Book Description
Now available in paperback, The Invisible Art provides an unprecedented retrospective of matte art painting -- the unsung hero in the fast-paced world of cinematic visual effects. Until recently, matte-painting techniques were closely guarded secrets kept locked up on studio lots. The Invisible Art flings open the gates to reveal the finest representations of matte paintings from rare examples seen in epics such as Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane to prove that the brush is mightier than the computer, as seen in such blockbusters as Star Wars and Titanic. Lavishly illustrated, the book's tremendous scope unveils a century's worth of fascinating stories, legendary personalities, and cunning movie craft from the first pioneering "glass shots" to the dawn of digital technology. Including a foreword by George Lucas, The Invisible Art conjures a never-before-told story of film wizardry.
Customer Reviews:
At the very least, it makes a loveley coffee table book........2007-08-22
I purchased this book last year when I was taking a Digital Matte Painting class. I wanted to learn more about how it was accomplished during the golden age of cinema.
The pictures in this book are stunning! There are hundreds of before and after pictures, showing the original film and the glass plates separately.
They also take care to show all the various techniques used in Matte Painting... such as using a mirror to reflect the image, hanging a scaled model in the foreground, and even using a circular screen for a rotating background.
Worth looking for.......2006-04-22
To anyone interested in the golden age of moviemaking, in special effects, or the art of this very specialized skill, this book will be a grand treat. The author knows his subject, and knows some of the images created by these artists are among the most powerful and indelible in the movies. Lavishly illustrated and quite thorough, "The Invisible Art" is a treasure trove of behind the scenes information, explanations, and dissections of the complicated process by which these fantasy environments and set extensions were realized. It's an expensive book (the softcover is slightly less pricey) but there has never been a film book like this, on this subject. Other special effects guides reference matte painting, but no one has ever analyzed the technique in this way. Films profiled include "King Kong" "Wizard of Oz" "Citizen Kane" "Thief of Bagdad" "Black Narcissus" and "Ten Commandments", among dozens of others. A wonderful job by someone who clearly cares for his subject.
Book Description
Journalist Nash has expanded her earlier biographer of singer Dolly Parton to include the past two decades of her remarkable career, including several Grammy wins and an Oscar nomination, plus the return to her musical roots with her past two albums.
Customer Reviews:
A treasure!.......2003-11-02
For anyone even slightly fascinated by Dolly (and who ISN'T?), this book gives rare and detailed insights into the life and mind of a true music icon. Ms. Nash shares not only facts and history, but "up close and personal" information gleaned from her own interactions and time spent with Dolly. A rare opportunity to glimpse the life and persona of this musician who continues to grip the music industry throughout the decades...Dolly's ongoing and unrelenting "star status" illustrates her enduring charisma that never ceases to perpetuate the adoration, fondness, and loyalty of fans and the American music scene.
Despite the fact that this republishing of this book reveals relatively limited updates and leaves the reader wanting even MORE, the biography is and remains a classic that stands the test of time...much like Dolly herself!
25 Year Old Book Barely Updated!!.......2003-08-03
I can't believe this 1978 book has been reprinted exactly as it was 25 years ago with only a tacked on chapter for the last 25 years!!! Not one word from the original book appears to have been changed, thus you get long dead people like Marty Robbins being quoted as if they were still around, even the forward is the same as it was in 1978 comparing Dolly to Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Tiegs!!! First time readers might think they have fallen into a time warp as the book is written in the present tense much like a magazine article (which made the book dated VERY early on like say 1980). It's pretty shocking to read chapter and chapter on 1977 and 1978 and then bam - one chapter for 1979-2003!!
The book itself wasn't so great even in 1978 - Ms. Nash has a very bad habit of quoting "anonymous insiders" thoroughout the book many of whom make comments that Dolly is making bad career decisions and suggest she is about to mess up her career big time! Even these ridiculous comments were not deleted from this new (sic) edition!! Ms. Nash can be downright catty herself at times, especially to Parton's first biographer who put out a paperback the year before and whom Nash ludricously blames for a lack of participation by the Parton family with her book. (Nash wrote a rather nasty article for WRITER'S DIGEST after her book came out that claimed in essence Dolly tried to sabatoge her book, Ms. Nash fails to make any comments of the kind here in her "update" chapter.)
