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`Definitive text, fantastic illustrations, this is a must for any serious movie-buff.' --The Bookseller, May, 2008
'[a] gorgeous book' --Academy Magazine, December 2008
'[a] gorgeous book' --Academy Magazine, December 2008
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The technique of stop-motion model animation – bringing models to life by filming them one frame at a time – was the most important way of creating cinematic monsters and fantasy creatures before the advent of computer-generated imagery. It is a technique that will forever be associated with names of Willis O’Brien, the creator of King Kong, and Ray Harryhausen, whose films thrilled a generation of post-World War II movie-goers. But the first crude model animations were made in the 1890s and in the first two decades of the twentieth century pioneers producing short animated films before O’Brien created the first two animated features, The Lost World and King Kong in the dying days of silent film. Moreover, stop-motion model animation is still alive and flourishing, most notably in the work of directors Tim Burton and Aardman Animation’s Nick Park, whose plasticine creations have starred in major hits such as Chicken Run and The Curse of the Were-rabbit. In this book Ray Harryhausen and his co-author Tony Dalton trace the history of the genre to which Ray devoted the whole of his working life, from the almost accidental discovery that inanimate objects could be brought to life on the screen to movies such as Jurassic Park, which combined model animation with computer-based techniques to bring a new generation of prehistoric creatures to life. In doing so he gives his readers a fascinating insight into the patience and ingenuity of the animators, explains the development and refinement of the technology, especially that which enabled actors and animated models to interact on the same screen, and gives us tantalising glimpses of the many abandoned projects which litter the history of model animation. The book is lavishly illustrated with stills, many of them from forgotten movies and never before published in book form, sketches and storyboards for projects, explanatory diagrams, rare photographs of animators and artists at work and a host of memorabilia.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a fan of cinematic SPECIAL EFFECTS for over 30 years, I found this book to be the last word as regards an in-depth study of the stop-motion technique.
Today's CGI is now so commonplace and overused, I have no real desire to visit a film studio to see banks of computers;-----but to have visited RKO RADIO during 1932 when 'KING KONG' was in production, or to have witnessed RAY HARRYHAUSEN [who co-authored this work] during the intense 'SKELETON' sequence filming would have been a cineastes' dream to behold: a privelege that was granted to virtually no-one outside the neccessary studio personnel, and this book is perhaps the closest we can get to understanding the studio techniques used to capture the magic of STOP-MOTION onscreen.
Many buffs will have a basic knowledge of how RAY manages to 'sandwich' his creations into live-action plates: however, this work effectively outlines the 'nuts-and-bolts' practicalities of actual studio conditions, outlining remarkable facts I never seen published elsewhere: ie, the models were often filmed [deliberately] slightly out-of-focus, to compensate for the generation loss on the re-filmed background plates, or how a 'vibrating' attachment took the 'grainy' look off of the process screen in extreme close-up.
This work does a more than admirable job in chronicoling an in-depth history of the entire stop-motion puppet medium [as far as is humanly possible within a decent-sized book like this]; obscure early experiments are covered, leading up to my own favourite chapter on KONG animator WILLIS O'BRIEN'S pioneering work on THE 'LOST WORLD' [the first dino-epic, with wide and varied use of animation model work combined with live-action]. The story of KING KONG, whose fluid animation and advanced 'puppet'-building heralded in a bonafide movie legend, is given the meticulous attention it deserves, and sadly, though truthfully, O'BRIEN'S many frustrations regarding his personal and professional life after KONG are outlined in considerable detail.
Techniques and anecdotes from RAY himself are warm and welcome, and he refreshingly is very forthcoming in his praise [and otherwise] of other studios who dipped their respective toes into the world of DIMENSIONAL ANIMATION.
The HARRYHAUSEN creations/films all get a decent mention, as do wholly seperate works like the ill-fated 'cash-in' 'JACK THE GIANT KILLER', which took the basic winning ingredients from '7TH VOYAGE' ----and actually spent more on production----but ultimately failed at the almighty box-office. Movies containing admirable stop-motion works like 'WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH', and 'CAVEMAN' are all discussed, as are more obscure SOVIET works, and also obscure propaganda works like 'BURY THE AXIS' which employed grotesque puppet caricatures of HITLER and other unsavouries.[many of these rarer works, including O'BRIEN'S earlier experiments, are available to view on 'youtube' and this is a good place to discover the titles of rarities in the first place].
The GEORGE PAL 'PUPPETOON' series is also covered, as are admirable low-budget efforts featuring stop-motion creations [like the late 70s 'PLANET of the DINOSAURS'].
Though much of the illustrations have been seen already by interested buffs, there are more than enough rare photos/stills to warrant purchase [including extremely detailed studies of some of RAY'S surviving models] : a tabletop trio of shots of the KONG/PTERODACTYL fight that I certainly never seen before, and touching images of O'BRIEN'S two sons visiting the 'SON OF KONG' set a few scant months before their tragic fates.
