Nonlinear Editing: Storytelling, Aesthetics, & Craft
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A must read!
  • Very good advice for beginners
Nonlinear Editing: Storytelling, Aesthetics, & Craft
Bryce Button
Manufacturer: CMP Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1578200962

Book Description

The art of editing in a nonlinear mode cannot be gleaned from software application manuals. This book is designed to convey the artistic considerations and techniques that both new and experienced editors need to employ in editing digital stock. Readers learn the importance of timing, emotion, and art in assembling a cohesive project that tells a story with the appropriate flow and pace. Each chapter features interviews with professionals and exercises relevant to the subject matter under discussion.

Nonlinear Editing is chock full of provocative ideas, insights, resources, tools, and exercises that will inspire you to making better decisions in the edit bay and in your career. For editors, directors, producers, and screenwriters.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A must read!.......2003-06-10

I Bought this book as a reference for technical issues (formats, standards, procedures) but I got much more. Button gives you the whole layout of this art/craft of film editing. The topics covered range from editing equipment to film theory, color harmony&design basics to writing resumes. Light, sound - this book covers it all. Not all topics are discussed in great length, but there are excellent reference lists for further reading and websites.
Bryce Button seems to be an experienced editor and a film scholar and clearly enjoys teaching.
I have been a film editor for 10 years -I've still learned a lot. Some of the information will be redundant to the more experienced but still- very well written, packed with knowledge, insight - in short, a real inspiration. Well Done!

4 out of 5 stars Very good advice for beginners.......2003-05-24

The book contains tons of very good advice for novice editors. The tips on planning will save a lot of time when the real work begins. The suggestions on the practical and aesthetic (including sound) aspects of editing will speed up the process and improve the quality of the finished work, perhaps by the equivalent of at least a few month's apprenticeship. The chapters on dealing with stress and team members, clients and the business, give an idea of the work environment to be expected. After reading the whole book, chapter 13 summarizes the most important tips as "cheat sheets" - very useful.

The only thing I didn't like was a number of typos, and what I thought was an occasional lapse in a couple of explanations.
A Florida Fiddler: The Life and Times of Richard Seaman
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Entertaining and insightful biography
A Florida Fiddler: The Life and Times of Richard Seaman
Gregory Hansen
Manufacturer: University Alabama Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0817315535

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Entertaining and insightful biography.......2007-03-09

Gregory Hansen's study of Richard Seaman is a fascinating book that takes us into the world of a little-known artist. The book's analysis of Seaman's place within Florida history and culture is very intelligent and insightful. What makes the book so enjoyable to read, however, is that Hansen allows his subject to speak. Seaman's tall-tales are entertaining for any reader. Hansen displays a real affection for his subject that is unusual and refreshing for a study from a university press.
Exploring Visual Storytelling (Exploring (Delmar))
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Exploring Visual Storytelling (Exploring (Delmar))
    Brian Arnold , and Brendan Eddy
    Manufacturer: Cengage Delmar Learning
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Graphic Arts | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 1418014923

    Book Description

    Film, video games, television ads, corporate presentations-whatever medium you're working in, a visual story is the most compelling way to provide your audience with information and, more important, with an emotional experience. Exploring Visual Storytelling analyzes the essential techniques of creating compelling visual stories. Based on the pioneering work of Minneapolis-based Visual Culture, this innovative book-DVD package examines and explains the fundamentals of the medium by covering the seven key concepts behind every visual story: context, character, conflict, plot, 2D space, 3D space, and time. Each topic is thoroughly explained in print and then applied in the companion DVD, fully demonstrating how these core concepts work together to create a cohesive, compelling story.
    Storytelling in Film and Television
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A fine book on the differences between film and television narrative strategies
    Storytelling in Film and Television
    Kristin Thompson
    Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    1. The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies
    2. Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique
    3. Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know
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    5. Figures Traced in Light: On Cinematic Staging Figures Traced in Light: On Cinematic Staging

    ASIN: 0674010876

    Book Description

    Derided as simple, dismissed as inferior to film, famously characterized as a vast wasteland, television nonetheless exerts an undeniable, apparently inescapable power in our culture. The secret of television's success may well lie in the remarkable narrative complexities underlying its seeming simplicity, complexities Kristin Thompson unmasks in this engaging analysis of the narrative workings of television and film.

