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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Title: Bootlegs and B Sides by Sean Fields
Medium: DVD Arena: Close Up Available: Any shop, distributed by Murphys Magic Supplies I’m not real familiar with Sean Fields but based on this DVD and his website he is one of the new age magicians who like to view themselves as cutting edge and ‘street’. That is fine and dandy but it tends to lead them into trying to be artsy when direct is better. With this DVD we get another silent, except for some music, which isn’t bad in this case, presentation of card material and silent explanations. The difference between this and the silent Sankey material in general is Sean includes written instructions along with the video, meaning he puts up the statement ‘do an Elmsley Count’ then the video is of him doing an Elmsley. The other main difference between this and Sankey is this material, which are Seans version of common plots, are of a far higher level. Be warned, you must bring some knowledge of card magic to the table when you get this DVD. The lack of verbal instruction limits what can be taught, which is unfortunate, because there are some sleights done that I think going over in detail would have been beneficial. In my never to be humble opinion had a bonus section been set up by Sean going over some of the sleights using things like language it would have been really good. Something to keep in mind next time Sean. Like the box says, newbies don’t waste your time with this DVD because you will be lost at some point. The production quality is kind of hard to address. It was shot in a kind of fashion to represent the title ‘bootleg’ which indicates kind of an underground video. So based on what he was trying to achieve the quality is good. The angle of the shot is overhead with the hands centered, all and all it was nicely done. The music in the background is pretty good also. The DVD opens with Sean performing the six routines shown along with the occasional note, for lack of a better word, with each routine ending punctuated by the self aggrandizing ‘damn’. Sean then goes into the instruction part of the DVD, each instruction punctuated by the prison influenced ‘word’. Considering the camera is pretty much stationary Sean is aware of it and his visual showing of how the moves are done are about as good as you will see. I really do, and I’ve said this earlier, think Sean would have better represented his magic by a more standard instruction because I think this material warranted it. Could the picture and everything have been clearer? Sure, but again the young lions think they are artist so allowances are given. I do applaud Sean for being aware of his surroundings in both performance and instruction as you’ll see with his centering and showing of moves. The effects themselves are pretty darn good if you ask me. There are sleights you’ll have to work on and there are some that I have great difficulty with for physical reasons. The Shape Shifter move I can’t do because my fingers are too short to get the darn card away from my palm enough to not bump into it. I would love to spin a card in my fingers but again my fingers are too short. Because of the silent nature the sleights are not gone over like you would find in most DVDs which is why you either need to know the sleight or at least have the basic understanding of it in order to perform it. I didn’t have a problem following any of what Sean was showing, the performance is another issue but that is on me not Sean. Let’s look at the routines: U.C.C. (I’m guessing this stands for Unbelievable Card Control…just a guess) Two cards are selected and lost in the pack and found using a couple different color changes. Done right it looks good. O.P.P. A version of the effect Open Prediction by Paul Curry. The magician predicts a card and the spectator deals the deck face up except for one card and that card is the prediction. I question of Sean used the editing to make this look cleaner than the instructions indicate. It is a pretty cool routine and works but during the presentation I would have shown it straight through without jumping to the notes. This routine will take some confidence to do. InconTWISTant A very clean looking twisting the aces type routine. Again Sean bites himself because of his desire to be on the edge with the filming rather than a nice none stop shot of the routine to show rhythm and all that fun stuff. Will take some practice to make smooth but worth it. Get Out A nice version of Out of This World. Interesting get ready that is easy to do. I still think the original version is the best though but this one is very strong and I think most will like it. I have some presentational ideas that I think will work with this version and make it stronger. Brain Tumor Pretty nice version of Brainwave. I think many will find this interesting. At one point the Flushtration Count is used that I think kind of weakens that one point but the overall strength of the routine is maintained. Ambitious Impossible The ending is the interesting part of this routine, the rest of it pretty standard. I won’t go into it but the very last color change move is something I’ve not seen before, I’ve seen the prelude but not the change and it looked great in Seans hands. That is about it. I think that most card guys will enjoy this DVD because the material is strong throughout and most will find things they will use in the mix. I do think Sean sold himself short with his attempts at being an artist on an instructional video. The presentations should have been shown completely and without the cut away shots and fades, I think they weaken things over all. I also think he would have better been able to explain the routines if he had just broke away and explained his handling using speech. I appreciate what he was trying to accomplish and luckily the material is strong enough to carry the day and this is a very worthwhile DVD but next time leave the golden ghetto and think about what the product is rather than how cool you think you can make it….word. |
MaxfieldsMagic Inner circle Instead of practicing, I made 3009 Posts |
Got this on sale recently and have to agree with MagicSanta's review. The material is strong and well worth checking out. Sean Fields definitely knows his way around a pack of cards. This is a great DVD for people who don't like long-winded explanations. It's about as lean and efficient as an instructional DVD can be while still getting the point across. I didn't mind all the "D*mn" and "Word" stylizations at all - mainly because I was saying "d*amn" myself frequently while watching Fields do his stuff (those of us over age 40 are not allowed to say "word.") That Ambitious Impossible final phase is a real eye popper. Such a simple idea, but it looks sooo good when done correctly. Out of everything on the DVD, that's the move I'll be working on before going on to anything else.
Now appearing nightly in my basement.
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