The Transformation of Cinema, 1907-1915 (History of the American Cinema, Vol 2)

Book Description

Eileen Bowser chronicles the history of the American film business from the days of storefront nickelodeons to the premiere of D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. The effect of the surroundings--the size of the hall; whether the film was shown alone or along with vaudeville entertainment; and the size, quality, and relevance of the musical background--are all examined for their impact on the filmgoing experience.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent study of the development of early cinema.......2005-07-09

As a silent film enthusiast I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Transformation of Cinema" and got a lot out of it. Although the author takes quite a scholarly approach (with extensive notes and bibliography), I found the book to be fairly easy reading throughout, and each chapter, which deals with a separate theme and includes good photos, is just the right length. This book is probably best for the more serious student or enthusiast of early film development, rather than for general reading or information on certain films or people. The author's approach is an overall one, encompassing the mentality and social conditions of the time in the US which influenced the development of cinema, such as, for example, the attitude in the early years that moving pictures were only for the `great unwashed masses' and was looked down upon by middle and upper classes. As a result, influential people concerned with `uplift' in society pushed to make films educational, intelligent and appealing to the more intellectual classes of society. Then there was a backlash as the majority of people preferred to be entertained rather than lectured, and further chapters focus on the changes that took place in filmmaking: moving cameras, lighting, editing, fade-outs and so on. Many films are mentioned as examples, but there is no section devoted to any person or film in particular. Instead, the author takes an all-encompassing approach which shows how people responded to moving pictures in the first place, then how producers and filmmakers responded to the public's reactions, tried to influence the public in various ways, and how all these interactions led to the transformation of nickelodeons into cinemas as we know them today. I found this to be a very good, informative and enlightening approach which was handled well, making this book an important foundation in the understanding and appreciation of moving pictures.

Thorough examination of American Film History from 1907-1915.......2002-06-17

Ms. Bowser has written a detailed history of this film period, using her extensive research from early film trade magazines and the court records for the Patent War trial proceedings. The Patent litigation can be very confusing, but she does a good job of pointing out the important highlights. Besides the Patent War, the Patents Company also lost the economic war with the independent film producers and distributors. She describes the rise of the nickelodeon theatres, and the backlash against films by some moral "authorities" of the time. She shows many examples of films where the camera creeped closer to the actors than just a full shot of their body, and the early attempts to tell a story better by editing different shots together. This period was the very beginning of the "star" system. Many studios resisted releasing the names of their actors, but others (including a few licensed producers) were happy to do so. With the coming of feature films came bigger, more elaborate movie palaces. And although Hollywood started booming in this period, films were being made in New York City, New Jersey, Florida, San Antonio, Chicago, Ireland, Cuba, and many other places.

Because this book convers only American films, the reader will miss out on film history being made in Europe and the rest of the world. However, it does explain how Italian spectacles in 1913-1914 influenced certain American filmmakers. And Pathe Freres in France had some influence over distribution patterns in the USA before World War I. The main reason that I didn't give this book 5 stars is that it only describes major films as to their editing techniques or social content. There is no analysis as a whole of major films like THE ITALIAN, MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY and others. Also, short comedies like the Mack Sennett Keystones only have a couple of pages, and Charlie Chaplin (who started working in 1914) and Sidney Drew barely have a mention.

A Disappointment.......2002-02-06

I came to this book having finished Musser's "The Formation of Cinema," the first volume in this series. Sad to say, this volume is a disappointment.

Yes, there is some good information here, but the author's style is extremely dry, and I found her footnoting style to be very misleading. (She mentioned one film that exists only in fragments in a Soviet film archive in Moscow, and her footnote lists only the original review of the movie in 1914, before there even was a Soviet film archive.) She pursues the topic of the origin of the closeup to death, devoting one whole chapter to whether the camera was 12 feet from the actors or only 9 feet.

Admittedly, the era of the "Patent wars" is confusing, but I think more could have been done to make this era clearer to readers. This is a very weak volume in an extremely good series of books on the American cinema.

transformation of cinema! Great read!.......2001-01-19

the University of California seriers on American Cinema is truely a wonderful collection on the movies. "Transformation..." gives a pretty detailed account of the changes in exhibition and production as well as the presentation of films to the public during the nickelodean phase. It debunks some myths concerning this period concerning Hollywood versus New York and New Jersey, the invention of the star system, the role of the director in production, etc. It also give a lot of detail on the changes in distribution during this period. A bargain for any film buff.

