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.
#281808 in eBooks 2014-10-24 2014-10-24File Name: B00OZLQ3HO
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Im Glad I Bought This BookBy Michael BentonIve been shooting SLR since 1976; and DSLR since I bought the original XTi/400D in 2007. But Ive gotten way more serious about photography in the last few years; and finally decided that an upgrade to the 60D was in order. Although Id spent a fair amount of time learning the basics of exposure with the XTi; there were things I wanted to do photographically that I either couldnt do with the old XTi; or had to do differently with the 60D. So; I bought the Dummies book. An excellent move on my part; as it turned out.The book is divided into 11 chapters. A few of them I skipped over; since they covered information I was already familiar with or subjects that really didnt apply to what Im interested in (file types; automatic settings; movies; playback; etc.). But the remaining chapters were worth the price of admission all by themselves:Chapter 1: Covers all the controls and settings. There are a lot of things on the 60D that I didnt have on the XTi; and this chapter was invaluable in clearly laying out what all the buttons; dials; menus; and screens are all about. Everything is thoroughly and clearly explained.Chapter 7: Covers exposure and lighting. For me; this was a fantastic introduction to and explanation of exposure compensation and bracketing; which I knew I needed to learn about; but was sorely ignorant of. Great explanation of how to bracket automatically; and bracket beyond the automatic capabilities of the 60D. A stand-out chapter.Chapter 8: Covers focus and color. Although I was pretty comfortable with the concept and manipulation of depth of field; this chapter gave me some good additional information that will be helpful down the road. Good explanations of and tips on white balance adjustments and color space. Anyone shooting; viewing; and/or printing should be aware of the sRGB vs. Adobe RGB dichotomy and the implications of each.Chapters 10 and 11: Cover miscellaneous features and special circumstances. Information on making customized settings and menus; mirror lockup; and autofocus options is helpful and interesting.My issues with the book are few. I think a little more forethought would have reduced the frequency with which you are referred to figures that are on different pages. I found it inconvenient the number of times I had to flip pages forward or backward to look at a figure referred to in the text. I also found several editing errors; and there may be more in the chapters/sections I breezed over. Examples: On p. 35 it says that the Quick Control Dial is "labelled in Figure 1-11". It isnt. Although I was pretty sure I knew what the Quick Control Dial was; I had to do some digging to verify it. On p. 217; there is an explanation of evaluative vs. partial metering; comparing 2 pictures of the same car dashboard. In the text; it says "Switching to partial metering properly exposed the statue". That one had me looking real close for a statue on the dashboard until I realized it was a typo. And finally; on p. 270; in an explanation of crop factor; it refers to "the red outline" in the associated figure. Theres a black one; but no red one. Yeah; these are nit-picky - and I wouldnt deduct anything from my 5-star rating for them - but I can see where they could throw a reader new to DSLR.Overall; my impression is that the book contains information that would be helpful to anyone moving up to the 60D from a simpler DSLR; and certainly for anyone whose 60D is their first DSLR. Especially if youre interested in getting away from the point-and-shoot approach; as I am; this book goes a long way. It covers pretty much everything mechanical about the camera; and offers a lot of creative advice as well.Well worth the money.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great reference tool!By T. FarnerAs with ALL Dummies books in my collection; this is another winner! I always read the manuals and then dumb it down a bit more with Dummies books. I highly recommend any of their books to anyone; regardless of education; who wants to learn more; find out extra; or bring into focus the manual or instructions that came with your product. Great reference tool!2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. This book does a wonderful job of schooling a photo enthusiast such as myselfBy SoysauceninjaI knew nothing about DSLR or the Canon T3 prior to purchasing it. Once I did; I knew I had to learn the basics to make the most of my camera investment. This book does a wonderful job of schooling a photo enthusiast such as myself. I was able to read the book from front to back in about a week and was pretty well versed in using my T3. I highly recommend this book to anyone buying a DSLR for the first time. What good is buying a nice camera if youre going to set the dial on the green automatic setting all the time? Invest in this book; you wont regret it.
