Product Description

Spanning a century of screen wizardry-from the early innovations of the pioneering French fantasist Georges Méliès to the first synthetic TRON images to the cutting-edge technology used in the most recent Star Wars and The Matrix-this fabulous volume pays homage to dazzling visual pyrotechnics and the artists of illusion who created them. This detailed look at the history of these great illusions is presented through interviews with 37 international masters of the art and science of special effects and more than 1,000 spectacular illustrations, nearly all in color.

The monster spewing flames in Godzilla, the flying bicycle in E.T. , the rampaging dinosaurs in Jurassic Park-these are just a few of the cinematic magic moments that have held audiences spellbound over the years. The inventors of such screen legerdemain reveal the huge variety of techniques they employ, from animation, animatronics, makeup, and model-making to the most astounding computer trickery possible today. The book encompasses not only film and television but also theme parks and attractions. As a bonus, the author includes his selection of DVDs with not-to-be-missed special effects. AUTHOR BIO: Pascal Pinteau is a journalist, screenwriter, and special effects designer who has created special effects for commercials, TV shows, and theme parks. Since 1985, he has visited with special effects masters throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #260438 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 568 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Pinteau is in awe of special effects, and rightfully so: the ability to use animation, animatronics, makeup, modelmaking and computer trickery is both an art and a science. His book has an artful modesty in discussing the medium; by interspersing his own observations on the history of special effects with interviews with 37 masters of the craft, Pinteau gives a thorough, insightful history that is never overblown and always intelligent. Pinteau, a journalist, screenwriter and special effects designer, covers the dawn of special effects, noting that the art of projection first appeared some 3,000 years ago in the Far East, with the earliest performances of shadow theater; he continues on all the way through to today's marvels, which include the façade of the New York, New York Hotel in Las Vegas, with its recreation of a miniature city skyline. Pinteau's insightful interviews shed light on small-screen grand illusions, too, and the book's amazing photographs depict such fascinating metamorphoses as Marlon Brando's in The Godfather (he wore dental prosthetics to create jowls) and makeup tests for The Exorcist. Among Pinteau's interview subjects are Sylvain Chomet (Les Triplettes de Belleville), Mark Coulier (Harry Potter), Richard Taylor (The Lord of the Rings), Martin Bower (Alien), Roy E. Disney and Jim Henson.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Pascal Pinteau is a journalist, screenwriter, and special effects designer who has created special effects for commercials, TV shows, and theme parks. Since 1985, he has visited with special effects masters throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.

Customer Reviews

A great book about SFX for everyone
If you like special effects, you'll have a blast reading this book which was obviously written to please movie fans of all ages. A previous review onAmazon said "good, but not the best" and went on praising another book,which is in fact a very technical reference book for special effects pros or film students. I think it is a bit unfair to criticize a book because it is different from what you expected. "Special effects: an oral history" is not a dictionary. It is entertaining and fun to read precisely because it is not a boring catalog of techniques, props and apparatus. It manages to tell the history of special effects as a human adventure, involving many wonderful artists and also explain clearly how they've created miracles in movies, animated feature films or in TV series and theme parks rides (special chapters devoted to animation, makeup, television and theme parks effects, are each over 100 pages long, which is great, since all other FX books I've read so far are devoted to movies only) . Famous special effects geniuses like Ray Harryhausen, Stan Winston, John Dykstra, John Lasseter (and many others) tell great anecdotes about their work and about their creativity. You can buy this book, you won't be disappointed and your kids will love it from the first page to the end! And the 1500 photos and illustrations are simply stunning!

Wonderful work...
Anyone even slighty interested in this subject will like this book - end of story. From Stan Winstons 'Terminator' to Nimba Creations full size animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex, this is a cracking book filled with great photos that is the best of it's type.

It covers everything from the beginning of filmmaking right up to present day and leaves nothing out, hence the vast 600 page count; this thing is thicker than a phone book!!

No complaints, it's a wonderful piece of work.

Mind Bending Eye Candy
As a charter subscriber to Cinefex magazine, the 25-year industry bible for visual effects, I'm no stranger to this topic. But flipping through Pinteau's book yielded some exciting revelations and mostly, It did not disappoint. The book promises interviews with masters "spanning 100 years" although it skews pretty heavily to the past decade (not a surprise). But I bought it for the pictures and they made it worth the time and money. The pics are well-chosen and even familiar old films are illustrated with scenes seen less often. I also like the durable hard/soft cover---because I'll be picking this one up frequently.