    After first looking at the narrative techniques the two media share, Thompson focuses on the specific challenges that series television presents and the tactics writers have devised to meet them--tactics that sustain interest and maintain sense across multiple plots and subplots and in spite of frequent interruptions as well as weeklong and seasonal breaks. Beyond adapting the techniques of film, Thompson argues, television has wrought its own changes in traditional narrative form. Drawing on classics of film and television, as well as recent and current series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Sopranos, and The Simpsons, she shows how adaptations, sequels, series, and sagas have altered long-standing notions of closure and single authorship. And in a comparison of David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, she asks whether there can be an "art television" comparable to the more familiar "art cinema."

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A fine book on the differences between film and television narrative strategies.......2005-12-28

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading this study concerning some of the contrasts in the ways that the movies and television handles narrative, not least because for the past year or so this has been one of the topics of most interest to me. At least part of my enjoyment of the book came because Kristin Thompson confirmed many of the conclusions I have drawn in reflecting upon the changes that have taken place in television over the course of the past two decades, though in the end I believe she missed on an opportunity to recognize one of the major developments in television narrative in recent years. More of this in a second.

    The four chapters in this book originated in a series of lectures that Ms. Thompson gave a few years ago at Oxford University. Her background is film, but unlike many film theorists she obviously takes television quite seriously. Quite unusually, her analysis treats individual shows as texts to be analyzed on their own, unlike many today who analyze television primarily in the role its plays in culture as a whole. I do not think that that approach is completely void of interest, but I also believe that what should be foundational-the careful reading of individual shows-has been neglected to the detriment to most television theory. Most television theory focuses on the forest to the exclusion of virtually all the individual trees. The first chapter deals with this precise issue, by analyzing the negative and limiting impact that Raymond Williams's famous concept of "flow" has had on television studies. "Flow" refers to an imagined way that television functions, taking the viewer from show to commercial back to show to another commercial and finally to the next show and so forth throughout the evening. Under such a way of conceiving TV, an individual show is merely one element among others. But as Thompson very correctly points out, viewers are far more likely to recognize commercial breaks as opportunities to dash to the restroom, check to see if the water for dinner is boiling, or chance to run to the kitchen and grab a snack. Thompson argues for a focus on individual shows. Since the lectures were given in 2001, the role of DVDs has utterly altered the landscape. Videos were unable to do this simply because of their sheer bulk. A single season of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION could fill an entire bookshelf, whereas now one could fit the entire STAR TREK franchise, movies include, on a shelf and a half. Viewing a show on DVD makes "flow" irrelevant, since no one in their right mind would argue that somehow the show has been diminished by eliminating the commercial breaks. Ironically, there is a new kind of flow, as I recently experienced when rewatching the first season of VERONICA MARS, this time on DVD.

