Search results for ""Special Effects""

Dan North is an independent scholar. He is the author of Performing Illusions: Cinema, Special Effects and the Virtual Actor (2008), and editor of Sights Unseen: Unfi nished British Films (2008). Bob Rehak is Associate Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College, USA. His work has appeared in Cinema Journal, Film Criticism, and The Cybercultures Reader (2007). Michael S. Duffy is Lecturer in Film and Media Studies at Towson University, USA. His essays have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Volumes I and II of Directory of World Cinema: American Hollywood (2011, 2015).

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A must-have reference for every watercolorist! This is your complete guide to watercolor—from basic art concepts and techniques to fun special effects and pointers for painting popular subjects. Secrets of Watercolor, From Basics to Special Effects is a handy reference that beginners and experienced artists simply can't be without. Learn how to: Work with the right materials Master all essential techniques Choose, mix and apply color Paint people, landscapes, animals and more

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Acclaimed as one of the best books ever published on the subject, "A Complete Guide to Special Effects Makeup" covers everything from basic facial makeup styles, and simple scars and gashes, to masks, molds and cast-making: everything you need to know to create vampires, zombies and other fantastical characters. This title is presented with clear step by step instructions and hundreds of color photos.

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The next expert special effects makeup guide to all things gory, bloody, disgusting, and fantastic. Uncover the secrets of horror makeup in the third volume of the acclaimed special effects makeup series. Learn how to apply gory, realistic, and captivating scar and wound makeup from leading Japanese special effects makeup artists. Discover the hidden tricks behind special effects makeup, mask-making, and more.

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Designed to trick the eye and stimulate the imagination, special effects have changed the way we look at films and the worlds created in them. Computer-generated imagery (CGI), as seen in Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Men in Black, and The Matrix, is just the latest advance in the evolution of special effects. Even as special effects have been marveled at by millions, this is the first investigation of their broader cultural reception. Moving from an exploration of nineteenth-century popular science and magic to the Hollywood science fiction cinema of our time, Special Effects examines the history, advancements, and connoisseurship of special effects, asking what makes certain types of cinematic effects special, why this matters, and for whom. Michele Pierson shows how popular science magazines, genre filmzines, and computer lifestyle magazines have articulated an aesthetic criticism of this emerging art form and have helped shape how these hugely popular on-screen technological wonders have been viewed by moviegoers.

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The acclaimed follow-up to one of the most widely heralded special effects makeup tutorial books ever published. A Complete Guide to Special Effects Makeup Volume 2 incorporates a variety of supernatural and sci-fi character and creature designs, from zombies to dark fantasy, with step-by-step tutorials and materials guides, as well as an extended gallery section showcasing work by the best of the best!

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In the past twenty years, we have seen the rise of digital effects cinema in which the human performer is entangled with animation, collaged with other performers, or inserted into perilous or fantastic situations and scenery. Making Believe sheds new light on these developments by historicizing screen performance within the context of visual and special effects cinema and technological change in Hollywood filmmaking, through the silent, early sound, and current digital eras. Making Believe incorporates North American film reviews and editorials, actor and crew interviews, trade and fan magazine commentary, actor training manuals, and film production publicity materials to discuss the shifts in screen acting practice and philosophy around transfiguring makeup, doubles, motion capture, and acting to absent places or characters. Along the way it considers how performers and visual and special effects crew work together, and struggle with the industry, critics, and each other to define the aesthetic value of their work, in an industrial system of technological reproduction. Bode opens our eyes to the performing illusions we love and the tensions we experience in wanting to believe in spite of our knowledge that it is all make believe in the end.

