From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:35:31 -0400
Subject: [Puptcrit] DVD reviews: Mark Alfrey and John Brown


Hi all.

I just received the DVD "Sculpting Movie Monsters", by Mark Alfrey.
It was a very generous thank-you gift from a colleague I helped with 
translations.
I love that DVD, what a wonderful resource to have!

Alfrey's technical approach seems more casual than John Brown's (who has a 
great sculpture DVD series with The Gnomon Workshop).  While Brown defines, 
describes, storytells and names  a lot of the various anatomical components, 
Alfrey likes to let us observe and speak only when necessary.

Brown's results vary from "very interpreted" to "could be lifecasts".
Alfrey's results usually look like incredible lifecasts, which is amazing, 
considering how roughly he seems to go about things.  Of course, editing 
helps with time constraints, so the DVD is very short in time, making it 
especially efficient. The special features on this DVD are cool extras: 
interviews with other pro smovie sculptors, and a small gallery sampling 
Alfrey's works.

I have seen the entire John Brown DVD series (6 volumes now), I own one 
volume (volume 2, character maquette) and I still found a lot of useful 
information and inspiration on the two Mark Alfrey volumes I've seen: the 
one I'm reviewing here, and "Sculpting the Human Head", which I saw about 
last month thanks to a friend who has it. I intend to buy it as soon as I 
can.

If I were to choose between a John Brown or a Mark Alfrey DVD at this point, 
I'd be hard pressed to decide.
They both have great ways to work, some technical similarities, but very 
different flavors in the results.
The next sculpting DVD on on my list is definitely "Sculpting the Nude 
Figure", by Alfrey.

If I were to recommend one or two DVD for someone beginning from scratch, 
I'd suggest John Brown's volumes 1 and 2, because he explains a lot and in 
more details than Alfrey.
Alfrey's great to consult if you already have some basic understanding, as 
looking at him work brings all the explanations you'll need.

Most clay modellers would benefit from having both author's full DVD 
collections in their studio, ready for viewing. I like to play such DVD in 
the background when I sculpt with clay, no matter the subject matter. The 
information and gestures get absorbed quickly into that sponge brain of 
mine.

I asked puptcritters maybe last year what sculpture DVD author of the two 
was best to have.
Now that I've sampled both, for me they are equally great as resources.

Any of these sculpture DVD would make a wonderful gift to any sculpture 
enthusiast.
I know it was a great surprise for me!
I think it would be appropriate in skill level from about 12 years old and 
up. There is nudity (some in clay, some video footage of real models) in 
some of the volumes, for those who might feel a bit nervous about such 
things.


Where to get it:
The Mark Alfrey series is available on his site, on Amazon and many other 
distributors. Make sure you get the DVD version if that's what you want, as 
last year I saw a lot of sites who still sold the original VHS versions.
http://www.markalfrey.com/

The Sculpture With John Brown series can be had on The Gnomon Workshop's 
website, on John Brown's own website, and on Amazon.com. The Gnomon website 
has everything you need to know about the series. Each volume has its own 
page, with descriptions, screen caps and a video sample! Beware if you are 
in Canada, the Gnomon workshop's website's weird automatic payment system 
made the shipping costs for one DVD rather steep in my case, and delivery 
was slow. Amazon was no problem at all.
EXTRA, EXTRA!
New sculpture DVD volume to come out at the end of June!
Sculpting Comic Book Style, by John Brown. See his website:
http://www.figuresandfocus.com/

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/groups/instructors/2d/brown_g.html



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