Posts Tagged ‘Books’
Posted by Bryan in Books, Latest News, Reviews on March 22nd, 2010
The title of Mark Sawicki’s book, Animating with Stop Motion Pro, is both entirely accurate and a complete understatement. Contained within these pages is not only an easy-to-follow yet comprehensive guide to the software, process, and techniques necessary for basic animation, it also serves as an all-encompassing textbook — full of notes, references, and passages to the historical forbearers of the animated film form.
Sawicki’s name comes with credibility, as he has taught visual effects for over 20 years, and has contributed special effects work to several MTV videos, the television series, Star Trek, and films such as Tropic Thunder, Premonition, 40 Year Old Virgin, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
It should be noted that despite Sawicki’s evident prowess and understanding of the tools and techniques, the book is distinctly geared towards novice and intermediate stop motion animators, model makers, animated filmmakers, and students. Luckily, his guidelines and explanations for using the program are so easy to follow that users should quickly establish the basis of understanding necessary to move on to more advanced work, should they be so inclined.
For those not familiar, Stop Motion Pro is a stop-motion software program designed by Ross Garner and Paul Howell to run on the Windows operating systems XP, Vista, or Windows 7. The software requires the possession of a video camera, webcam, or digital still camera, which is hooked up to the computer in order to sequence and animate the captured images. The software is currently selling version 7, and has been in use by professional animators for just over ten years. Most recently, the program was used to animate the short film, Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death.
The program is one of the perennial tools for present-day animators, and conveniently expedites the process of editing together the necessary components of animation. Before the digital age, sequences were all filmed in-camera with no ability to see the image and adjust while on-set. With this new type of software, the camera is linked to the computer to produce a “live feed,” of the images it is capturing, thereby allowing the filmmakers to instantly react and adjust to what they see. Features such as “onion skinning,” whereby the previously captured image is overlayed with the current one, allow them to replicate the illusion of motion as precisely as possible.
The most welcome aspect of the book is Sawicki’s utilization of large, glossy pictures to accompany each of his text-based explanations. Nothing is more frustrating than endlessly scrolling through an unfamiliar computer program with a so-called “help” manual that merely describes something other than what you’re seeing. This book solves that problem with easily distinguishable photos of both the types of models and films it references and actual screenshots of what the reader should be seeing on their screen.
Sawicki also makes the wise decision to emphasize history and technique over the software itself. He addresses the necessary technical components in an introduction, and leaves it at that. That’s not to say that this text is over-reliant on theoretical discussion. But Sawicki clearly believes that the software in question is merely a vehicle for creative output and expression. He adopts the role of guide, giving the reader sufficient background and context to understand the purpose of the program, and leaving the content up to them.
The structure of the book indicates Sawicki’s history as a professor, as the chapters are clearly broken up into different animation subjects — from time, to people, to objects, to voices, to puppets, to clay. The book acknowledges a progression in theory and technique between the separate subjects, and it’s easy to imagine each chapter representing a week or so in a college course. They are sequenced so in the book that if one were simply interested in clay animation, they could leap straight to that chapter, but by reading the entire preceding portion, they will have accumulated a greater basis for understanding the techniques therein.
With the extensive leaps in technology over the last decade, the process of stop-motion filmmaking is constantly undergoing revision. In that respect, this book should serve as a wonderful resource for newcomers seeking to understand the process of stop-motion animation, or even experienced animators not up-to-date with the latest software. It’s difficult to imagine a more simple yet comprehensive guide.
Animating with Stop Motion Pro is published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. It is available at bookstores now in paperback form.
Posted by dominie in Events on February 21st, 2009
Here’s an update from our friend Jerad over at Centipede Press. If you’ve forgotten our previous announcement, Centipede Press is giving free books with any purchase of a book!
COMING SOON:
Child of Rage — back in stock
H.P. Lovecraft Masters of the Weird Tale — this will be ready first week of March
Don Brautigam — copies available now
Videodrome — small delay here, hopefully coming soon
ITEMS ON SALE:
I am getting rid of all copies of Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft in the traycase with the extra prints. There are only around 15-20 remaining and they gotta go to make room for other things. Therefore, they are marked down to $295 until they are gone. They ship with free items, including a free 3D Lovecraft art print and other goodies.