This work also healthily encompasses more modern techniques, including 'GO-MOTION' and other computerized elements, and even how the basic premise of stop-motion was incorporated into filming effects shots in 'JURASSIC PARK'.
It's the sheer 'hands-on' approach of the stop-motion technique that makes this book so fascinating, the 'software' techniques neccessary in modern CGI effects work is simply too sterile and removed from humanity to generate much empathy.
Up-to-date movies featuring stop-motion are also touched on 'CORPSE BRIDE', 'WALLACE and GROMIT', and others point to the liklihood that stop-motion will always be around in some form or other, moreso since many modern audiences are starting to show fatigue in seeing too much overproduced CGI.
An excellent work for fans of hand-crafted special effects, which seem more special than ever, as wholly computerized visions become overcrowded at the box-office and elsewhere.
Today's CGI is now so commonplace and overused, I have no real desire to visit a film studio to see banks of computers;-----but to have visited RKO RADIO during 1932 when 'KING KONG' was in production, or to have witnessed RAY HARRYHAUSEN [who co-authored this work] during the intense 'SKELETON' sequence filming would have been a cineastes' dream to behold: a privelege that was granted to virtually no-one outside the neccessary studio personnel, and this book is perhaps the closest we can get to understanding the studio techniques used to capture the magic of STOP-MOTION onscreen.
Many buffs will have a basic knowledge of how RAY manages to 'sandwich' his creations into live-action plates: however, this work effectively outlines the 'nuts-and-bolts' practicalities of actual studio conditions, outlining remarkable facts I never seen published elsewhere: ie, the models were often filmed [deliberately] slightly out-of-focus, to compensate for the generation loss on the re-filmed background plates, or how a 'vibrating' attachment took the 'grainy' look off of the process screen in extreme close-up.
This work does a more than admirable job in chronicoling an in-depth history of the entire stop-motion puppet medium [as far as is humanly possible within a decent-sized book like this]; obscure early experiments are covered, leading up to my own favourite chapter on KONG animator WILLIS O'BRIEN'S pioneering work on THE 'LOST WORLD' [the first dino-epic, with wide and varied use of animation model work combined with live-action]. The story of KING KONG, whose fluid animation and advanced 'puppet'-building heralded in a bonafide movie legend, is given the meticulous attention it deserves, and sadly, though truthfully, O'BRIEN'S many frustrations regarding his personal and professional life after KONG are outlined in considerable detail.
Techniques and anecdotes from RAY himself are warm and welcome, and he refreshingly is very forthcoming in his praise [and otherwise] of other studios who dipped their respective toes into the world of DIMENSIONAL ANIMATION.
The HARRYHAUSEN creations/films all get a decent mention, as do wholly seperate works like the ill-fated 'cash-in' 'JACK THE GIANT KILLER', which took the basic winning ingredients from '7TH VOYAGE' ----and actually spent more on production----but ultimately failed at the almighty box-office. Movies containing admirable stop-motion works like 'WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH', and 'CAVEMAN' are all discussed, as are more obscure SOVIET works, and also obscure propaganda works like 'BURY THE AXIS' which employed grotesque puppet caricatures of HITLER and other unsavouries.[many of these rarer works, including O'BRIEN'S earlier experiments, are available to view on 'youtube' and this is a good place to discover the titles of rarities in the first place].
The GEORGE PAL 'PUPPETOON' series is also covered, as are admirable low-budget efforts featuring stop-motion creations [like the late 70s 'PLANET of the DINOSAURS'].
Though much of the illustrations have been seen already by interested buffs, there are more than enough rare photos/stills to warrant purchase [including extremely detailed studies of some of RAY'S surviving models] : a tabletop trio of shots of the KONG/PTERODACTYL fight that I certainly never seen before, and touching images of O'BRIEN'S two sons visiting the 'SON OF KONG' set a few scant months before their tragic fates.
This work also healthily encompasses more modern techniques, including 'GO-MOTION' and other computerized elements, and even how the basic premise of stop-motion was incorporated into filming effects shots in 'JURASSIC PARK'.
It's the sheer 'hands-on' approach of the stop-motion technique that makes this book so fascinating, the 'software' techniques neccessary in modern CGI effects work is simply too sterile and removed from humanity to generate much empathy.
Up-to-date movies featuring stop-motion are also touched on 'CORPSE BRIDE', 'WALLACE and GROMIT', and others point to the liklihood that stop-motion will always be around in some form or other, moreso since many modern audiences are starting to show fatigue in seeing too much overproduced CGI.
An excellent work for fans of hand-crafted special effects, which seem more special than ever, as wholly computerized visions become overcrowded at the box-office and elsewhere.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Well written and well illustrated. Written in such a manner that it would appeal to a variety of ages and interest in the subject..
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This man deserves all the plaudits bestow upon him. The book is a very good insight into the history of animation and an interesting read for anyone enamoured with the subject, highly recommended
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