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Throughout film history, one of the fundamental fantasies portrayed on screen has been the kind of physical action few of us could ever experience in real life. The image of an 'every man' engaged in hand-to-hand, mortal combat, defending his family or even the world population against an overwhelming and malevolent force, speaks to our most primal instincts and thus became a mainstay of movie entertainment. In order to translate these deep-seated fantasies to the screen, filmmakers have been developing special skills and crafts for over 100 years. It is these skills that make 'movie magic' and have allowed audiences to take part in the primal hopes and fears we all possess. Movie Stunts & Special Effects: A Comprehensive Guide to Planning and Execution is designed to inform filmmakers on how to plan for and utilize these crafts by engaging and empowering filmmakers to better communicate with stunts and effects practitioners, and thereby enabling them to more fully realize their vision. Director/Producer Andrew Lane surveys fights, use of weapons, cars and vehicles, falls, the use of pyrotechnics, atmospheric effects, bullet hits, wounds and blood, among many other categories. Factors such as cost, time to implement, safety accommodations, and assessing the competence of those employed to plan and execute stunts and special effects are numerous and very specific. Each topic in Movie Stunts & Special Effects is examined using narrative explanations and extensive interviews with world-renowned experts. Various stunts and special effects are explored in the context of how they are best captured by a camera and then editorially constituted in the final product.

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Dyeing for Entertainment encompasses a wide range of methods of theatrical painting and dyeing to create beautiful artistic products for theatre, film, TV, opera, and themed entertainment.Featuring examples from renowned international artisans in the field, this book provides a wealth of information on creating and changing colors, prints, and surface textures of fabric using traditional and nontraditional costume, scenic, fine-art, and metal-smithing techniques. It also includes new, safer materials and methods to minimize exposure to toxic materials and fumes. With more than 250 full-color images, this technical manual is designed to guide and inspire new artists in the collaborative art of painting, dyeing, ageing, and slinging blood and bling on costumes that is an essential part of creating characters for the entertainment industry.Written for undergraduate and graduate students of costume design and technology, professional dyers and breakdown artists, and cosplayers, this book can be used as a reference and springboard to create your own magical processes, custom fabrics, and unforgettable costumes.To access the online materials, including printable swatch sheets, a collection of relevant safety data sheets, and a source guide with links, visit www.routledge.com/9780815352327.

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A rare look at the role of special effects in creating fictional worlds and transmedia franchises From comic book universes crowded with soaring superheroes and shattering skyscrapers to cosmic empires set in far-off galaxies, today’s fantasy blockbusters depend on visual effects. Bringing science fiction from the studio to your screen, through film, television, or video games, these special effects power our entertainment industry. More Than Meets the Eye delves into the world of fantastic media franchises to trace the ways in which special effects over the last 50 years have become central not just to transmedia storytelling but to worldbuilding, performance, and genre in contemporary blockbuster entertainment. More Than Meets the Eye maps the ways in which special effects build consistent storyworlds and transform genres while traveling from one media platform to the next. Examining high-profile franchises in which special effects have played a constitutive role such as Star Trek, Star Wars, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings, as well as more contemporary franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, Bob Rehak analyzes the ways in which production practices developed alongside the cultural work of industry professionals. By studying social and cultural factors such as fan interaction, this book provides a context for understanding just how much multiplatform storytelling has come to define these megahit franchises. More Than Meets the Eye explores the larger history of how physical and optical effects in postwar Hollywood laid the foundation for modern transmedia franchises and argues that special effects are not simply an adjunct to blockbuster filmmaking, but central agents of an entire mode of production.

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In the past twenty years, we have seen the rise of digital effects cinema in which the human performer is entangled with animation, collaged with other performers, or inserted into perilous or fantastic situations and scenery. Making Believe sheds new light on these developments by historicizing screen performance within the context of visual and special effects cinema and technological change in Hollywood filmmaking, through the silent, early sound, and current digital eras. Making Believe incorporates North American film reviews and editorials, actor and crew interviews, trade and fan magazine commentary, actor training manuals, and film production publicity materials to discuss the shifts in screen acting practice and philosophy around transfiguring makeup, doubles, motion capture, and acting to absent places or characters. Along the way it considers how performers and visual and special effects crew work together, and struggle with the industry, critics, and each other to define the aesthetic value of their work, in an industrial system of technological reproduction. Bode opens our eyes to the performing illusions we love and the tensions we experience in wanting to believe in spite of our knowledge that it is all make believe in the end.