The repackaging of this old book with a recent cover photo of Dolly must be considered the literary equivalent of all those endless low-budget CD reissues of those very early teenaged tracks of hers like "Letter to Heaven" and "Making Believe" (cheapie productions that don't even sound like her) that are found in dollar stores. Alas, this publisher expects the consumer to cough up quite a pretty penny more than those budget CD companies.
If Alanna Nash wanted to bring this book back into print she should have rewritten it so it would make sense to a 2003 reader, instead it's just an tacky and lazy attempt to make a few extra bucks from the never ending public fascination with the great Dolly Parton!!
Book Description
THE BIGGEST SUDOKU COLLECTION YET
Carol Vorderman, international Sudoku expert, has done it again!
In Master Sudoku, she introduced America to the popular new number logic game, taking players from novice to expert in 200 puzzles. Now, she brings us Carol Vorderman’s Massive Book of Sudoku, the largest collection ever—containing more than 400 puzzles ranging from easy to super difficult, as well as several new, ultrachallenging kinds of Sudoku for you to try. Also included here are the rules of Sudoku and Carol’s insider tips, so that even a beginner can become a master. Carol Vorderman’s Massive Book of Sudoku is perfect for the already addicted Sudokuist or any puzzle lover just discovering the game that’s sweeping the world.
Customer Reviews:
Who are you calling an international Sudoku Expert.......2007-03-09
The book is good, not too expencive, a lot of puzzles for everybody... But what's with the times? I timed about half the puzzles I did and I scored the highest amount of points easely every time, and then the "Carol's time" that shows up every ten puzzles or so. I beat 'Carol' every time too and SHE has the title "Sudoku Expert". I'm sorry, but that just bugs me. If you're gonna give categories of what's good and what's not yet so good, make categories that will push people to be better.
Sudoku makers don't realise that there are people who aren't beginners anymore...
Besides that, the book's pretty okay
A good "carry-around" sudoku book.......2006-11-10
This is a great book for the sudoku addict to carry on vacation. Puzzles range from very laid-back to rather fiendish (including some jigsaw and giant). I recently survived a trip across the Atlantic by working on ever less demanding puzzles as my fatigue increased. I also used some of the really simple puzzles to answer "how on earth do those work?" during family visits. Even though I often work on super-difficult puzzles, this is not a boring book for me.
One of many Sudoku books.......2006-04-29
This book contains many puzzles with multiple skill levels. The author has other books and I find the puzzles very stimulating.
More from Carol Vorderman!.......2006-02-09
Of all the sudoku books I've bought, my favorite has been Master Sudoku by Carol Vorderman. Its hundreds of puzzles have kept me happily sudoku-ing since last summer, and it's nice to have 4 levels of difficulty to go back and forth between--sometimes you feel like a quick & easy one and sometimes you feel like one that will take some work and concentration to crack. She also has one of the best and lengthiest explanations of sudoku strategies to have yet appeared in any of the books.
Also, a diabolical innovation: suggested finishing times with a points-scoring system makes even the easiest ones challenging.
Massive Sudoku is more of the same, with some improvements. She reiterates the same strategies as she did in Master Sudoku; don't look here for more advanced ones, but what she lays out will get you through this book. Even a novice can start with this book without having tackled Master Sudoku first, although Master does work through puzzles of each level step by step and contain a bit more solving detail.
But if you already know how to solve and just want more, more, more! this is your book--400 puzzles, an interesting new variation where the sudoku blocks aren't perfect squares, and not only timed and points-scoring opportunities but every so often a puzzle has Carol's time posted for it. Who can help but want to pick up that thrown gauntlet?
I'm off for a vacation next week and bought this for it but I've already cheated and started playing with the puzzles in this. However, I've no doubt it will keep me happily puzzling through my vacation and beyond!
