Product Description
First published in 1976, Television: The Critical View set the foundation for the serious study of television, becoming the gold standard of anthologies in the field. With this seventh edition, editor Horace Newcomb has moved the book from one merely intended to legitimize the critical inquiry of television to a text that reflects how complex critical approaches to television have become today. Comprised of virtually all new selections that deal with both classic and contemporary programming, the seventh edition adds new material on television history, the reception context of television, and international programming such as Chinese soap operas and Brazilian telenovelas. Television: The Critical View remains a well established and critically acclaimed text essential for courses in critical studies, communication studies, cultural studies, media history, television criticism, television history, and broadcasting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Television is NOT mindless entertainment!
I was assigned this book in a college course on television as popular culture. I seriously struggled with the text at first, but luckily I didn't sell it back.After rereading it again, it has completely smashed the myth that nothing on television is culturally viable.Do not fall into the trap of believing there is no culture left in America.This book will teach how to engage your television in a way that is as mentally stimulating as anything I can imagine.Do yourself a favor and get this book!It might take you a couple reads, but it's well worth it.Enjoy. (I took points off for density, but I have the 5th ed.) ... Read more

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New Media and Popular Imagination places the current technological upheaval in audio-visual culture in the context of previous periods of twentieth-century media innovation. Examining popular and industry responses to the introduction of radio, television, and digital media into the home, the book underscores the continuities and disjunctions in the ways in which electronic media have been anticipated, promoted, and resisted in twentieth-century America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

good historical perspective
Is the continuing unfolding of the digital media a brand new era in communications history, as some of its proponents breathlessly claim? In his timely monograph, Boddy offers us a perceptive historical overview. He compares this time with several other periods, but most pertinently, to when radio and television were new. By citing the historial record, he shows that each instance of a new technology also caused existing business models and consumer habits to be plunged into controversy and change.

Specifically, the changes in society in transitioning to wireless communication from 1900 to the 1920s were greater and more traumatic than those espoused due to today's digital media. Ironically, that early radio era gave rise to a gender perference for male hobbyists that echoes the current gender imbalance amongst early computer users. We also see concerns that radio fans might obsessively devote too much time to their hobby. Very might like today's video game users.

There are contrasts. Radio was seen as offering a mass unifying effect on its audience, at a national level. As distinct to fears that digital media might lead to an increasing fragmentation of the contemporary public experience.

Boddy also offers a perspective on Virtual Reality. He recaps the rise of this theme in the early 1990s, as personified by people like Jared Lanier. However, as I write this in 2004, VR is still over the horizon. Unaffordable as a mass consumer item. Over 10 years after VR burst on the mass consciousness. Several entire Moore cycles later. But if you look at his descriptions of how television struggled for some 20 years, before it became a success in the 1950s, you might appreciate where we stand with VR today.
... Read more

Product Description
Nearly 150 documents provide numerous views of issues and events of the Vietnam War. Chapters contain historical summaries, timelines, a comprehensive glossary, documents with headnotes, photos, cartoons, maps, charts, issues for discussion, and suggestions for further reading. Each chapter corresponds to the PBS telecourse. -- (Softcover) ... Read more

Product Description
A dramatic account of the politics and personalities behind NBC's calamitous attempt to reinvent late-night television.

When NBC decided to move Jay Leno into prime time to make room for Conan O'Brien to host the Tonight show-a job he had been promised five years earlier-skeptics anticipated a train wreck for the ages. It took, in fact, only a few months for the dire predictions to come true. Leno's show, panned by critics, dragged down the ratings-and the profits-of NBC's affiliates, while ratings for Conan's new Tonight show plummeted to the lowest levels in history. Conan's collapse, meanwhile, opened an unexpected door of opportunity for rival David Letterman. What followed was a boisterous, angry, frequently hilarious public battle that had millions of astonished viewers glued to their sets. In The War for Late Night, New York Times reporter Bill Carter offers a detailed behind-the-scenes account of the events of the unforgettable 2009/2010 late-night season as all of its players- performers, producers, agents, and network executives-maneuvered to find footing amid the shifting tectonic plates of television culture. ... Read more

Product Description
This book introduces students to the theories and techniques underlying television, radio and film writing.The new edition provides meaningful guidance through in-depth coverage of types of writing, specific techniques and professional examples from contemporary electronic media. Statements from working writers and behind-the-scenes professionals, such as Mary Lou Teel, CBS Sunday Morning producer, David Black, producer-writer of Law and Order, and Peggy Charren, founder of Action Children's Television, enrich the book's practical approach and contemporary appeal. ... Read more

Product Description
With guidance from top sitcom producers and examples straight from the screen, this book can help anyone write, revise--and sell--a script.