Customer Reviews:

Most in-depth book on The Verve, yet........1999-04-11

This is the third and best book I have read on The Verve. It gives the reader a greater understanding of this unique and greatly talented group. They are one of the best things to happen in the '90s, but they are also very human and this book brings this point across in a very thoughtful and often humorous way. The writing style is excellent as is the author's insights into comments and events that have been the world of The Verve. The pictures are excellent and my only complaint is that there are not enough of them. A must for any Verve fan and a great introduction to one of this century's finest groups for those who are not so familiar with them.

a must have if you love the verve.......1999-01-31

if your a big fan of the verve, i recommend this book. it gives a full history of the band plus has some great pictures. a good read for any fan!

Book Description

Kakuro has already become more popular than Sudoku in Japan, delighting millions with its blend of total simplicity and devilish complexity. Now North Americans have the chance to become hooked on Kakuro. In these bumper books of all-new Kakuro there are hundreds of puzzles divided into three difficulty ratings - including some fiendishly difficult ones....

Average customer rating:

Welcome Kakuro
A good introduction to Kakuro
The Official Waste of Paper
Lacking challenge and consistency
Excellent starting point

The Official Book of Kakuro: Book 1
Timothy E. Parker
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452287529

Book Description

Sharpen your pencils-and your wits-there's a new puzzle in town. Millions of Sudoku fans around the world are discovering a brand new addiction: the brain-buster Kakuro. Combining the appeal of a crossword with the addictive properties of Sudoku, it's the latest puzzle craze to come from Japan. Kakuro is more challenging, more compulsive, and more fun than anything you've played before.

Includes:
-50 Easy, 50 Medium, and 50 Hard puzzles
-Rules, Tips and Strategies
-A "unique sum chart" that is the key to unlocking the logic of Kakuro

Customer Reviews:

Welcome Kakuro.......2006-11-07

There are an equal number of Easy, Medium and Hard puzzles. There are also instructions and tips if you have never played before. If you are like me and have been doing Cross Sums for years, you will enjoy the medium and hard puzzles. Now I'm waiting for Extreme Kakuro!!

A good introduction to Kakuro.......2006-11-02

This was my first Kakuro book. It got me up and running quickly.

The Official Waste of Paper.......2006-08-31

Book is too small and bulky. Hard to keep open while solving puzzles. Gridwise, all of the puzzles were very small throughout the entire book. Should be geared toward kids, not adults. Not challenging at all.

Lacking challenge and consistency.......2006-05-19

Most of the puzzles in this book were satisfying. Three of the latter "Medium" puzzles are irritating: two lack unique solutions (for example, the answer key has "3 1" immediately above "1 3," which is impossible to logically distinguish from "1 3" directly above "3 1") and one is actually invalid (the answer key has "2 1 2" as the solution to one "word," and there's no other way to solve it, as the three cells in question must add up to 5.) The other 147 puzzles in this collection are free of such errors. My only other grumble is about the difficulty; I did not notice a significant difference between the difficulty of the medium puzzles and the first 40 hard puzzles, though the last 10 hard puzzles were a significant step up from the first 40. Even the hardest puzzles are not as difficult as those in the Virgin books. I'd recommend this to people who are looking for a first experience with Kakuro, but those with experience with other publishers might want to look elsewhere for additional challenge.

Excellent starting point.......2006-04-17

I made the mistake of starting out with /Kakuro for Dummies/. While that's an okay book if you want a random assortment of challenging Kakuro puzzles, it is a TERRIBLE beginner's book. All the /Dummies/ book did was make me feel like a complete idiot.

How is this book different? Simple. The puzzles are carefully arranged to teach you certain skills as you go along. Rather than saying, "here are the rules, and here's a billion random puzzles to solve," Tim Parker has picked an excellent selection of Kakuro puzzles with a nice progression to them. It is clear a lot of thought went into how new players will approach this book. Playing through the puzzles in order will indirectly teach you a great deal about how to solve Kakuro better and faster.

Good teachers will teach you by example, through experience, and by building confidence. Bad teachers (the Dummies book) will throw a bunch of facts at you and toss you into the deep end to fend for yourself. I prefer the confidence-building approach, and this book does an excellent job at indirectly teaching you to play Kakuro.

Highly recommended for newbies and my fellow victims of bad Kakuro books.

Average customer rating:

Not a book for beginners
Agree with readers who panned this book
Don't bother
Typical Mike Mepham style
Move over Sudoku

The Book of Kakuro #1
Michael Mepham
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1585678120

Book Description

Compiled by the creator of the best-selling Book of Sudoku and Sudoku To Go series, The Book of Kakuro is the hot new puzzle craze. Think of Kakuro as the mathematical equivalent of crosswords.