From the Board Games Editor at BellaOnline.com.......2005-12-13
This is a great follow-up to "Master Sudoku", Vorderman's first sudoku book. That book is an ideal starting point for both new and advanced sudoku-ers, and this book is no exception.
She re-covers most of her techniques in this book, so if you already own Master Sudoku, you'll find yourself skimming most of the introductory material, but she does go into some interesting discussion about the sudoku craze.
The best part of this book, though, is the bang for your buck value... 400 puzzles for only ten dollars (many puzzle books are 100 or 150 puzzles for the same price). And the quality of the puzzles is high, so it's a good investment all around.
Average customer rating:
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Gettin' Through Thursday
Melrose Cooper
Manufacturer: Lee & Low Books
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Tight Times (Picture Puffins)
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Fly Away Home
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An Angel For Solomon Singer
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ASIN: 1584300140 |
Book Description
Andre dreads Thursdays. Thursday is the day before Mama gets paid at work each week - and the day when money is tight and spirits are low for Andre and his older brother and sister. As report card day approaches, Andre is excited because he anticipates making the honor roll, and Mama has promised a royal party for just such an event. But to Andre's dismay, report card day falls on a Thursday. This is a warm and touching tale of how, despite limited means, a single mother and her children find a creative way to celebrate a son's achievement.
Customer Reviews:
Heartwarming Story.......2001-05-08
I had the opportunity to share this book with a third grade class of an inner-city school during a Read-Aloud Day. This story of third-grader Andre captured the students' attention because he was someone just like themselves. The students could relate to the ethnic background of the family and could sympathize with the family's struggle to get through the week until the next paycheck arrived. I especially appreciated how the story showed how families that are not "well-to-do" can problem-solve creatively...this family may be short on money, but never are they short on love. The illustrations are beautiful and do an excellent job of supporting the story. I highly recommend this book as part of a multicultural curriculum as well as to share with your children at home.
Customer Reviews:
Great read!.......1999-09-12
Any avid Melrose fan HAS to read this book! Unfortunatley it doesn't cover the whole series, because it was written at the series because it was written around the time of season 4 or 5, but what is does cover is a must-read!
great dish!.......1997-03-12
Fabulous dish...This book is much more entertaining than the show. The Caploes write wittily, and spare no edge. Buy this one, now
Average customer rating:
- Unintentionally funny
- A bit soft for a university press book
- This book is a great idea in theory...
- Fun!
- "Illuminating food for thought."--Library Journal
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Gen X TV: The Brady Bunch to Melrose Place (Television Series)
Rob Owen
Manufacturer: Syracuse University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0815604432 |
Customer Reviews:
Unintentionally funny.......2004-07-12
Like a bad monster film where you can see the monster's wires sticking out, "Gen X TV" is so bad it's good. Not only good, but downright hilarious. Let me explain...
As someone raised on TV (but cognizant of its bland way of repackaging whatever works for one show to fill up the rest of the schedule, and other crimes), I am always wary of attempts to document the "history" of any particular movement in television. What's more, so much on television (especially at the time this book was released) is unworthy of being discussed in such grandiose terms that you can't help but feel books like this miss the point. Television is so ephemeral that it seems almost foolhardy to try and document it.
Now for the fun part, and why you should rent this from the library (save your money, folks): the now-canceled or forgotten shows that the author profiles. Sure, "Living Single" might have been a decent show, but it doesn't merit an entire portion of the chapter. The embrace of "The Brady Bunch" by Gen X (which thankfully, due to Owen's chronology, I don't belong to) is proof positive that they deserve all the mockery you can hoist.
And a serious discussion of "Melrose Place"? Give me a break!
What's also funny (at least to those of us who never cared for a certain much-hyped sitcom about twenty-somethings in New York) is the way the author lauds certain shows like "Friends" and how they "impacted" television. If by "impact" you mean "caused other networks to rush out clones on the air and ever since try to repeat the same tired formula as a sure way of suckering the American people into watching said crap", then I guess you've got a point.
