DVD Review: Loops Vol. 1/2 by Yigal Mesika & Finn Jon

On Loops Volume 1 and 2, Yigal Mesika and Finn Jon share some of their thread-based effects. For anyone who wants to animate and suspend objects in air, this DVD set offers useful information, but this set should have probably been sold with Mesika's Reflections DVD.

Finn Jon

The first disc is dedicated to Finn Jon who suspends bubbles, makes a dollar bill jump into his fingers, mysteriously bends a knife and causes a cigarette to briefly float in the air.

His disc is rather free form and isn’t well organized and explanations tend to be brief, but there’s useful information to be found. Unfortunately, Jon demonstrates an effect, The Jumping Cigarette, which he only explains on Mesika’s Reflections DVD that is sold separately, which is an oversight.

On disc two, the better of the two, Yigal Mesika offers a valuable introduction to some commercial loop effects and teaches techniques for animating forks and glasses and floating bills and finger rings. There’s a trick called The Force where he moves a pen as a spectator holds it. Using Mesika’s techniques, you can also learn to animate a fork on a glass or even cause it to spin on the table and walk some distance away. The last effect actually fooled Finn Jon.

Mesika also explains a stunning Haunted Pack where a deck of cards msyteriously cuts itself to a spectator’s selected card. Mesika takes more time than Jon to thoroughly explain his effects by using thicker thread and even rubber bands as necessary. Both discs feature a discussion that’s hosted by Luna Shimada where you learn about the artists’ careers and their experience with loops. It’s fascinating and insightful.

Fits in a Wallet

The DVD set also comes with a credit card style device that conveniently stores loops so you can carry them in your wallet at all times. The device indeed makes it easy to store loops and can be a valuable addition to your arsenal.

Reflections

As mentioned in my review of Mesika’s Reflections DVD, I think that the expensive Reflections DVD should be sold with this DVD set. After all, wouldn’t all users who purchase the Loops DVD set be interested learning how to reduce reflection problems? Still, given a choice with limited funds, I would have to go with the Loops DVD set for disc two and the loop-carrying gimmick.

If all three discs (Loops DVD and Reflections) were sold in a single DVD set for $99 and with the loop-carrying gimmick, I would recommend them with no reservations. When one considers all of the loops that Mesika can sell as a result of this DVD, it seems as if he could offer it at lower prices.

-Wayne N. Kawamoto

MSRP: (US) $75

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