Search results for ""Oldcastle Books""

A witty, accessible and entertaining journey through teh philosophies of time and space.

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An updated edition offering an introductory essay, each of Welles's films individually reviewed and analysed, and a handy multimedia reference guide.

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Reveals the truth about Doctor Who - what makes it so successful, how it became such a phenomenon and why it's so popular.

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The dead walk. Putrid corpses claw their way out of earthy graves and stumble towards civilisation. They are bloody, rotting, and hungry for human flesh - and it's all George Romero's fault.

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Rejected by the Freemasons? Not bright enough for the Illuminati? Burnt by the Hell Fire Club? No friends in high places to get you into the Bilderberg or the Bohemian Grove? Feeling isolated and powerless? Fear not. There is an answer... Why not start your own secret society to add an air of mystery to your life and instantly alter the way you are perceived by family, friends and society at large. Learn the secrets of how to really influence people in business and politics by creating your own elitist fraternity. Discover the basic requirements for creating a clandestine sister or brotherhood with the ability to control, govern and influence events at the local or global level. Develop your own secret knowledge and hidden agenda while you plot to overthrow the powers that be through revolution and political or religious intrigue. Pierre Plantard and the Priory of Sion failed but you can avoid making the same mistakes they did by understanding what it really takes to maintain and develop a secret society. This book will show you all the requirements needed from choosing regalia to setting up a lodge, from electing a grand master to illustrating basic initiation ceremonies. It will also guide you on how to take historical events, great works of art and famous names to mould them into your desires for global domination. Don\'t feel left out again... Start a secret society and be part of the conspiracy...

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So what's so significant about the Byzantine Empire? It is now recognised as having had a considerable influence on the Renaissance and a significant impact in the shaping modern Europe and modern historians are increasingly acknowledging the role the Byzantine Empire played in the development of both Islam and Christianity, and the relationship between the two. The term 'Byzantine' derives from the ancient Greek city of Byzantium founded in 667 BC by colonists from Megara. It was named in honour of their leader Byzas. It later became better known as Constantinople, that gateway between West and East and played a crucial role in the transmission of Christianity to the West. Constantine is now generally known as the first Christian Emperor, and in recent years interest in him has grown, with his role in the development of Christianity being questioned by Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, amongst others. A closer examination of this formative period in the history of the church reveals a struggle to gain a coherent and cohesive religious identity. Christianity would emerge as the major religion of the Byzantine Empire in a departure from the pagan worship of the Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire was often at the centre of profound geopolitical, cultural and religious forces that threatened to pull it apart. When Byzantine forces suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert for example, appeals to the West precipitated the First Crusade. In 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, Constantinople was conquered by the Crusader army. The dramatic siege and subsequent fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire is often seen as marking the end of the medieval period. The Byzantine Empire lasted for over a thousand years, created remarkable art and architecture and created a lasting cultural and religious legacy - even its decline and fall was to have ramifications that reached far beyond its borders. The fall of Constantinople which had been a key city on the ancient Silk Road, linking East and West led many to consider the prospect of opening up new lines of trade, sea exploration that would eventually lead to major new discoveries, new routes and new worlds...

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The Holy Grail is a subject that fascinates and intrigues. Through its various guises as magic cauldron, cornucopia, horn of plenty and chalice cup it has remained at the centre of popular culture from antiquity right up to the present day. An object of marvel and mystery it inhabits a place in mythology that has its roots in historical facts. The Grail has been a major inspiration and catalyst for literature and the arts in Western Culture. From Celtic mythology to the flowering of the medieval romances it has in many ways fulfilled its mythical role as a nurturing and regenerative vessel by providing such a rich and seemingly perpetual source of interest to writers and artists. Charting the emergence of the story of the Grail offers a revealing insight into the cultural shift from Celtic paganism to the emergence and domination of Christianity in Western Europe. The influence of Eastern mysticism emerges in the Grail romances as a result of the medieval crusades with its clash of cultures and subsequent cross-pollination of ideas. The Grail has come to symbolise the ultimate achievement in the modern mind and it became an object of fascination for the psychologist Carl Jung and the poet TS Eliot. Wagner, William Blake and the Pre-Raphaelites are just some of the artists to have fallen under its enduring spell.