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Design beautiful, professional-level animated effects with these detailed step-by-step tutorials from former Disney animator and animated effects expert Joseph Gilland. Filled with beautiful, full-color artwork, Elemental Magic, Volume II, breaks down the animated effect process from beginning to end-including booming explosions, gusting winds, magical incantations, and raging fires. He also breaks down the process of effects "clean-up," as well as timing and frame rates. The companion website includes real-time footage of the author lecturing as he animates the drawings from the book. In these videos, he elucidates the entire process from blank page to final animation. See it all come to life like never before. Throughout the book, Joseph refers to and includes examples from his own professional work from feature films such as Lilo & Stitch and Tarzan.

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Since the very first days of cinema, audiences have marveled at the special effects imagery presented on movie screens. While long relegated to the margins of film studies, special effects have recently become the object of a burgeoning field of scholarship. With the emergence of a digital cinema, and the development of computerized visual effects, film theorists and historians have been reconsidering the traditional accounts of cinematic representation, recognising the important role of special effects. Understood as a constituent part of the cinema, special effects are a major technical but also aesthetic component of filmmaking and an important part of the experience for the audience. In this volume, new directions are charted for the exploration of this indispensable aspect of the cinematic experience. Each of the essays in this collection offers new insight into the theoretical and historical study of special effects. The contributors address the many aspects of special effects, from a variety of perspectives, considering them as a conceptual problem, recounting the history of specific special effects techniques, and analysing notable effects films.

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Albert J. Luxford has long been known as “The Gimmick Man” in the film and television industry, but he has remained one of its unsung and unknown geniuses despite his well-known work. He equipped James Bond with some of his most memorable gadgets; made possible many of the effects and sequences in the Carry On series. He worked on such shows and movies as Are You Being Served?, The Muppets, Highlander, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang among many others.In this memoir, Luxford reminisces with great good humour about his life and work and shares some tricks of the trade. He left school at 16 to attend the Institute of Automobile Engineers in West London and began in the film industry as an engineer at Pinewood Studios. The bulk of this work is made up of Luxford’s recollections about his experiences in special effects. This is a genuine tour behind the scenes by an incomparable master of movie magic.

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The headlong rush, the rapid montage, the soaring superhero, the plunging roller coaster—Matters of Gravity focuses on the experience of technological spectacle in American popular culture over the past century. In these essays, leading media and cultural theorist Scott Bukatman reveals how popular culture tames the threats posed by technology and urban modernity by immersing people in delirious kinetic environments like those traversed by Plastic Man, Superman, and the careening astronauts of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Right Stuff. He argues that as advanced technologies have proliferated, popular culture has turned the attendant fear of instability into the thrill of topsy-turvydom, often by presenting images and experiences of weightless escape from controlled space.Considering theme parks, cyberspace, cinematic special effects, superhero comics, and musical films, Matters of Gravity highlights phenomena that make technology spectacular, permit unfettered flights of fantasy, and free us momentarily from the weight of gravity and history, of past and present. Bukatman delves into the dynamic ways pop culture imagines that apotheosis of modernity: the urban metropolis. He points to two genres, musical films and superhero comics, that turn the city into a unique site of transformative power. Leaping in single bounds from lively descriptions to sharp theoretical insights, Matters of Gravity is a deft, exhilarating celebration of the liberatory effects of popular culture.

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Julie A. Turnock tracks the use and evolution of special effects in 1970s filmmaking, a development as revolutionary to film as the form's transition to sound in the 1920s. Beginning with the classical studio era's early approaches to special effects, she follows the industry's slow build toward the significant advances of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which set the stage for the groundbreaking achievements of 1977. Turnock analyzes the far-reaching impact of the convincing, absorbing, and seemingly unlimited fantasy environments of that year's iconic films, dedicating a major section of her book to the unparalleled innovations of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She then traces these films' technological, cultural, and aesthetic influence into the 1980s in the deployment of optical special effects as well as the "not-too-realistic" and hyper-realistic techniques of traditional stop motion and Showscan. She concludes with a critique of special effects practices in the 2000s and their implications for the future of filmmaking and the production and experience of other visual media.