Web-savvy post-Gen-Xers will laugh out loud at the "glossary" the book provides for technical terms that have since become part and parcel of the English language. Then again, what is a "world wide web" anyway, right?
It's almost cruel of me to point out how bad this makes the Gen-Xers look, but people who offer testimony on how "The Real World" changed their viewing habits really deserve much worse. I remember the same Gen X tv this book documents, and it just reminds me how bad some of this garbage was.
Oh, and the talk about how Gen Xers "demand more realistic content" should serve as a bellweather for anyone looking into the reasons behind reality TV. Thanks again, Gen X.
If anything, this book makes you laugh when you shouldn't, with serious discussion of (among others) "Models Inc.", "Partners", "My So-Called Life", and various other waste paper collecting at the bottom of TV's dustbin. I'm not saying post-Gen-X TV is all that much better (reality shows, the promotion of Paris Hilton to superstar status, etc), but at least we have "Arrested Development". The greatest cultural contributions of Gen X? "Beverly Hills 90210". I believe that makes my point.
All in all, this book was written with good intentions, but comes off as dated and even laughably bad to anyone post-1997. The simple fact that it was published too early to document the single greatest crime of Gen X ("Dawson's Creek" and other ripoff teen angst shows) is a point in its favor. Read it to remember, read it to laugh, read it to feel superior to your older brother or sister; anyway you slice it, you will get some enjoyment out of this. It might not be the kind the author had in mind, however...
A bit soft for a university press book.......1998-11-23
I hoped this book would have more insight into the topic than just a collection of overviews of the particular series. That's been done before and better.
This book is a great idea in theory..........1998-10-23
I loved the idea of this book. I love TV and Owen is an outstanding TV writer (for a good sample, read his column on-line). The book has some interesting ideas, but the book gets dull. It breaks no new ground and doesn't shed light on others. I liked the fact that it wasn't steeped in the usual "media criticism", but there is no depth to much of the book. I think Owen will write a great book on TV one day...he just isn't there yet.
Fun!.......1997-06-19
What fun! Rob Owen's book took me back to days when the TV (especially Scooby-Doo) was my
babysitter. It's hard to believe that someone
could get paid to write something so fun.
Gen X TV is a must-read for anyone between the ages of 20 and 35!
"Illuminating food for thought."--Library Journal.......1997-06-12
"Owen, a TV critic for the ALBANY TIMES UNION, takes a look at American youth between 22 and 32 years old
and the impact of TV on their collective attitude.
He deftly analyzes programs watched during the growing years
(THE BRADY BUNCH), landmark series (BEVERLY HILLS,
90210), SHOWS ABOUT GEN X ITSELF (FRIENDS), and, in
an intriguing but sobering look at cyberspace, the
impact of the Internet as a means of communicating
about cutting-edge favorites. . . . Some illuminating
food for thought here on contemporary culture.
Recommended."--LIBRARY JOURNAL
Customer Reviews:
hilarious insights from Melrose fanatic.......1999-05-25
For anyone who has watched from the beginning and loved every juicy, guilty moment, Life Lessons from Melrose Place is a laugh-out-loud keeper. If you sit there and yell at the screen, "Jane, you idiot!" or, "Don't trust Michael, the rat-bastard!", this book will bring you mirth for years to come.
Average customer rating:
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Melrose Place
Time Warner Electronic Publishing
Manufacturer: Time Warner Interactive
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ASIN: 1572511109 |
Books:
- The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
- The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly
- The Shawshank Redemption: Tie-In Edition
- The Ultimate Filmmaker's Guide to Short Films: Making it Big in Shorts
- The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle
- The Working Director: How to Arrive, Survive and Thrive in the Director's Chair
- This is Orson Welles
- TLA Video & DVD Guide 2005: The Discerning Film Lover's Guide (Tla Video & DVD Guide)
- Tunes for 'Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon
- Understanding Digital Cinema: A Professional Handbook
Books Index
Books Home
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Matchmoving: The Invisible Art of Camera Tracking
Industrial Light & Magic: Into the Digital Realm
Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects
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