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After The Beatles stormed America, every Hollywood and European production company descended on London to be part of the new swinging scene... and they didn't leave until they'd signed up every able-bodied pop group or singer to appear in one of their films. A unique and carefully researched cultural history of UK film, TV and music in the swinging 60s. A time when no film or TV programme was without a group, singer or fantastic soundtrack - and London was briefly the film capital of the world. Containing individual summaries of over 120 films, covering everything from John Barry to Pink Floyd via Blow Up, the Electric Banana, Serge Gainsbourg, Magical Mystery Tour, David hemmings, Kubrick, Godard, Jodorowsdky and the London cast of Hair. With comprehensive listings of over 500 related features, documentaries, TV programmes and shorts, an unforgettable trip through the swinging 60s.

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Barry Forshaw is acknowledged as a leading expert on crime fiction and film. Following his books on Nordic Noir, Brit Noir and Euro Noir he now tackles the largest and, some might argue, most impressive body of crime fiction from a single country, the United States, to produce the perfect reader's guide to modern American crime fiction. The word 'Noir' is used in its loosest sense: every major living American writer is considered (including the giants Harlan Coben, Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke, James Ellroy and Sara Paretsky, as well as non-crime writers such as Stephen King who stray into the genre), often through a concentration on one or two key books. Many exciting new talents are highlighted, and Barry Forshaw's knowledge of - and personal acquaintance with - many of the writers, grants valuable insight into this massively popular field. But the crime genre is as much about films and TV as it is about books, and American Noir is a celebration of the former as well as the latter. US television crime drama in particular is enjoying a golden age, and all of the important current series are covered here, as well as key contemporary films.

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Running a Creative Company in the Digital Age helps you navigate the landscape and learn from seasoned professionals, understanding the mistakes they made so you don't have to make them too! Running a Creative Company in the Digital Age helps you navigate the landscape and learn from seasoned professionals, understanding the mistakes they made so you don't have to make them too! In the modern media industry digital content production is cheaper, more democratic and accessible and it's becoming more attractive - and easier - to do things your own way. So what if you want to set up on your own? This book will guide you through the joys and pitfalls of running your own creative company in today's diverse media climate. This is a nuts and bolts guide to company set up, structure, management and content production for digital platforms, TV, festivals, charities, education, brands and businesses. Full of tips for creating innovative business models and platforms, handling tricky people and situations, funding and networking, these pages are your touchstone for making that bold first move into founder/managing director status. Featuring interviews with industry experts including digital agency and production company CEOs, creative entrepreneurs, crowd funding platforms, investors, film makers, media lawyers and accountants.

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Picasso apparently said, "when critics get together, they talk about theory. When painters get together, they talk about turpentine.' That has been my experience, as far as film and film studies are concerned. Critics, academics, and theoreticians talk theory. That is what they know. Artists talk about their processes in making art. This is my attempt to apply what I know to a beginning study of film. Emerging filmmakers need to know the basics of their art form: the language of the camera, and lenses, the different crew roles, the formats, the aspect ratios. They also need to know some bare-bones theory: what an auteur is, what montage is, what genres are. Words like these are our currency: they must be known. But, even more urgently, young filmmakers need answers to their questions -- what lens was used? how did they do that effect? who paid for that picture? how did they get it past the censor? Most important, all filmmakers require serious grounding in film. You cannot be a great artist if you aren't versed in great art. And this doesn't just apply to the cinema. I believe 100% that a reasonably educated and intelligent person in any country of the world should be able to have a conversation about Luis Buñuel, about Akira Kurosawa, about Stanley Kubrick, about Fellini or Bergman, and talk knowledgeably about at least one of their films. Read this book, watch the films, and you can!

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Dreaming of escape from his remote village in the Himalayan foothills, Rabindra entreats the gods to send him an English bride. When a saucy English dance troupe arrives on the run from a Bombay crime boss, Rabindra believes that his prayers have been answered. Except that they have no interest in marrying anyone. As the village begins to unravel in the presence of these scandalous foreigners, surprising secrets emerge from the depths of its past. A story of true love, coincidence, causality and sacrifice. In some ways it is a love-poem to a glorious, intriguing and sometimes frustrating culture still alive in the far corners of a great continent, but slowly fading to the onslaught of the technological age.

