I have been performing a fire act lately and would like some constructive criticism. Here is a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jGvsk4q60w
if you have anything to say I would love to hear it. Thank you.
Things I liked:
* The buildup for two torches
* that you teased the audience about not clapping
* played with them at other minutes
Comments on the video:
That I didn't feel a lot of buildup, I would have saved fire breathing for the end and perhaps done less of it in the video (it's your big trick, make the employer hire you!)
Stuff I can't comment on but just guess at:
Since it's a promo video you have to hit the highlights but I wonder if we could see some raw footage to see how the act goes overall-then I'd feel more comfortable critiquing
I don't breathe but your fuel dispensing in the breath was really well-controlled.
Axiom we live by : If it ain't interesting, it's only going to be interesting for ten extra seconds ON FIRE. So it's something we keep in mind when developing fire stuff -if the dancer is mediocre-cut. If the toy doesn't leave trails that vary-cut. If the performer is not charismatic-cut. And strangely, too much fire can burn out your audience (pun!) so interacting, doing buildup and stringing them along between tricks, the flirtation helps.
By two cents :)
Thank you, I will keep that all in mind and if I can find a practical way to upload the raw footage I will post it.
You obviously have a good handle on the fire tricks, what I would like to see is
#1 More energy, It's contageous. If you act excited, your crowd will too.
#2 More flow between fire stunts. I see a lot of acts that work point to point, meaning "Look at this, now forget that and look at this!" The better acts have a flow throughout, building peaks and valleys of excitement, but always excellerating towards the finale. As I didn't see your whole act, I can't tell if you did this, but it is always something to think about.
Fire shows are odd animals, and seem to be the hot (no pun intended) thing right now. Look to differentiate yourself, and just being better at fire tricks usually won't do it. A character, look, signature move kind of thing is what you need. Otherwise too many EDs look at your promo pack and say "A fire eater? Got one..." and move on.
Good luck,
L. Dale Walter
Director
Knights of Iron
Just as a comment on the stills at the begining of the reel: pause for a moment once they've finished doing their fancy pixelated fade in. You go on to the next shot too quickly to even register what the picture was.
Thank you all for the great feed back! I am currently going to audition for TRF this weekend and have been polishing every bit I can. And I will definitely run my next video past you guys before I make it public. Please, if anyone else can give any other feedback I will thoroughly absorb it.