On Motivation in Magic
If you've followed much of my work and discussions on magic as an art form, you'll know that I talk a lot about the importance of building motivation into your magic routines. In theatrical terms, "motivation" is, of course, the reason why you do... whatever you do, as a character.
To take this a little deeper than I have in previous writings, in magic, for our purposes, there are actually two types of motivation. The first, which I would call thematic or character motivation, is the same as in acting. In terms of who you are as a character, why do you do whatever you do? What is it that drives your character? This is closely related to what I discussed in my last post on "attitude".
The other type of motivation is what I would call situational or technical motivation. This is motivation in a more specific, "applied to each situation" kind of way. It answers more specific "why" questions that are related to the technical aspects of achieving specific magic effects. In a nutshell, you come up with a reason, in terms of what you are communicating openly, for doing whatever you need to do technically to make the magic happen. In this case, "communicating openly" may apply to what you say, or to more subtle elements of communications, such as body language.
A simple example: in a card trick you do a double undercut to bring a selected card to the top. The technical motivation, or the openly communicated (apparent) reason for doing the cut is to further mix the deck. The hidden reason is that it accomplishes the act of controlling the card to the top of the deck. But the apparent reason is mixing the deck. That's the "technical motivation".
Whereas the character motivation would answer the question, why do you (as a character) choose to do a card trick in the first place?
Character motivation is not absolutely necessary in a performance of magic, but it adds depth and makes your character more well rounded and believable. Whereas, technical motivation is absolutely essential to magic, if you want your magic to appear to be magic, and not just some lame trick.
Character motivation helps draw your audience into your world and makes that world magical, and multifaceted, and helps to create the overall world of fantasy... to weave your spell. Technical motivation makes the specific magical elements within that world seem natural and real.
To take this a little deeper than I have in previous writings, in magic, for our purposes, there are actually two types of motivation. The first, which I would call thematic or character motivation, is the same as in acting. In terms of who you are as a character, why do you do whatever you do? What is it that drives your character? This is closely related to what I discussed in my last post on "attitude".
The other type of motivation is what I would call situational or technical motivation. This is motivation in a more specific, "applied to each situation" kind of way. It answers more specific "why" questions that are related to the technical aspects of achieving specific magic effects. In a nutshell, you come up with a reason, in terms of what you are communicating openly, for doing whatever you need to do technically to make the magic happen. In this case, "communicating openly" may apply to what you say, or to more subtle elements of communications, such as body language.
A simple example: in a card trick you do a double undercut to bring a selected card to the top. The technical motivation, or the openly communicated (apparent) reason for doing the cut is to further mix the deck. The hidden reason is that it accomplishes the act of controlling the card to the top of the deck. But the apparent reason is mixing the deck. That's the "technical motivation".
Whereas the character motivation would answer the question, why do you (as a character) choose to do a card trick in the first place?
Character motivation is not absolutely necessary in a performance of magic, but it adds depth and makes your character more well rounded and believable. Whereas, technical motivation is absolutely essential to magic, if you want your magic to appear to be magic, and not just some lame trick.
Character motivation helps draw your audience into your world and makes that world magical, and multifaceted, and helps to create the overall world of fantasy... to weave your spell. Technical motivation makes the specific magical elements within that world seem natural and real.
Labels: attitudes in performing magic, character, motivation in magic
posted by Mitch Williams at
9:54 AM