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Create the foundation for a successful career in the theatrical and media make-up industry with this new textbook, endorsed by City & Guilds for theatrical, special effects and hair and media make-up artistry qualifications at Levels 2 and 3.- Study with confidence, with content covering the latest qualifications and industry standards, including the 6010 specifications.- Get ready to work in make-up, film, TV or theatre with handy hints from experienced professionals.- Hone your practical skills with hundreds of photographs showcasing creative ideas from look books and industry portfolios.- Understand complex topics such as anatomy and physiology with ease with simple explanations and all of the important terminology explained.- Prepare effectively for the written exams and practical synoptic test with practice questions, scenarios and invaluable guidance.

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John Richardson is an Oscar-winning special effects supervisor and designer, who has been involved in over 100 movies, including nine James Bond adventures, all eight Harry Potter films, Aliens, Superman, A Bridge Too Far, Straw Dogs, The Omen, Cliffhanger, Far and Away, Willow . . . and many, many more. In creating the magic that flows through these films – by creating huge explosions, beheading people, producing futuristic gadgets, making a man fly or breathing life into creatures that amaze and haunt us – Richardson has come to hold a unique place in cinema history. The son of pioneering FX technician Cliff Richardson, he learned his trade at the feet of a master of the craft. With over five decades of adventures under his belt, and a vast photographic collection of unseen pictures, Richardson now lifts the lid on his exciting and fascinating career of making movie magic.

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John Richardson is an Oscar-winning special effects supervisor and designer, who has been involved in over 100 movies, including nine James Bond adventures, all eight Harry Potter films, Aliens, Superman, A Bridge Too Far, Straw Dogs, The Omen, Cliffhanger, Far and Away, Willow . . . and many, many more. In creating the magic that flows through these films – by creating huge explosions, beheading people, producing futuristic gadgets, making a man fly or breathing life into creatures that amaze and haunt us – Richardson has come to hold a unique place in cinema history. The son of pioneering FX technician Cliff Richardson, he learned his trade at the feet of a master of the craft. With over five decades of adventures under his belt, and a vast photographic collection of unseen pictures, Richardson now lifts the lid on his exciting and fascinating career of making movie magic.

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Master the art of drawing chibis! First, learn the key principles, then draw a wide variety of characters following step-by-step tutorials. In Draw Chibi Style, chibi artist Piuuvy is your guide to: Chibi Essentials. The first 18 lessons teach solid drawing fundamentals that demonstrate how to draw chibi characters from the ground up and will help you build the skills you need to create your very own supercute characters. Chibi Characters, Step by Step. Through step-by-step drawings, from rough sketch to finish, discover the drawing process for 44 adorable characters in a range of genres and themes, including a witch, a butterfly fairy, a shark, a shadow knight, and an action hero, each presented in a different pose. Whether you’re just beginning to draw, trying your hand at chibi for the first time, or looking for ideas and guidance for bringing your own chibi characters to life, Draw Chibi Style is your go-to guide and visual reference.

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Learn to draw manga style! In Draw Manga Style, artist and online art educator Scott Harris shows you the key principles of drawing anime and manga—starting with the fundamentals, then illustrating how to create a wide variety of characters—by following his easy step-by-step tutorials. Manga Essentials. The first 20 lessons teach solid drawing fundamentals that demonstrate how to draw manga characters from the ground up and will help you build the skills you need to create the characters of your dreams. Manga Characters, Step by Step. Through step-by-step drawings, from rough sketch to finish, discover the drawing process for more than 40 classic characters in a range of genres and themes, including fairies, ninjas, schoolgirls, witches, samurai, wizards, and chibis, each presented in a different pose. Whether you’re just beginning to draw, trying your hand at manga for the first time, or looking for ideas and guidance for bringing your own characters to life, Draw Manga Style is your go-to guide and visual reference.

