What matters most
23/1/2023
Today I started to think about a conversation I had more than 10 years ago.
Nowadays, I work full time in the film industry, but at that time I was just an aspiring filmmaker with big hopes and dreams.
I was talking to an older friend who is a film director. We had a discussion about a short film I had made. I was trying to explain all these ideas I had when I was working on the film, and all the things I wanted to convey to the audience.
I remember him saying: "The audience can only see what's on the screen."
He continued: "You don't have the chance to explain your intentions to the audience outside of the film. The things you want to say, have to be there on the screen or otherwise they're just empty words."
This discussion has stuck with me for all these years.
So, today I was reading a book about the performance of magic and that discussion popped into my mind. For the first time my brain saw a connection with it and magic.
"The audience can only see what's on the screen."
The sentence started to morph in my head.
"The audience can only see what you show them."
Many of us have spent countless hours reading magic books, watching instructional videos - trying to learn new tricks, sleights, principles; trying to understand magic theory, trying to get a grasp of what's the best way to present magic and so on.
But that only matters if we can put it in action and really show the audience what we are capable of.
Make sure that everything you have worked so hard for and everything you know is present in your performances.
As the audience can only see what you show them.
- Max Arcanie