Before you start, please be aware that you may speak with a strong French accent after watching this video...

PERFORMANCE
My big 2016 project was to create my first Seance. I have spent months and months reading about seances, and then scripting, revising and creating my own seance.
Since this seance, my magic really evolved to another direction thanks to my reading, stimulating forums, meeting people at ECSS, virtual meeting or encouragement from dark powers. I would not build a seance like this anymore, too many effects, too many props, but as a first step in my magic travel, I am happy about it, it helps me to learn many lessons. My sitters really loved the experience too which is the most important.

AIM/WHY A VIDEO?
I spent so much time on this seance that I decided to record it to show it to my friends from this forum, or other darker forums, to get feedback and hopefully to stimulate other creations. Sometimes I feel isolated in Sydney, and I thought a video would be the best medium for sharing, improving and maybe inspiring others. This is by far my biggest project, and it evolved to become much bigger than I expected. I wanted to create a friendly and intimate atmosphere, I hope you can feel it.

PREPRATION/TECHNICS
I recorded my full seance in April and it took me months to edit it. At the start, I only wanted one camera, but then I added another two cameras to make it less static, and then some lights. I ended up asking a videographer to help me with the editing because it became too complicated. He asked me to use a better sound system with a microphone on me and a microphone on the table for the sitter, then... then... this 'movie' became a real monster in my life. I felt like a Hollywood producer (and actor, technical director, writer...).

FULL VERSION:
First video is the full seance, over 1 hour. You will find many effects, stories, remote viewing, tarot, crystal, spirit glass, protective ceremony, spirit bell, old pictures of a family, lion door knocker, old watch with special power, poison bottle and mediumship test...

Some effect very classic, some other more personal.
The best surprise reaction is from Julia at 32:22 when she discovers that my protective tattoo on my hand vanished and reappear on her hand …
The best effect is probably the mediumship test on 9:08 and tarot 42:24
(I am happy to speak about details in the crypt)

http://vimeo.com/drsh/spirit-in-sydney-long



SHORT VERSION:
Only 30 min, I cut down the story (but kept enough to have an unified story), I removed few effects and cut down the remote viewing.

http://vimeo.com/drsh/spirit-in-sydney-short



TRAILER
http://vimeo.com/drsh/spirits-in-sydney-trailer


PLEASE GIVE YOUR GENERAL COMMENT IN HERE

FOR DETAILS OR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS, IT IS INSIDE THE CRYPT
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=221

Which part of the performance did you enjoy the most ?

I have only seen a little bit, but I want to thank you for sharing. There is no doubt I will learn much from watching.

I'll check this out inabit. Thanks

Cant wait to watch it! Thank you for sharing!

Way to go Dr. Sh. I shall set aside some quality time to view and digest. Thanks for taking us on the journey with you.

Thank you very much. I'm going to wait till I can watch the long version over the weekend to get the full experience. Looking forward to it.

Very much looking forward to viewing this over the weekend, Dr. SH. Thank you for all the time and attention you've put into sharing this performance with us. It's a landmark effort. Revolutionary even in its generosity.

Much respect,
Perkins

I watched the long one nice job buddy! You tell a good story and it was engaging and had good flow. Lots going on. I'm glad you filmed and shared it.

Thank you all, I am glad you like it and I am glad others are looking forward to watching it during the weekend (eat a croissant or a cheese souffle at the same time with some good red wine for a complete experience).
I have to say that by recording a video with different cameras ,lights and microphones remove a bit of the intimacy (and of magic ) I am trying to create. The atmosphere is better when we are all around a table in a dark room light with only candles. I am also surprise how strong my accent is... you don't hear yourself when you speak and it is strange to hear yourself...
I watched this video so many times when I edited it , I don't think I could watch it once more... like when you finish a Thesis...very hard to read it once more after publishing it. Anyway this is a great historical record for me, I look forward to comparing my performance in 10 years with this one.

Fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing.

Be prepared to get some criticisms from the folks who will complain that you shot the séance in full light (as opposed to near darkness so you can't see anything).

At least, that's what happened to me when I started posting clips from my séance.

Personally, I would like to thank you for posting your full séance act. It's always good to see how other performers handle the concept.

Right now, I'm working with a group to see about getting my version performed at a local historic landmark here in Seattle on a semi-regular basis.

Philemon, thank you for your comments, I totally agree about the light . Light is indeed an issue , I was arguing the point with my friends who help me to record this seance and tryed to reduce the light but they convinced me that to have a good quality video , I needed that much light. We are both not professional and have no expertise in technical setting. Since the videographer who help me to edit the video gave me good tips to rearrange lights and camera differently.
When I performed this seance at my place , we are in a dark dining room, I blocked the light on every door and windows with heavy red velvet curtains and we are only have candles to light the room. It creates a very good atmosphere.
Good luck for your seance in Seattle, it looks like a great project.

Posting clips of performances, especially a full performance, is always risky that way and is a big reason why so few of us do. So many people see the posting as an opportunity for self aggrandizement. The great Aldo Colombini once asked at a lecture, "How many magicians does it take to change a lightbulb? The answer is 3: one to change the bulb and two more to stand around watching and say, 'I could have done it better'"

CT

Really enjoyed the video (great production quality on the vid!). Lots of wonderful moments; my favorites were: cleansing ritual, "oh, that must just be the wind", scratching in the box, and materialization-and-release of the spirit at the end. Really liked that materialization...a very logical and mysterious conclusion to the end of the seance! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

I just watched the full thing. I enjoyed it.

It was a well thought out performance. The camera angles really worked and the sound was great. I think it would help greatly if you are going to perform in English to get some sort of elecution lessons from a voice coach. I had some from a lady some years ago now but I learnt some useful things. I think several points you made lost their impact because of your English.

As said before there were at least two if not four superfluous effects but I enjoyed your execution of them. I would say keep the tarot effect that and the bell as a sign is enough. The scratching was great also.

I thought it flowed well. I only noticed one harsh cut and that was when you passed the box around. How long was the evening from start to finish?

Is this something you intend to perform again?

Thanks for sharing it here I hope to see more in the future.

Thank you TH1 , I am glad you enjoyed it. From somebody who made such a fantastic seance at the ECSS , it is a real compliment. Yes, the cleansing ritual was fun, no button to press, no complicated moves of hand, no audience management, just a ritual that I repeated over an over until it looks like I have performed it a thousand times. Nobody ever speak during the ritual , people are always looking and listening carefully, I like this moment a lot too.

Thank you Silvertongue, I am glad you enjoyed it too, the tarot effects is probably what sitter remember the most when I asked feedback from the sitter. They can find hypothesis about how other effects could work but the first effect (mediumship test) , the tarot cards and the apparition of the protective cross on my sitter's hand are the effects which they love the most. Yes, I can cut down some effect but not these 3.

I don't remember of a Harsh cut , I am now worry to watch it again !! Watch it too many time, I cannot do it more. The full seance is approximately the time of the full video, I edited it very minimally in time. The evening was several hours, we had a very delicious and earthy dinner after the seance.

I intend to perform it again. My taste has moved from all these effects and I am now learning and performing very different things but I think there are great benefits about learning to improve and refine a product and repeating it several times. I will simplify it , listen to all your advice, and performed it again and again.

Really really enjoyed the vidio performance ,thank you very much for sharing it and I just loved the smoke in the jar at the ending, awesome story telling .

Thank you for sharing this with everyone. It's not often that a full performance is posted, especially with multiple cameras. I am sure I will take away quite a bit from watching this!

I have had to be offline for several days, but I look forward to watching the full video over the coming weekend.
Thanks for sharing!

I am also looking forward to spending some time viewing the full version this weekend. This should be an enjoyable experience.