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With Special Effects Lettering and Calligraphy, you’ll learn to master a variety of lettering styles and gorgeous mediums to create amazing lettered art. This fun, colorful, and inspiring guide for lettering enthusiasts at all levels of experience is written and illustrated by popular lettering artist and Domestika instructor Grace Frosen of @gracecallidesigns, who shares her secrets on how to create vibrant and unique designs. Getting Started. Experiment with pens, paper, and other essential art materials. Creative Lettering for Beginners. Warm-up exercises, hand-lettering basics, and alphabet guides. Adding Extra Sparkle. Develop your own style and add various special effects and techniques to make your lettering pop. Colors and Blending. Blend colors and learn to work with metallics and other glittering mediums. Oodles of Doodles. Add illustrations, flourishes, and embellishments to your lettering pieces. Putting It All Together. Create well-composed art pieces that combine different styles in beautiful layouts. Explore a wide range of mediums and styles, dazzling special effects, stunning color combinations, and awesome embellishments with Special Effects Lettering and Calligraphy.

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From scream queens to femmes fatale, horror isn’t just for the boys. Gothic media moguls Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence, authors of The Science of Monsters, and co-hosts of the Horror Rewind podcast called “the best horror film podcast out there” by Film Daddy, present a guide to the feminist horror movies, TV shows, and characters we all know and love. Through interviews, film analysis, and bone-chilling discoveries, The Science of Women in Horror uncovers the theories behind women’s most iconic roles of the genre. Explore age-old tropes such as “The Innocent” like Lydia in Beetlejuice, “The Gorgon” like Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th, and “The Mother” like Norma Bates in Pyscho and Bates Motel, and delve deeper into female-forward film and TV including: The Haunting of Hill House Teeth Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Buffy the Vampire Slayer And so much more! Join Kelly and Meg in The Science of Women in Horror as they flip the script and prove that every girl is a “final girl.”

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Master the art of drawing kawaii characters! Start with the basic principles, then follow step-by-step lessons to draw a world of characters and creatures. In Draw Kawaii Style, artist and online art teacher Ilaria Ranauro (aka Ilariapops) shares her approach to creating kawaii art, starting with the fundamentals, then illustrating how to create a wide variety of characters—by following her easy step-by-step tutorials. Kawaii Essentials. The first seven lessons teach solid drawing techniques that demonstrate how to draw kawaii characters from the ground up and will help you build the skills you need to create the characters of your dreams. Kawaii Characters, Step by Step. Through step-by-step tutorials, from rough sketch to finish, discover the drawing process for 55 characters—animals, people, food, and objects—including an alpaca and a panda, a superhero and a snowman, a ramen noodle bowl and a watermelon slice, and a teapot and a rainbow, each presented in a different pose. Whether you’re just beginning to draw, trying your hand at drawing kawaii for the first time, or looking for ideas and guidance for bringing your own characters to life, Draw Kawaii Style is your go-to guide and visual reference.

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Learn to create stunning hand lettered art with projects that showcase the range of modern calligraphy. With a guide to getting started, tips on avoiding common mistakes and fully illustrated step-by-step instructions, artist Marcella Astore makes it easier than ever to achieve professional-quality effects in your lettering. Master the skill of blending to create smooth gradient effects between colours or add a soft watercolour look inside your letters. Discover the secrets of layering to make realistic ocean waves or add bold patterns like plaid and shimmering scales from a mermaid tail. In addition, Marcella’s pro tips for effectively adding shadows and highlights will make your work pop off the page. Whether you’re still a beginner or a lettering artist looking for new tips and fresh inspiration, Marcella’s creative designs and whimsical messages will guide you in achieving your lettering dreams.

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Taking you behind the scenes of the special effects world, the author guides readers through the world of creature and character design. Suitable for special effects experts and novices alike, he helps you learn the secrets behind designing creatures and characters for the entertainment industry.

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Learn the art of smocking from award-winning cosplayer Maggie Hofmann! With 20 American and English smocking techniques, you can add 3D textures, historical accents, and special effects to your costumes.

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This updated bestseller provides an introduction to programming interactive computer graphics, with an emphasis on game development using DirectX 12. The book is divided into three main parts: basic mathematical tools, fundamental tasks in Direct3D, and techniques and special effects.

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The definitive visual history of the thrilling make-up artistry of the legendary Rick Baker, a must-have for collectors and special effects afficionados. From the gory zombies of Michael Jackson's Thriller to the staggeringly lifelike results of Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons to the groundbreaking effects in An American Werewolf in London, Baker's special effects, makeup, and prosthetics are some of Hollywood's most enduring legacies. This deluxe, two-volume set is replete with more than 1000 four-colour images and original sketches. It covers the makeup artist's 40-plus-year journey, from his early days as a young "monster maker", creating body parts in his parents' kitchen, to his more than 70 film and television credits--that earned seven Academy Awards, one Emmy, and three BAFTAs, among numerous other awards.