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Often alchemy is seen as an example of medieval gullibility and the alchemists as a collection of eccentrics and superstitious fools. Sean Martin shows that nothing could be further from the truth. It is important to see the search for the philosopher's stone and the attempts to turn base metal into gold as metaphors for the relation of man to nature and man to God as much as seriously held beliefs. Alchemy had a self-consistent outlook on the natural world and man's place in it. Alchemists like Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus were amongst the greatest minds of their time and the history of alchemy is both the history of a spiritual search and the history of a slowly developing scientific method. Sir Isaac Newton devoted as much time to his alchemical studies as he did to his mathematical ones. This book traces the history of alchemy from ancient times to the 20th century, highlighting the interest of modern thinkers like Jung in the subject, and in the process covers a major, if neglected area of Western thought.

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The First World War, lasting just four years, from 1914 to 1918, was without parallel, the first true global conflict in which all of the earth's great powers participated. A Short History of the First World War tells the story of this cataclysmic event describing the background to war, the international rivalries and conflicts of the previous decades that led to the nations of Europe forming virtual armed camps, the relentless build-up of military and naval hardware that characterized the early years of the 20th century and the great figures that tried to prevent conflict or enthusiastically pushed for it. A Short History of the First World War provides a superb introduction to the events of this epochal conflict.

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NEW EDITION A sports agent. In its simplest form, a sports agent is an individual or company who represents a sportsperson. They try to get them a better contract, a better endorsement, a better sponsorship, a better deal. Nothing wrong with that, is there? Or is there? The problem, inevitably, is money. So much money now sloshing around in professional sport today. And human greed - which can lead to conflicts of interest...So How to be a Sports Agent is a practical and down-to-earth book that reveals the secrets behind the art of being not just a good sports agent, but a good, honest sports agent. It includes: Analysis of what it is to be an agent and how to ensure a watertight legal contract between the agent and his client. The regulation of agents in various sports, and how to comply. The difference between a good agent and a bad agent. Creation of playing contracts, particularly in regard to soccer, cricket and rugby and covers the most common pitfalls. Marketing, merchandising, licensing and sponsorship deals. How to negotiate them and how to draft them. The art of negotiation, and the balance between on and off pitch activities. The role of the lawyer as agent and adviser. Keeping the clients happy, getting new clients and keeping the clients happy when you have new clients.

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In his most innovative and technically challenging film, The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock follows the success of Psycho with a modernist, avant garde horror-thriller, which has spawned many imitators and triggered the cycle for disaster and man versus nature films. Now to mark The Birds 50th anniversary in 2013 and the digitally restored Blu-Ray release, The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds is the first book-length treatment on the production of this modernist masterpiece. Featuring new interviews with stars Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Veronica Cartwright, as well as sketches and storyboards from Hitchcock's A-List technical team, Robert Boyle, Albert Whitlock and Harold Michelson, the book charts every aspect of the film's production all set against the tumultuous backdrop of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and JFK's presidency. Using unpublished material from the Alfred Hitchcock Collection, Evan Hunter files, Peggy Robertson papers and Robert Boyle's artwork, this book will be the ultimate guide to Hitchcock's most ambitious film. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds analyses the film's modernist underpinnings, from art director Robert Boyle's initial sketches influenced by Munch's The Scream, to the groundbreaking electronic score by pioneering German composers Remi Gassmann and Oskar Sala. The entire production process is analysed in detail, illustrated with rare behind the scenes production stills and storyboards. There is also a timeline detailing the film's production to its release at MOMA in New York, and the 1963 Cannes Film Festival.

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Africa. The cradle of civilisation. From the dawn of human time in prehistoric Africa right through to the so-called 'Arab Spring' of 2011, Gordon Kerr offers a comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous continent. He begins with the origins of the human race and the development of stone age technology, through ancient and medieval times and the significance of the Arab presence, the Muslim states and the trans-Saharan trade. Kerr continues with the rise and fall of nation states and kingdoms prior to the arrival of Europeans , Ghana, the Kingdoms of the Forest and Savanna, Yoruba, Oyo, Benin, Asante, Luba, Lunda, Lozi and many others, on to the beginning of the slave trade, and the European conquest and colonization of sub-Saharan Africa, the 'Scramble for Africa'. Finally moving onto the often bitter struggles for independence from that period of colonization and exploitation, Kerr concludes with an assessment of Africa in the 21st century.

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