Up and Coming #2 – Aituar and Sergey from Kazakhstan
Posted on: December 3, 2009
Hi guys,
As promised here is the second (and last) Up and Coming post of 2009. This time I’m going to introduce you to these two guys from Kazakhstan, Aituar Kazbekov and Sergey Lagutin.
When I saw the video I thought it would be perfect for the Up and Coming because I’m sure you guys have a lot to say about it. Production wise, style, moves, etc.
Here is the video, enjoy.
…
What you have to do here is to obviously check out their video and take a couple of minutes of your day to write a constructive comment about what you’ve just seen. Of course you want your comment to be as in-depth and relevant as you can if you want to opt in for the rewards but that doesn’t mean you have to only say positive things about the video.
Be objective, highlight the good things but don’t forget the bad things because those are what really matter in the end.
You know this Up and Coming initiative wasn’t conceived just to encourage people to write more comments but to help the newcomers to get quicker to the top so think of ways to make that possible and let’s move the art forward one step at a time.
Here comes the cool part…
Rewards
Oh, before I forget, let’s talk about some of the prizes for the first two “Up and Coming” posts (if you missed the first one you can check it out here: Up and Coming #1)…
If you help Kate with their modeling stuff here, she will donate a sealed copy of Bone Ho’s Anaconda DVD, the “Secret Books” of De’vo vol.1 and some cards.
Chad Nelson contacted me the other day to offer a copy of the best seller Surfaced DVD where you can learn the multiple variations of the famous Clipshift color change.
I will make sure my friend Jason Brumbalow throws in some Arcane decks.
Dan and Dave are also willing to contribute with some gift cards filled with magic cash for their store and other cool stuff I can’t tell you just yet.
Contribute as much as you can and it will pay off.
-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso
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- Up and Coming #3: Chotu Singh from India
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December 3rd, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Guys, incredible debut video. It’s great to see things so advanced in a first video, it shows you care a lot about making a good impression and also impressing people!
Good editing, though sometimes I feel it would have been better if you had shown the construction of your displays, rather than the final product. The tricky and skillful part of a display is actually forming it, and doing it speedily and with fluidity throughout. Don’t shy away from showing the construction!
The moves were varied which was nice, you’ve taken bits from all the fields. Two handed cuts, one handed, displays, springs drops and twirls.
The excecution of the moves was good as far as the mechanics goes, but you really need to spend time repeating the moves over and over to project a sense of “mastery” of the moves in your videos. People call it ‘smoothness’.
I noticed you cut short both your performances of Pandora. The first one was essentially just the first phase, and the second clip was of the first and half of the second phase. It’s best not to show moves where you cut them short, as it gives the impression you may have dropped or not actually be able to complete the move. I’m not accusing you of this, but that is what I feel as a viewer.
One complete performance would be fantastic, or just one performance of the first phase, but unless you’re hiding the method to a new concept, you usually should have no need to cut the move short.
Great song choice, bouncy and happy. It’s a favourite of mine anyway, so as soon as I heard it I wanted to watch the whole video!
It’s great that you have each other to flourish with, despite the small number of people taking part in the art in Kazakhstan. Keep each other going! I’m sure you do :-)
Good job guys, I’ll look forward to seeing more from you in the future!
-David
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
molotsi :).
Ah I will see biased with every team…first french, now kazakstan, both close to heart countries lol.
Jokes aside. The video had a good lenght, nice feel to it…I felt lost in too many cutting of the footage.i.e weird interruptions within a move. I suppose it can be considered well edited, but the editing needs to make more sense in where you make the cut in my opinion. Very nice titles by the way :P, but that doesn’t matter really.
Skill wise, I think you have worked hard at perfecting the moves you know and a lot of effort shows. Overall, move-wise, I like what I saw.
Keep it up,
Kate
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
CC(Ryoma) = 0.5 * CC(Tarvi) + 0.5 * CC(Kate).
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Thanks for blogging this, Cuso :)
I am very happy to see our names on TheCuso
Thank you guys. I’m so glad you like it.
Spasibo bol’shoe, Kate =)
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Okay guys, I want to say this is very nice first video.
The moves were executed well, the editing was okay.
I didn’t really like the darkness on the edges of the frame. It took my eyes only a minute of watching and they were already tired.