I also have a copy of Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft deluxe edition, a complete set, in the bindery right now. If you want it, it is yours for $1650, more than $800 off.
I also have the following traycase editions of these titles at a good prices:
Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon
leatherbound deluxe traycase edition $225 regularly
now $125
The Other by Thomas Tryon
leatherbound deluxe traycase edition $295 regularly
now $150
The Nightwalker by Thomas Tessier
leatherbound deluxe traycase edition $295 regularly
now $150
The Search for Joseph Tully by William H. Hallahan
leatherbound deluxe traycase edition $250 regularly
now $125
The Auctioneer by Joan Samson
leatherbound deluxe traycase edition $250 regularly
now $125
Nosferatu in the slipcase
a slightly dinged up copy for $125 (regular $250)
Dracula in the slipcase
again, slightly dented for $175 (regular $250)
Remember the Centipede Press free book sale is going on. Right now, I am dispensing with old VHS tapes and DVDs that no longer interest me. Once the weather warms up, I will systematically be going through the bookshelves to get rid of a lot of hardcover and paperback books.
COMING SOON, EITHER AT THE PRINTER OR AT THE BINDERY:
The Influence by Ramsey Campbell
being bound as we speak!
Black Wings Has My Angel
If You Could See Me Now by Peter Straub
awaiting final color proofs
ARTISTS INSPIRED BY STEPHEN KING UPDATE:
Les Edwards, Ned Dameron, Don Maitz, Michael Whelan, Alex McVey, Jason Eckhardt, Bob Eggleton, and others have signed on to create new works specially for this book, which should be available for pre-order by late March or early April.
That’s about it for this time. Thank you everyone!
Posted by Dominic in Books on August 21st, 2008
Given the many editions of Stephen King books through the years, it was high time the artwork was showcased in a collection. Centipede Press is taking care of that very thing with a book now in the works.
The small press publisher has quietly made a name for itself with their reprintings of classic horror, crime, and science fiction works in addition to art books. Contributors to the untitled King book include Michael Whelan, Bernie Wrightson, J.K. Potter, Don Brautigam, Stephen Gervais, Ned Dameron and Don Maitz.
Jerad Walters told Fangoria, “We’re hoping that [King] will agree to an introduction.”
Posted by Dominic in Movies on August 18th, 2008
Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander, perhaps best known for their work on the screenplay for Ed Wood, look to be the team Sony wants to adapt R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps for a big screen series.
Stine’s 50 titles in his series set sales records for Scholastic back in the 1980s and spawned television and direct-to-video incarnations. After writing other books and series, Stine returned to his best-known franchise with Goosebumps in HorrorLand, a dozen book set.
No director or cast has been set.
Posted by Dominic in Movies on August 17th, 2008
It’s been a busy few weeks for Twilight and its related world. No sooner does Warner Bros. move Harry Potter from fall to summer, then Twilight seizes the open weekend now coming just prior to Thanksgiving.
Sara Castillo at FEARnet was able to catch up with some of cast and chatted about how each of them tapped into their respective inner vampires. FM now recaps on the highlights of each interview. (more…)
Posted by Dominic in Books on August 13th, 2008
We’re always interested to hear when someone else dips their toes into the horror field. Our friend, Victoria Blake, formerly of DH Books, sent us news of her newest venture, Underland Press.
“I started Underland with a vision of bringing the world’s best odd, scary, and unsettling fiction to life and to light,” Blake said in a release. “I wanted to make a publishing company that had as much presence online as it did in print. Both of those things have happened. Underland is now distributed by PGW, one of the industry’s heavy-hitters, which means our books will be available everywhere books are sold. The website has been getting a substantial amount of online attention for our wovel, or web novel, where readers vote on the plot choices in real time. People are taking notice. (more…)
Posted by Dominic in Television & Web Series on August 12th, 2008
John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick is boiling up a new incarnation, this time as an hour-long series for ABC. The pilot is being written by Maggie Friedman (Dawson’s Creek) and is expected for mid-season of fall 2009 airing. No cast has been announced as yet. Three women bond over witchcraft to replace the men in their lives but manage to conjure up a man more devilish than any of their former partners.