    The second chapter focuses on analyzing television narrative through examining writing strategies for the medium by reference to screenplay writing manuals. I had never considered looking at such books for guidance in understanding television or film, but this strikes me as a good idea. I plan on looking at a few of the books she mentions in her discussion. More than any of the other chapters, this one deals with the real nature of television narrative. Although I agree with much that she says, I also differ with her, and I believe it is here that she misses turning this book into a study of the first rank. She points out that in the history of the medium, television primarily consisted of series with stand alone episodes. Each week the main characters would undergo a series of experiences that would be completely resolved by show's end. Moreover, there was a timelessness to each week's action. As she points out, one could easily shuffle the order of the episodes and not lose a single thing thereby. It was only in the seventies (with comedies like THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW) and the eighties (with series such as HILL STREET BLUES) that plots began to become complicated and started spilling out over more than one episode. I agree completely with her and also strongly agree that she gets precisely correct the important shows in this transformation. But I fault her account on one important point: she fails to detect the development of a third kind of television narrative. Beginning with TWIN PEAKS (which ironically is the subject of her final chapter), continuing with THE X-FILES, and fully maturing with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (and perhaps finding its most complete expression in LOST), a new genre of show began to appear that was not merely concerned with juggling a variety of arcs, but also with an overarching or master arc, a grand narrative that structured the show as a whole. THE X-FILES was a blend of stand alone episodes and episodes that continued the arc about the government's conspiracy to hide the truth about alien invasion. There is absolutely nothing comparable to this in HILL STREET BLUES or NYPD BLUE or CHINA BEACH or CAGNEY AND LACEY or NORTHERN EXPOSURE or ST. ELSEWHERE or the many other fine shows that develop their narrative by expanding multiple story arcs. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER had a variety of smaller arcs, but each season featured one very big arc that more or less resolved that year. But BUFFY also contained very large arcs that extended for seasons, and one, Buffy's struggle with a destiny as slayer that robbed her of everything she most desired in life, continued from the first episode until the last few seconds of the last one. The number of shows driven by master narratives remains rather small-FARSCAPE, ANGEL, DARK ANGEL, WONDERFALLS, SMALLVILLE, LOST, and VERONICA MARS are a few examples-but their numbers are growing and often comprise many of the best shows on TV. Their presence also contradicts something else that Thompson assumes. She states that one of the challenges of TV lies in its shorter format. I understand what she means. An individual movie script can run to 90 to 180 minutes. A typical hour long script, adjusting for commercials, runs 47 (according to her-I find that most of my shows run 42-44). But ultimately I think she gets it wrong. Shows with master narratives extend over a large number of episodes and involve vastly more running time than any film. For instance, the first season of LOST was essentially one story (the show as a whole, when it runs its full length in four more seasons, will tell a single story). The total run time for the year was well in excess of a thousand minutes. Now, when even a very, very long movie is only 180 minutes, how can television be considered short format except in terms of each individual script. The fact is that a television show like BUFFY or LOST has a luxury of time that no movie can compete with. The differences between a show like LOST and a show like NYPD BLUE seems to be as significant as those between HILL STREET BLUES and any earlier series that employed the stand alone format exclusively.

    The third chapter dealt with the differences between film and television narrative by discussing adaptations and spin offs. She chooses to write of a television series that was a spin off from a movie and a movie that an adaptation of a television series. Interestingly, in both instances the movies were vastly less successful than the television shows. The films/series were BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and THE AVENGERS. Although these are two of my all time favorite series, as a whole I found this the least interesting chapter in the book. The points she makes here are completely valid, but they simply were not very substantive.

    The final chapter raises the question of whether there can be art-television just as there are art movies. She discusses THE SINGING DETECTIVE as one candidate before going into detail into another, David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter, but I think the approach somewhat wrongheaded. I think it ultimately futile to attempt to characterize productions as "artistic" based on specific qualities that they possess. One of my favorite books is C. S. Lewis's AN EXPERIMENT IN CRITICISM, in which Lewis argues that we ought to focus on whether books promote and sustain good reading rather than whether a book is good or bad (one could easily substitute "art"). I think both TWIN PEAKS and THE SINGING DETECTIVE can be experienced as serious television; PETTICOAT JUNCTION and HEE HAW and perhaps even LAW AND ORDER (which intentionally eliminates character development) cannot. I would hesitate to describe BUFFY as "art" television, but yet it has received vastly more academic attention than THE SINGING DETECTIVE and TWIN PEAKS combined. Perhaps I am wrong, but I am not sure that trying to locate an "art" television is a project that would ever be especially fruitful.

    Despite my disagreements with the author at certain points, I regard this as a first rate book on television narrative. I urge anyone interested in the way that television narrative has evolved or in the fundamental differences between film and TV.
    Storytelling
    Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
    • Oy vey, the schmucks abound!
    • This is not a book about screenwriting or storytelling
    Storytelling
    Todd Solondz
    Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0571212832

    Book Description

    As in his earlier screenplays, Todd Solondz peers deeply into the underside of American suburban life and concerns in Storytelling, with sometimes shocking, sometimes hilarious, results. The film is in two parts: "Fiction" deals with the relationship between students and their black teacher in a college creative writing class while hammering away in decidedly non-PC fashion at the most sensitive social and political concerns of our time: race, sex, prejudice against the disabled. "Nonfiction" follows the attempts of an underachieving documentary filmmaker to capture the day-to-day life of an underachieving high-school student and his family--with surprisingly horrifying results.

    The film--which stars John Goodman and Julie Hagerty as the parents in the second part of the movie--caused something of a sensation when it was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2001.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Oy vey, the schmucks abound!.......2002-07-15

    Woops, look like Mr. "I'm not a college bound high school senior" should've done a little more research into his purchase. Actually, if he had READ the book instead of passing on, he might've gotten a better lesson in screenwriting than any Syd Field or Michael Hague book can provide. If you want to write screenplays, read screenplays; and you can't go wrong with Todd Solondz if you want guidance in excellent character development.