Kakuro books are flying off the shelves in Japan, where millions of copies have already been sold. In Britain, national newspapers that are syndicating the now-standard daily Sudoku puzzles are racing to put Kakuro puzzles alongside them. Sukodu went from an overseas puzzle phenomenon to an American popular sensation overnight, and Kakuro, already widely popular internationally, is poised to do the same.

The Book of Kakuro includes 132 puzzles ranging in difficulty from the gentle though the tough to the diabolical, tips to solving Kakuro puzzles, worksheets, and the solutions. Fans of Sudoku are nuts about the challenge of Kakuro and addicts won't tire of Kakuro because it is so flexible. If completing a 10 x 12 cell grid becomes a breeze, simply move on to bigger grids!

Just as the Sudoku craze has begun to dominate the best-seller lists across the country, the publisher who brought you Sudoku first brings forth the next wave in the international puzzle craze, compiled and introduced by the world's best-selling puzzle master, Michael Mepham. This time, don't be the last on your block to join the fun!

Customer Reviews:

Not a book for beginners.......2007-01-29

I first got hooked on Kakuro from an inexpensive paperback so I decided to upgrade to a higher quality book. I found that all the puzzles in this book are difficult, even the ones designated as "easy". For someone with experience solving difficult Kakuro puzzles, this book is challanging. However, if you are a beginner, you will become frustrated trying to solve the first puzzle and might not ever want to try another.

Agree with readers who panned this book.......2006-09-17

Yes, I agree that the quality of the paper is poor and the puzzles are all difficult, even the "Easy" ones. However, for those looking for tough puzzles, this book is very good, and outshines the other Kakuro (aka "Add 'Em Up") books I've seen. The difficulty rating really refers only to the size of the grid; i.e., the "Easy" ones have the fewest rows and columns. The techniques required to solve the puzzles are pretty much the same for all difficulty levels.

I would like to mention one technique that is required to solve many, if not most, of the puzzles in this book. That is because it does not seem to be required in other Kakuro books I've seen, and could be a stumbling block for some readers of this book. Consider an area of the puzzle (generally not rectangular). Let R be the sum of all entries in this area, when the row totals are summed. Similarly, let C be the sum of all entries when the column totals are summed. Naturally, R = C. Sometimes R can be calculated (i.e., each row total equals the given row sum less the sum of known entries in the row that are outside the given area), and C can expressed C = A - x, where A is a computed constant and x equals the unknown value of a cell that is not in the given region. It follows that x = A - R. (Obviously, the same technique can be employed when C can be computed and R can be expressed R = A - x.) Occasionally, Mepham is particularly devilish, requiring us to extend this approach to obtain an expression x = y + B (or x = B - y), where x and y represent values of two cells outside the area, and B is a computed constant. Clear as mud?

Don't bother.......2006-08-15

This book is such a poor example of an edited puzzle book. Our family does daily kakuro and sudoku puzzles from the paper or other sources. The "gentle" make you think so hard that that it's NO FUN. Don't think anyone tried them before the book was published.

Typical Mike Mepham style.......2006-02-15

Just like his Sudoku books; 4 levels of difficulty - Gentle, Moderate, Tough and Diabolical.

All of the puzzles make you "use your noodle". I have yet to complete one of his puzzles, although some other Kakuros give me no difficulty solving.

One thing this book has going for it is a primer on solving Kakuro.

Move over Sudoku.......2006-01-03

Just when you thought Sudoku was the latest puzzle to drive you crazy, along comes Kakuro, another Japanese puzzle to become the newest craze. Like Sudoku, Kakuro is really anything but new; it has been in Dell puzzle publications for years under the name "Cross Sums." No matter what you want to call it, however, it is an interesting puzzle with rules as simple as those of Sudoku and that's as maddeningly challenging.

I have two complaints with this book that knock a star off its rating. First, the difficulty ratings seem based more upon the size of the puzzle grid than upon its true difficulty. The first few puzzles in the book have a small grid, but they're not as easy as warm-up puzzles should be. Second, the book's paper is rather pulpy and it is difficult to erase your mistakes. In spite of these glitches, it's still a great way to exercise your gray cells. Try it, and watch the hours disappear.

Eileen Rieback

Average customer rating:

Kakuro 1: 54 Cross Sums Puzzles
Teora
Manufacturer: Teora USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1594961352

Product Description

An assortment of 54 cross-sums puzzles!