The novel has previously been a feature film, released in 1987 and starred Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer. It did very well despite criticism of Nicholson being even more over the top than usual. (more…)
Posted by Dominic in Books on August 7th, 2008
With all the hoopla over last Saturday’s release of Stephenie Meyer’s concluding novel in the Twilight quartet, Main Street’s Amanda Beals took a look at the best selling series for tweens and teens. Not surprisingly, most of them are within the genre including:
The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy) – Jonathan Stroud, Nathaniel, a 12 year old magician conjures a 14th level dijini (much like a genie), Bartimaeus. This unlikely duo come into possession of the priceless amulet of Samarkand and chaos ensues. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus have taken more than the spirit world by storm; their first movie is set for 2009.
Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis, have sold 100 million copies and been in continuous print since 1955. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien belonged to a writer’s peer group, the Inklings, and it is believed that Tolkien offered input on the chronicles. The third film in the series starts shooting next year. (more…)
Posted by Dominic in Books on August 5th, 2008
In case you missed the hubbub, Stephenie Meyer’s final chapter in her Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn, mustered the same sort of buzz as did the final Harry Potter book. Hachette Book Group USA reported an all time high for one-day sales with release of Breaking Dawn. The book was released at 12:01 a.m. with great fanfare and events at bookstores across the country. By the end of Saturday it had sold some 1.3 million copies of the tome. While the first day sales for Breaking Dawn were significant, last year’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows still had the biggest 24-hour sales with 8.3 million books sailing off shelves.
Posted by Dominic in Movies on August 1st, 2008
ShockTillYouDrop.com broke the news that Ann Rice very much wants Pandora, the first in her New Tales of the Vampire series to be made into a feature film..
The 1998 novel is described on the author’s website this way: “Fledgling vampire David Talbot has set out to become a chronicler of his fellow Undead. The novel opens in present-day Paris in a crowded cafe, where David meets Pandora. She is two thousand years old, a Child of the Millennia, the first vampire ever made by the great Marius. David persuades her to tell the story of her life.
“Pandora begins, reluctantly at first and then with increasing passion, to recount her mesmerizing tale, which takes us through the ages, from Imperial Rome to eighteenth-century France to twentieth-century Paris and New Orleans. She carries us back to her mortal girlhood in the world of Caesar Augustus, a world chronicled by Ovid and Petronius. This is where Pandora meets and falls in love with the handsome, charismatic, lighthearted, still-mortal Marius. This is the Rome she is forced to flee in fear of assassination by conspirators plotting to take over the city. And we follow her to the exotic port of Antioch, where she is destined to be reunited with Marius, now immortal and haunted by his vampire nature, who will bestow on her the Dark Gift as they set out on the fraught and fantastic adventure of their two turbulent centuries together.”
Posted by Dominic in Movies on August 1st, 2008
William Gibson set the literary world on its ear with his 1984 novel, Neuromancer. Now hailed as the first cypberpunk novel, Hollywood seems to have finally caught up with the trend and the long-gestating film version seems finally to be gaining some steam. A teaser poster was posted over at Quiet Earth.
Gibson’s novel initially won the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards upon its release and more recently was named to Time Magazine’s top 100 best English-language books since the magazine was founded in 1923. (more…)
Posted by Dominic in Movies on August 1st, 2008
Former heartthrob Colin Firth (Mama Mia) will be joining Ben Barnes in Dorian Gray, the latest adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic horror tale. Directed by Oliver Parker, the movie features Barnes as Gray with Firth playing Lord Henry Wotton, the aristocrat who corrupts Gray. Shooting has begun this week but no release date has been announced. The producers are promising a terrifying horror production, not Masterpiece Theater.
Firth just wrapped that other supernatural perennial, Robert Zemeckis’ motion-capture A Christmas Carol which also stars Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman.