    1 out of 5 stars This is not a book about screenwriting or storytelling.......2002-05-01

    This is from the back cover, "[Todd Solodnz] offers two separate stories ('Fiction' and 'Non-Fiction') that unfold amid the sadly comical terrain of college and high school. In the first, a young female student has a stranger-than-fiction sexual encounter with her creative writing tutor. In the second, a struggling documentarian sets out to faithfully record the life and thoughts of an ordinary American adolescent, but finds himself irresistibly drawn to the exploitative possibilities of the material."

    If this description had been available to me I would have never purchased the book. The only reason I did buy the book was because it appeared when doing a search for screenwriting books. I'll pass judgment on the readability of the book since I'm am not in the target audience of high school seniors who are college bound.

    How anyone can attempt to compare this book to any of the vast number of screenwriting books available is beyond imagination. Maybe they haven't read Robert McKee's "Story," or Laos Egri's "The Art of Dramatic Writing." If I can save one person from wasting their money the effort will have been worth it.
    Brigh an Orain A Story in Every Song
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Brigh an Orain A Story in Every Song
      Lauchie Maclellan
      Manufacturer: McGill-Queen's University Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

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      ASIN: 0773520635
      Make Believe in Film and Fiction: Visual vs. Verbal Storytelling
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Make Believe in Film and Fiction: Visual vs. Verbal Storytelling
        Karl Kroeber
        Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

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        ASIN: 1403972796
        Release Date: 2006-04-27

        Book Description

        Describing in detail precise differences between the psychological experience of reading a novel and watching a movie, Make Believe in Film and Fiction shows how movies' unique magnification of movements produces stories especially potent in exposing hypocrisy, the spread of criminality in contemporary society, and the relation of private experience to the natural environment. By contrasts of novels with visual storytelling the book also displays how fiction facilitates sharing of subjective fantasies, frees the mind from limiting spatial and temporal preconceptions, and dramatizes the ethical significance of even trivial and commonplace behavior, while intensifying readers' awareness of how they think and feel.
        Animacios elmeny, erzelmi neveles: Mese, film, bab, rajz, dia gyerekeknek : [valogatas a] Gyertek, meselunk, 3. salgotarjani Animacios Szemle, 1978 [anyagabol
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Animacios elmeny, erzelmi neveles: Mese, film, bab, rajz, dia gyerekeknek : [valogatas a] Gyertek, meselunk, 3. salgotarjani Animacios Szemle, 1978 [anyagabol

          Manufacturer: Nepmuvelesi Intezet
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Unknown Binding

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          ASIN: 9636510857

          Notes from the Green Room: Coping With Stress and Anxiety in Musical Performance
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Notes from the Green Room: Coping With Stress and Anxiety in Musical Performance
            Paul G. Salmon , and Robert G. Meyer
            Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover
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            ASIN: 0669250104

            Book Description

            Essential Reading for Performers at Any Level

            "Notes from the Green Room is a welcome and unique addition to the literature on performance anxiety for both musicians and clinicians. Educational and practical, it will inspire a variety of possible therapeutic approaches."—Alice G. Brandfonbrener, M.D., Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

            "These talented and knowledgeable authors offer musicians a very clear description of the mechanisms involved in performance anxiety and suggest concrete ideas for channeling the negative aspects of anxiety into a positive force. Especially effective are the case histories offering real life examples of musicians dealing with the stresses and strains of performance. This should be required reading for all musicians!"— Gail J. Berenson, professor of piano, Chair Keyboard Division, Ohio University School of Music

            "A superb job— beyond the notably obvious beneficial implications built into this book for musicians, the authors have compiled a thorough and comprehensive treatise which deals with every facet of anxiety and stress management for performers, regardless of their discipline . . . this work should be obligatory reading."— Lee Bash, chair, Department of Fine & Performing Arts, Bellarmine College and director, Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts

            "Notes from the Green Room is a superb study of musical performance anxiety. Beginning students, seasoned performers, and teachers can all benefit from the practical help it provides. It will certainly become required reading for all my students."— James Kibbie, University of Michigan School of Music