With twenty years in the business--as a writer, programming executive, and university instructor--Evan Smith knows what it takes to get from spec script to sitcom success. Here he offers the first published description of Premise-Driven Comedy, the writing method he has developed and popularized; tips from writer-producers who have worked on series from "Frasier" to "The Cosby Show" to "Roseanne;" a complete story outline from the series "Home Improvement;" explicit advice on how the business works and how to get an agent; and script layout guidelines for all three sitcom formats.

Clear, comprehensive, and cutting-edge, this is the true insider's guide to becoming a sitcom writer. Who knows--it might just be the book that inspires the world's next Seinfeld!

*Includes examples from classic and contemporary sitcoms, tips fromsuccessful writer-producers, and a complete "Home Improvement" story outline
*An author with twenty years of experience in the business
*Advice on both the business and creative aspects of a sitcom-writing career, including a discussion of Premise-Driven Comedy, Smith'sinnovative new writing technique ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Killer book on writing the sitcom
The best book on sitcom writing, bar none.Tells you everything you need to know, from character construction to story arcs to how to get an agent... even if you don't live in Los Angeles.I've made my living as a writer for 20 years, and this book is very, very helpful.It's also very, very funny, which one would expect in a book about sitcom writing.Highly recommended, look no further.

A Solid Book
Although it has an unfortunate title (who the hell wants to write sitcoms? - aren't they supposed to be dead?), this book is one of the better resources on the subject of television writing in general.It paints a very realistic picture of the business and acknowledges some of the changes that are taking place within the industry.This is a good book for someone who already knows how to write a solid script, but who'd like to learn more about the TV biz.

I scanned it straight to the money
I scanned right throught the pages like I needed the cool breeze and stopped on the "how much will I make" page and well, it looks good to me.I also looked in other areas of the book and before I even read it I know it's exactly what I was looking for.A must for even a dream sitcom writer like me.This is a real shortcut, it covers all the information you will ever need.

Inspiring to all students of writing.
Evan Smith introduces Writing Television Sitcoms as the all-in-one writer's guide to sitcoms.It sounds heavy, but honestly true.There is no aspect of TV sitcom writing a student, or otherwise, could dream up a question for which Smith doesn't have an answer.He covers how to create a sitcom, write it, and sell it.And in the first chapters he even details how anyone can make a career in writing.You will find yourself beaming with childlike enthusiasm as your eyes run through Writing Television Sitcoms.

Sitcoms from the ground up
Smith goes right to the foundations of sitcom writing, and leads his reader through all the steps to a funny, saleable product. He explains his 'premise-driven comedy' in terms a beginner can comprehend and put to immediate use; a pro will find suggestions for boosting his batting average, and will recognize the voice of someone who's been there, and done that. Kudos to Smith ... Read more

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Product Description
"News That Matters does matter, because it demonstrates conclusively that television newscasts powerfully affect opinion. . . . All that follows, whether it supports, modifies, or challenges their conclusions, will have to begin here."--Aaron Wildavsky, The Public Interest

"Because of its methodological integrity and richness, News That Matters is likely to be regarded as an impressive, possibliy grounbreaking work."--Neil Postman, New York Times Book Review ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Media and Electoral Behavior
The authors contend that television news plays an important role in shaping American public opinion.The logic is that American's develop opinions on many issues, but they often have little personal experience related to those issues.As such, their opinions are based on information provided by other (Zaller 1992 would agree).Today, such information is disseminated through the media, particularly thorough TV.As such, the television has a great deal of power to shape public opinion.

Iyengar and Kinder contend that television news has an "agenda-setting effect," that is, TV news shapes what issues people view as nationally important."By attending to some problems and ignoring others, television news shapes the American public's political priorities" (pg. 33).However, priority preferences are not static.Rather, they vary with the degree to which the media covers the event.

The authors also contend that stories occurring early in the new broadcast are more influential on the agenda-setting of the public than those occurring in later broadcasts.Still, the authors contend that additional factors play a role in agenda setting.For example, individuals who are personally affected by an issue coved by the media are more susceptible to media agenda-setting.Similarly, the more coverage and issue receives, the more likely citizens are to view that issue as a priority.Again, this parallels much of Zaller's (1992) work on the power of elite discourse.