And I didn’t get the reason why to make a slow-mo of some cuts. Also a lot of them were cut not that great. I noticed some original material over there but the editing didn’t let me to see it properly.
Overall expression was pretty good. Such 1-video-breakthroughs always impress me deeply, and this video is not an exclusion.
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Great debut video. Good lively song choice from one of my favorite bands. You both have a confident handling of cards which is nice to see. My only criticism would be it’s maybe a touch over edited. Try some combo’s or mini routines, I look forward to seeing more from you guys :)
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Very nice debut video guys. The quality was good and it was a good mix of others people material and original stuff.
Some things I would note: not to be offensive, but I’d make the slow-mo’s more of knuckle-busting cuts or difficult ones, or like an arial or something. Also maybe make a few of the moves a little less choppy and keep them at a constant speed.
But besides that good job guys, it was a very nice video.
December 4th, 2009 at 3:57 am
1:54 blew me away
December 4th, 2009 at 4:28 am
Some material was really good. But other were not consistent or choppy. As you guys seem to focus mostly on speed.
Stop… And take some flourishes back to the drawing room. They should always be under development.
Check pivot points, and ways to make the flourish “flow”. Or else we will see your flourish in phases instead of ONE motion.
I loved some moves in there, 1:54 was pretty sick, and the triangle thing with Andrei’s one concept. However i think he’s done that already.
Another thing to point out is the editing was sort of scrambled and left me feeling cheated. By all means cut in and out of stuff, but give us some time to appreciate the moves themselves.
Thats really it by me. ;)
Hope to see more!!
-NYX
December 4th, 2009 at 6:35 am
It was a nice, watchable video.
I think the constructive criticism made by those above^ pretty much summed it up.
The only thing I can add is to recommend this article by Nebelfuchs – http://funwithaces.net/index.php?site=archive
Keep the message in that article in mind when making future videos.
Nice job guys, looking forward to seeing more of you in the future!
December 4th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I can see that you guys spent a decent amount of time producing this video and it’s good to see you putting in the effort. The feel of the video was good. Flourishes were done relatively good, although i did feel that i kept on seeing the same flourishes over and over again, which could have been avoided. And like other comments it looked like you were focusing on speed rather than smoothness. Could have been nice if there was a theme to the video seeing as though you put in alot of effort to make it professional. Other than that, awesome first video.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I loved EVERYTHING about this video.
Editing, music, flourishes were just.. whoooosh, GREAT!
Just Pandora needs little bit more work (1st grab)
I’m looking forward to your new videos guys! Do you do magic as well?
5/5
-Motas
December 4th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Great video! Your flourishes are sick! Some of the video cuts have very professional look and style. Also I like the editing of the video very much. Keep it up, guys!
December 4th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
it had a good pace. now try to actually do two, or 3 things in a row maybe without going to vegas between them? Take your moves and put it in a “combo meal” baby !
3 stars doggs
December 4th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Let me get this straight… COMMENT TO WIN
:P
Only 13 people had something to say? Better for you guys, more chances ^^,
December 5th, 2009 at 1:18 am
The video was so inspiring..Gotta tell you guys at first I thought you were gonna be stiff with those cards but as it played I gradually saw yalls ability 5/5 on the cardistry.. editing 5/5 LoVeD ThAt CrEdIt ScEnE!
December 5th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Amazing I loved it
December 5th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Nice video gays!=) Keep it up! 5/5
December 6th, 2009 at 8:51 am
very nice!!! 5/5
….
молодцы, хорошее видео, отличная техника!
продолжайте в том же духе!
December 6th, 2009 at 11:49 am
i definitely love the video. i just love to see new people on the flourishing scene. great job guys.
December 6th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Hey guys, how are you today? I have to say i really enjoyed this video, but there are a few minor things that i think could make you look even better!
The editor of this video has crazy skills, it was edited good, but there were some camera effects made during the flourishes; which distracts the presentation, and gives the appearance that you may have messed up and cut the camera. Im not saying this is the truth, but that is the effect that it gives off. You have smoothness and a good bit of speed, no argument there, it would be great to see it without cuts and interruptions.
Cuts like the one at 1:04 ended abruptly, which also gave the effect that you messed up, and had to cut the clip. It would also be great to see you make the structures like the one at 1:54 and then display them, rather than just show them and cut to something else.