            Vulnerable in Hearts: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, and Contract Bridge
            Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
            • A sweet deal, well played
            • Grand Slam
            • Plenty of teens will find the father, son and game interrelationships intriguing
            Vulnerable in Hearts: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, and Contract Bridge
            Sandy Balfour
            Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover

            GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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            BridgeBridge | Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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            1. Right Through The Pack Right Through The Pack
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            3. The Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats: A Newcomer's Journey into the World of Bridge The Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats: A Newcomer's Journey into the World of Bridge
            4. I Love This Game I Love This Game
            5. 365 Winning Bridge Tips 365 Winning Bridge Tips

            ASIN: 0374285721
            Release Date: 2006-04-04

            Book Description

            Contract bridge—the version of the game we play today—and Sandy Balfour’s father were both conceived in 1925 and thrust, blinking uncertainly, into the fractured world of 1926. But while Balfour’s father was the child of a bank clerk and a schoolteacher and was born in a modest apartment in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, the game he came to love had an altogether more distinguished lineage.

            Vulnerable in Hearts chronicles the eight decades of Balfour’s father’s life and the same period in the history and development of bridge, a game that has enticed players from Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Gates and Clint Eastwood. First taught the game as a child by his mildly eccentric father, Balfour is drawn to bridge as a means to try to understand him, but soon discovers the global empire of the game itself. As the narrative moves from the bridge clubs of Moscow to the World Bridge Olympiad in Istanbul, Balfour explores the complex relationships of bridge and history, rules and empire, father and son.

            Part memoir, part history, part game, Vulnerable in Hearts is a wryly entertaining account of how we communicate with one another, why we play games, and how we love.

            Customer Reviews:

            4 out of 5 stars A sweet deal, well played.......2006-12-06

            Sandy Balfour's family memoir, with emphasis on his father, is a charming and unusual book, and an easy read at only 200 pages. Bridge was the anchor for Dad's life, which otherwise was a disappointment in several ways, compared to his potential. Dad could shine at the bridge table and let his personality come through. Lessons in bidding, playing the hand, and relating to your partner and opponents also were proxies for life.

            The title comes from a comment near the end: "to be alive is always and everywhere to be vulnerable in hearts," recounted as he waited for father's imminent death. The title is simply a wonderful play on words and suited for a memoir that combines the complex game of contract bridge and similarly complex life in general. To some degree, to understand bridge is to understand the father.

            The book opens and closes with the death of the author's father. In between is a combination of the author's memories, a recounting of his father's life, and the history of contract bridge. The connection, besides the importance of the game in his father's life, is that contract bridge was invented the same year as his father was born.

            Father and his brothers were shipped from Scotland to South Africa as youths in advance of World War II, presumably to avoid service. Father ended up serving anyway and returned to South Africa permanently, although never completely leaving his native Scotland.

            The history of bridge, blended with the story in small doses as well as more extended sections, was very well done. I will assume it is accurate. It flows briskly, with a nice mixture of overview and detail, aided by several colorful personalities, such as Culbertson, and big names, such as Goren.

            Knowledge of bridge is not required, although it is helpful. I have played a little, so that the re-telling of various hands and the evolution of different bidding systems was not foreign. Players will no doubt enjoy some specific hands shown and speculate on what they might have done, just as in a bridge column.

            My only slightly negative comment is that the book lacks for action; not a lot happens. Perhaps some more anecdotes would have been appropriate. The family wasn't quite interesting enough, as presented, to take the book to the next level.

            I highly recommend the book for readers looking for an unusual memoir, and especially for bridge fans of middle age and beyond who can appreciate the bonus view of contract bridge over their own lives.

            5 out of 5 stars Grand Slam.......2006-10-29

            You don't have to be a bridge lover to enjoy this story of a young man's experiences in pre World War II Scotland, England and South Africa. But it helps! As the author's father says "Everyone likes bridge, they just don't know it yet." I highly recommend this wonderful memoir.

            5 out of 5 stars Plenty of teens will find the father, son and game interrelationships intriguing.......2006-09-15

            While Vulnerable In Hearts easily reaches an adult audience, this memoir is reviewed here for its special interest to young adults as well, telling of a father, a son, and contract bridge, which binds their worlds. Eight decades of Balfour's father's life and the same period in the history of bridge are provided in an intriguing world history of the game. Plenty of teens will find the father, son and game interrelationships intriguing.