Kakuro 1: Beyond Sudoku - The Ultimate Cross Sums Challenge

Average customer rating:

Keep looking
Disappointing

Kakuro 1: Beyond Sudoku - The Ultimate Cross Sums Challenge
Dan Lindop , and Andy Johnston
Manufacturer: Thunder Bay Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1592236782

Book Description

Millions have succumbed to the phenomenon of Suduko, and it has spawned thousands of books, websites and daily puzzles in a number of national newspapers throughout the world. Yet in Japan, home of Sudoku, Kakro, or Kakuro is a far bigger phenomenon, appearing in over 70 different magazines and newspapers with over one million Kakuro books sold to date.

While Sudoku uses a straightforward grid, a Kakuro consists of filled and empty cells similar to a crossword puzzle. Some black cells contain a diagonal slash with numbers in them, the clues, creating exciting, addictive puzzles that will allow the growing army of Sudoku fans to stay one step ahead of the game.

Customer Reviews:

Keep looking.......2006-08-20

Puzzles are almost impossible to solve. Many puzzles have multi-solution blocks, which are a no-no. Skip this one and keep on looking.

Disappointing.......2006-08-13

A true Cross Sum does not have more than one possible solution. I have run across several already in this book that have interchangeable numbers in one or more areas which would make this particularly difficult for a beginner.

Kids' Kakuro (Dover Hobbies and Amusements for Children)

Average customer rating:

Kids' Kakuro (Dover Hobbies and Amusements for Children)
John Pazzelli
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Kids' Book of Kakuro!

ASIN: 0486453448

Book Description

Also known as "cross sums," this new Japanese puzzle sensation is rivaling the popularity of sudoku. Kakuro helps sharpen math skills, and children will find these brainteasers both absorbing and entertaining. Designed especially for kids, the 48 puzzles feature whimsical illustrations. Solutions included.

Average customer rating:

Penguin Book of Ultimate Kakuro 1
Michael Mepham
Manufacturer: PENGUIN PUTNAM * TRADE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PKPV04

Average customer rating:

Virgin Book of Kakuro: Bk. 1
*
Manufacturer: Virgin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K2TG4O

Book Description

Miami: Miles and miles of sun-drenched beaches packed with girls in bikinis and muscle-bound hunks in trunks. Add top pop singing group S Club 7, a wacky hotel manager and massive helpings of the most amazing music and you have all the ingredients needed for the hottest TV series ever!

This official scrapbook takes you on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the hit TV series, S Club 7 in Miami, revealing intimate details about the show's stars no true fan will want to miss.

Discover who Hannah fancies on the set, how Bradely makes the others blow their lines, and which girl's picture Jon has by his bed, plus much, much more in the ultimate guide to the coolest series on TV!

Jam-packed with never-before-seen photos, all the lingo from the series, and juicy on-the-set stories, S Club 7 in Miami: The Official Scrapbook is a must-read!

So join the fun in the sun and get ready to party, S Club 7 style! In the words of our stars, anything else is just "parp" (except of course ice cream, shopping, playing volleyball, and those funny little colored umbrellas they put in drinks!)

Customer Reviews:

Great scrapbook.......2004-03-28

This is a really good book. It has 2 giant posters or S Club, behind the scenes of Miami 7 pictures, a guide to each member containing facts and a full biography page. In each 'Beginners Guide' there is a picture or a S Clubber. It also includes the story guide of the Miami series, along with many other posters it has quotes from the series, the S Club 7 lingo, it also has a whole other page of 25 facts, and a page of 'Classic Moments'. This book is loaded with information and pictures! Go and buy it.

I loved this!.......2002-09-22

Although this book doesn't really have that much info on the band, it has billions of pictures. There are several fold-out posters, losts of collages, and an episode guide, too.

Even though it's a bit old, every S Club fan should own this!

S Club 7 is the BOMB!.......2000-12-01

The S Club 7 has millions of pictures, good info about the band, and 2 great posters that I put on my locker @ school. The pictures are great, and for their birthday!! Happy reading!

Great Book about S Club 7 in Miami!.......2000-09-06

This book is all about the show. It has lots of pictures. Even summeries of all the episodes with what songs were sung. This book is perfect for anyone who loved the series. Even comes with posters!

This is a great book about the wonderful 7!.......2000-08-07

S Club 7 are the best and this book tells you all about they're first tv series! S CLub 7 rule! This book is a 5 star hit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

S Club 7 in Miami: The Official Scrapbook

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S Club 7 in Miami: The Official Scrapbook
Jeremy Mark Jackie Robb
Manufacturer: Harper Entertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEQIYY

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