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The War of the Worlds was one of a handful of high-prestige science fiction productions in a low-budget era, and initiated modern cinema's reliance on screen-filling special effects. Barry Forshaw analyses and celebrates this key science fiction film of the 1950s, exploring its literary origins and numerous film progeny.

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Over forty years after the release of the iconic hit, Escape from New York: The Official Story of the Film delves into the archives to showcase the creation of the movie. Directed by John Carpenter and released in 1981, Escape from New York thrilled audiences worldwide with its memorable characters, gritty premise and creative special effects. Escape from New York: The Official Story of the Film is the ultimate retrospective to the cult-classic movie. This must-have book intricately illustrates the production process of the science-fiction blockbuster, plus the impact and influence in popular culture, as well as the costuming, special effects, music, posters, and much more. Featuring brand new interviews with cast and crew, this extraordinary collection of never-before-seen art will give fans exclusive insight into every aspect of Escape From New York.

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An introduction to classic Marvel superheroes for the youngest superfans! Jump into action with your favorite Marvel superheroes! Learn all about their superpowers, backstories, and alter egos in these bright and bold board books, with text and art from the classic comics. Special effects and gatefolds make for a funfilled read, one that’s suited towards board book readers and collectors alike.

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An introduction to classic Marvel superheroes for the youngest superfans! Jump into action with your favorite Marvel superheroes! Learn all about their superpowers, backstories, and alter egos in these bright and bold board books, with text and art from the classic comics. Special effects and gatefolds make for a funfilled read, one that’s suited towards board book readers and collectors alike.

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Azaleah's big sister, Nia, has been cast as Willa Wonka in the school musical, and the entire Lane family is looking forward to the show. Azaleah has even helped plan a surprise dinner party for Nia at Avec Amour, Mummy's restaurant. But then the real drama starts. At the first rehearsal, all sorts of things go wrong: missing batteries, sets falling over, props misplaced . . . It's so many things, in fact, that Azaleah suspects "foul play". And when the special effects on Nia's costume don't work at dress rehearsal, Nia is a nervous wreck. To top it all off, the high school journalism class is covering the performance for the school blog, and the director doesn't have time to replace Nia's costume. Nia has to wear it without the special effects. Azaleah becomes determined to make sure the musical isn't ruined for Nia. Azaleah has to get to the bottom of the mysterious rehearsal troubles, and finish party preparations, before the curtain goes up.

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Get closer than ever to the movie that changed the movies. This behind-the-scenes spectacular of 2001: A Space Odyssey sheds light on the lead actors, senior production designers, special-effects experts and masterminds of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, who together revolutionized science fiction and the art of cinema. Previously available as part of the multi-volume and instant sell-out Collector's Edition, this comprehensive visual record includes on and off set photographs, pre-production paintings, and conceptual designs from the Kubrick archives. These dazzling images offer insight both into Kubrick's meticulous directorial methods, and into the mysteries and magnetism of a film at once vast in scope and intricate in its exploration of our relationship to technology. Written and researched over several years by the outer space, special effects, and technology journalist Piers Bizony, this compendium is both an exhaustive labour of love and a monument to a masterpiece of 20th century culture.

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Behind the scenes on the new movie with interviews, art and photos from the Marvel Studios film.A behind-the-scenes look at Marvel Studios’ film, this deluxe book is a must for all fans of Marvel Studios’ movies.Featuring interviews with the cast and crew.Learn secrets from the special effects, stunt, and costume departments with stunning photographs and art.

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With more than 250 images, new information on international cinema—especially Polish, Chinese, Russian, Canadian, and Iranian filmmakers—an expanded section on African-American filmmakers, updated discussions of new works by major American directors, and a new section on the rise of comic book movies and computer generated special effects, this is the most up to date resource for film history courses in the twenty-first century.

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