            Vulnerable in Hearts: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, And Contract Bridge
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Vulnerable in Hearts: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, And Contract Bridge
              Sandy Balfour
              Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Paperback

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              ASIN: 1843543664

              Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning
              Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
              • Excellent book, concise and insightful.
              • The best planning book I've read to date
              • Perfect
              • Excellent Introduction But Too Consumer Focussed
              • HighlyRecommended!
              Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning
              Jon Steel
              Manufacturer: Wiley
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover

              GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
              AdvertisingAdvertising | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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              4. Ogilvy on Advertising Ogilvy on Advertising
              5. Hitting the Sweet Spot: How Consumer Insights Can Inspire Better Marketing and Advertising Hitting the Sweet Spot: How Consumer Insights Can Inspire Better Marketing and Advertising

              ASIN: 0471189626

              Book Description

              "Account planning exists for the sole purpose of creating advertising that truly connects with consumers. While many in the industry are still dissecting consumer behavior, extrapolating demographic trends, developing complex behavioral models, and measuring Pavlovian salivary responses, Steel advocates an approach to consumer research that is based on simplicity, common sense, and creativity--an approach that gains access to consumers' hearts and minds, develops ongoing relationships with them, and, most important, embraces them as partners in the process of developing and advertising.

              A witty, erudite raconteur and teacher, Steel describes how successful account planners work in partnership with clients, consumer, and agency creatives. He criticizes research practices that, far from creating relationships, drive a wedge between agencies and the people they aim to persuade; he suggests new ways of approaching research to cut through the BS and get people to show their true selves; and he shows how the right research, when translated into a motivating and inspiring brief, can be the catalyst for great creative ideas. He draws upon his own experiences and those of colleagues in the United States and abroad to illustrate those points, and includes examples of some of the most successful campaigns in recent years, including Polaroid, Norwegian Cruise Line, Porsche, Isuzu, "got milk?" and others.

              The message of this book is that well-thought-out account planning results in better, more effective marketing and advertising for both agencies and clients. And also makes an evening in front of the television easier to bear for the population at large."

              Customer Reviews:

              5 out of 5 stars Excellent book, concise and insightful........2007-02-15

              Really, I suppose, the type of book a planner should write.

              It is a great introduction to what a planner is and does. A good textbook for anyone involved in advertising or dealing with ad agencies. A brilliant "manual" for planners.

              5 out of 5 stars The best planning book I've read to date.......2007-01-12

              There is a huge shortage of good account planning books. This effort by Jon Steele makes up for it. He is a man passionate about advertising (that's evident throughout the book) and very good at it too.

              Jon covers the theoretical and practical aspects of account planning thoroughly and provides insights and advice for planners at all levels, account management staff, creative staff and clients.

              Reading this book will show you how to improve the quality of your advertising product. It has certainly helped me do that at the agency I work for in New Zealand. One of the best buys I've made on Amazon.

              5 out of 5 stars Perfect.......2006-11-15

              Perfect! The book is absolutely AWESOME! A nice way of teaching a lesson about advertising!

              4 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction But Too Consumer Focussed.......2005-01-07

              Without a doubt, this is the difinitive book on the art of account planning. Having been an account planner myself, I can assure you that no other book comes close in terms of providing 1) an overview of the discipline 2) a realistic account of how planning functions in everday situations within the agency 3) is done in an extremely readable and clear format unlike many other advertising strategy/research books which are more strategic textbook. Steel's book reads like a biography which is a testiment to his skill as a writer and as a planner.

              However, I do have a few issues with this book in that it places too much emphasis on the power of the consumer in the planning process. I have known many non-planners who have read this book and come away with the idea that everything the consumer says and does is the word of God and planning is nothing more than a glorified consumer tape recorder. This in turn makes the planner's job more difficult in some respects as they in turn must justify all of their work with,"the consumer said this." Often, agency personal new to planning desperately want to strictly classify this multi-faceted discipline and often put it in in a smaller box (consumer) than it is suited for (incidentally, this often says something about the quality or lack thereof of those who you are working with).