The music was catchy, i gotta say that i loved it :) many cardists use just music, with no vocals. Sometimes thats hard to find, but if you go here: http://www.freeplaymusic.com you can get loads of musical tracks!! With no copyright restrictions either!!
Nice editing, i wouldnt worry about that, but i do reccomend keeping camera cuts to a minimal. This shows that you can do flourishes together, without messing up. One way to keep camera cuts to a minimal is to use small flourishes to loop larger flourishes together. Also make your own material, its never bad to be original.
Great video, you guys have great presentation skills and potential! Thanks for sharing your great talents!
-Stephen
December 7th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Nice ahihi..meryy xmas to all…hmmmm…here a quote for you all…
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
December 13th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Great speed, good style and a REALY NICE PRESSURE FAN!!!
keep it going!
December 14th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Well now. The video was pretty good. But there was a certain flow that you missed on some of the moves. Try slowing the moves down a bit to get them more . . . smooth. But otherwise I thought I was good.
Regards,
D
December 17th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Great Stuff !! Nice ! 5/5 in Youtube !
December 17th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Hey guys!!! I absolutely shooked up by your video! It’s new, fast, smooth, nice combination of vid+music and your are a team!
Wait for your next creation!)
For the win!
5/5! With no excuses!
December 19th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Guys, this is one of the most excited videos i’ve ever seen!
10/5!!!)))
Keep on rocking!
December 19th, 2009 at 8:48 am
This video is absolutely amazing! You must shoot new vids! Loved the moves, editing, video – all is great! Kazakhstan pwn! ;-) 5/5! Waiting for the next one!
December 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
There’s a kazakhstan feel about this video… lol
About the editing : sure looks like you spent time on it. I must say it’s sophisticated from beginning to end; and there’s climax. Good thing to include sort of behind-the-scenes at the end : it shows you’re having fun and that the tension felt throughout the cuts is just an illusion.
However, you focus too much on speed. Sometimes we don’t even have time to see what you’re doing. Flourishes follow flourishes at high pace and we rarely get to see a full flourish from beginning to end. Try airing out your vid.
Slow-mo’s are welcome, sort of allows us to breathe a bit ( alternating speed and slow-mo’s may be a good idea after all ). But I think slow-mo’s should be made for special moves or clever concepts and not for simple, random moves such as pivot cuts. Why not make a slow-mo of that card sliding down your arm on a spread into your hand ( a d+M idea isn’t it ? ), this way it would be far more dramatic.
December 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Now about the flourishes.
Not much to say, except that there’s a nice variety of them ( spreads, fans, changes, vanishes, xtreme cuts, displays, etc. ), and that you feel confident. Simply put, you’re pros. Killer moves, killer variations, killer performance ( although it’s sad we don’t get to see full pandora ).
One more thing : What’s the purpose of showing the fan at 0:20 ? We don’t see you execute it, might have been someone else. At 0:21 on the other hand, you perform and reveal the pressure fan with an air of natural grace and mystery. It’s good we get to see your faces too.
Guys, I admire you and envy you. Keep up the good work.
December 19th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
yup…
choppy, very choppy.
felt more like a trailer than a flourish demo.
good thing was, the flourishes were “new wave classics”.
December 19th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
and……
is it just me,,,or i haven’t seen ANY flourish video with a “story to tell”. transitions, from 1 card flourishes to 1 hand cuts to fans and displays, to finally,,, i dunno, something to top it all off i guess..
like i said, it just maybe be me.. if you guys’ve seen what i’m talking about, let me know where..thanks
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:27 am
Hi guyz! First of all, your video is great! I like editing, it looks very proffessional. You did a very good job for your first video. I guess next videos will not be worse. Your moves are very smooth, especially difficult xcm moves, so I can see that you spent a lot of time practice, and your video besed on serious experience. Btw, I saw a nice move in your video, that I never saw befor, which is great! So guyz, I wish you good luck, I hope to see your videos more, I believe in you!! Practice! 5/5
January 11th, 2010 at 2:46 am
I loved the card fans (well done!) and particularly enjoyed the ending with the “quick fire” views of your work. You should be proud of your video, both from an artistic point of view as filmmakers and from a flourishing standpoint as well. Nicely, nicely done!