, but this was sort of just a fleshing out of ideas, I've got a similar idea for the glowy ones that just wouldnt work with the socks.. now I've just got to fix my computer so I can use adobe premiere rather than windows movie maker!

On the list for the remake is:

Choreo! !!
Glow!


And yeah... tailed poi are despised by moi for the most part, but I guess thats because I attempted to learn with them once and that was a disaster, I might give them another go when I've got the cash to splash on a pair...

Anyway... I have a DIFFERENT idea that will need a fair bit of fleshing out that I'll hopefully do properly, but to your dismay, Mike I'll be doing it with socks as thats all I've got that it'll work with, but I don't think it should matter too much... its not the kind of idea that will be affected by the prop. ^_^

hug


Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
https://au.youtube.com/watch?v=NIC5bpPXZqA
Me doing a 2 beat... trying to get the 3 beat... I think this was within my first week somewhere.

hug


keyarghahPLATINUM Member
Woodford is Goodford..!
241 posts
Location: Sydney at heart., Australia


Posted:
aaaaaah i cant be bothered reading all this, but hey sweet hybrids tutorial dude. sooooooo, is it kinda like a TTN with one inversion and one extension swapping either side? mine looks shite, but i think i get it.

?

'FREE HUGGIES!!'


Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
https://au.youtube.com/watch?v=THWXBf-1CHk

This heres a video I done maked with cateyes and stuff in em... and some flowery things... if you're beginner/intermediate this is a really good way to get started with cateyes... even if you aren't ready for cateyes you should get something useful out of it.

The video does get more complicated as it goes on...starts with some basic stuff. (Though theres nothing uber-advanced in there, sorry to say, just some basic cateye movements.)

hug


Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
https://au.youtube.com/watch?v=jsliu6w57ck
<=== Corkscrew thing as requested...


<=== warmup exercise good for beginner/intermediate poisters but suitable for anyone, really.

hug


Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member
Rampant whirler.
2,418 posts
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!


Posted:
So I've been really lazy lately... I'll make a new fire video soonish with my new fire poi but for now I felt like sharing a video I've made even though I haven't made any new ones.

Its not poi and its very short but I think its interesting. smile

hug


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