              The reality (for me anyway) is that account planning encompases many different skills and functions of which listening and interpreting what the consumer says is just one. Consumers are only a rear view mirror in that they can tell you what happened in the past but cannot predict the future. They are also extremely literal and what they say is not always what they mean or feel which is why instinct (a dirty word in many advertising circles) is so essential. Many great brands and briefs utliize a strong point of view rather than direct and literal consumer insight which is counter to the case studies that Steel uses to explain the 'planning process.'

              Overall, this is an excellent 'introduction' into account planning. In a sense, the dilema that this book creates though, is also why planning is such a wonderful discipline. A planner's job cannot be easily classified in a sentence because there are so many diverse skills required of a first-rate planner.

              5 out of 5 stars HighlyRecommended!.......2004-06-04

              Successful ad campaigns are not linear developments where a business need meshes straightforwardly with an effective creative approach and actually produces successful tangible results. Instead, building memorable, provocative advertising campaigns is such a complex, political task, both rational and emotional, that a successful campaign is a wonder. Veteran advertising expert Jon Steel contends that building a good campaign is the common sense responsibility of the account planner - the new nexus of the consumer, agency creative staff, client and researchers. Steel shows the pitfalls of misguided research and creative arrogance as he explains that a good business-oriented account planner can help produce wonderfully effective, often simple, ad campaigns. His witty, erudite book concludes with its best case study: a look inside the successful "Got Milk" campaign for the California milk industry. We recommend this book to those who buy and sell advertising and to anyone working at an ad agency.
              Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning by Steel (Cram101 Textbook Outlines - Textbook NOT Included)
              Average customer rating: 1 out of 5 stars
              • Cram 101 Textbook Outline for Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning by Steel
              • Incorrect description
              • What IS this?
              • Read the description carefully before buying!
              Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning by Steel (Cram101 Textbook Outlines - Textbook NOT Included)
              Steel
              Manufacturer: AIPI
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Paperback

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              Similar Items:
              1. Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning
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              3. Ogilvy on Advertising Ogilvy on Advertising
              4. Hitting the Sweet Spot: How Consumer Insights Can Inspire Better Marketing and Advertising Hitting the Sweet Spot: How Consumer Insights Can Inspire Better Marketing and Advertising
              5. Advertising Account Planning: A Practical Guide Advertising Account Planning: A Practical Guide

              ASIN: 1428809996

              Book Description

              Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again! Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included.look no further for study resources or reference material. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes, and practice-tests for your textbook. Only Cram101 is Textbook Specific. Cram101 is NOT the Textbook.

              Customer Reviews:

              1 out of 5 stars Cram 101 Textbook Outline for Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning by Steel.......2007-03-08

              This item was a total waste of money and thoroughly unsatisfactory textbook outline.

              2 out of 5 stars Incorrect description.......2007-01-31

              I am returning this. I had the same problem as others here. The description and title were for the actual book, and what I was sent was some sort of rinky dink outline. Not much use to me.

              To be fair, this review doesn't assess the quality of this outline just the fact that it wasn't what it said it was (so I gave it an extra star, it's not the books fault). It seems they have changed the title now on Amazon to reflect the correct title.

              1 out of 5 stars What IS this?.......2007-01-09

              When I ordered this product I was going by the title from a list of books. It was not until I received this product that I discovered that the actual book and the vocabulary section without the book had the exact same title. What am I going to do with the vocabulary, if I don't have the book? My suggestion, there should be a note SOMEWHERE on this object that indicates to someone placing an order that it might not be what they are actually looking for.

              1 out of 5 stars Read the description carefully before buying!.......2006-12-21

              All of the descriptions, reviews, etc describe the actual book. However, what is sold here (the yellow cover) is NOT the actual book. It's a study guide that really only has terms and definitions. Absolutely NOT what I expected to receive. Also, when you click on the picture of the book to get a better look, it takes you to the hardcover version (the real book), but again, that's not what you're buying. Very disappointed that I didn't receive the real book, as every indication said I would be.
              Adweek Magazine #3: Truth, Lies, and Advertising: the Art of Account Planning
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Adweek Magazine #3: Truth, Lies, and Advertising: the Art of Account Planning
                Jon Steel
                Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Hardcover
                ASIN: B000N782A0

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                4. Pictures in My Head
                5. Playing With Canons
                6. Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, Second Edition
                7. Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Films
                8. Raindance Writers' Lab
                9. Reality Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX: Strategic Solutions for Online Interaction
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