In regards to demographic data, the authors find that citizens with higher levels of education, stronger feelings of partisanship, and are more politically active are least likely to be influenced by the agenda-setting nature television news coverage.

Iyengar and Kinder also examine "priming effects" and television news.In particular, they examine "priming effects" and perceptions of presidential approval.This is based primarily on the psychological assumption that people cannot analyze all aspects of an issue when making decisions.Rather, they rely on information that is most readily available. As such, "The more attention television news pays to a particular problem - the more frequently a problem area is primed - the more viewers will incorporate what they know about that problem in their overall judgment of the president" (65). In regards to priming, the authors contend that people's perceptions of presidential qualities depend on "which aspects of national life television news choose to cover and which to ignore" (80).That is, if the media is aiming blame at the president, priming is likely to have the greatest effect, when the media aims away from the president, there is less effect.

Quite importantly, Iyengar and Kinder contend that the priming effects of the media can shape voting decision, and subsequently electoral outcomes."The priorities that are uppermost in the voters' minds as they go to the polls to elect a president or US representative appear to be powerfully shaped by the last minute preoccupations of television news" (110).There can be both positive and negative priming.

Classic -Easy and informative (but a bit dry) read
This is a seminal work in political science for both its study of media effects and its use of experimental methodology.In regards to the latter, this is arguably the book that placed experimental methods on "map".In terms of its media findings, it does an outstounding job of documenting agenda-setting and priming effects; also, there is a lot of sub-analysis that nicely details which people are most prone to and what type of coverage enhances such effects.That said, the findings will likely strike many people today as fairly obvious, but this was not the case at the time (a testament to the research agenda I&K established).While the agenda-setting, priming, and now framing research has progressed in the last two decades, this is still an excellent introduction to the topic.And it is a pretty easy and quick read (only 130 pages).

Start Here
Fairly quick, but vitally important read to anyone studying the media, communication, and politics.Experimental design demonstrates the media has the ability to set the national agenda, prime what people think is important within issues, and frame the way we think about the world.This is the seminal and original work in the field. ... Read more

Product Description
This work includes over 3,000 experimental television programs, both aired and unaired, that almost became a series. Each entry includes the name of the show, length, network, air date (if appropriate), a plot synopsis, cast, guest stars, producer, director, writer, and music coordinator. ... Read more

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Product Description

From the Western and the sitcom to the game show and the reality series, genre has been at the center of television's identity since programming began in the 1940s. Thinking Outside the Box: A Contemporary Television Genre Reader brings together some of the best and most challenging scholarship about television genres, exploring their beginnings, their development, and their shaping by creators, networks, and viewers. While television genre was seen as static in the scholarship of the 1980s, Thinking Outside the Box explores the malleable and reflective nature of various TV programs. The book begins with a historical and theoretical overview of television genres and examines their influences on a national popular culture. The authors analyze less-studied genres such as cartoons, soap operas, and talk shows, locating their place and critical importance in American society. Thinking Outside the Box also examines the ways in which television genres have begun to blend together in recent years. Shows such as American Idol, The Osbournes, Fear Factor, and Trading Spaces are all examples of hybrid programming that illustrate the intuitive nature of genre and how its formulas succeed within mainstream television. The book closes with an investigation of American television's reach into foreign countries and its impact on the patterns of various genres worldwide. Thinking Outside the Box is an essential resource for understanding television's past and future. It is the first book to focus on genre as a significant process in the development of the TV industry and includes an epilogue that serves as a convenient bibliographic guide to further study. Instead of treating genre as a trivial categorization of various programs, Thinking Outside the Box makes a strong case for genre as essential to media-studies scholarship. Identifying historical continuities and envisioning trends, this is the richest and most up-to-date study of how television genres form, operate, and change.

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Product Description
Television Studies: The Key Concepts is the definitive reference guide to an area of rapidly expanding academic interest. Among those aspects of television studies covered in this comprehensive and up-to-date guide are:

• theoretical perspectives which have shaped the study of television - Marxism; semiology; feminism
• concepts which have shaped the study of television - narrative; representation; bias
• television genres - soap opera; news; science fiction
• methods used for understanding television - content analysis; audience research
• relevant social, economic and political phenomena - ownership; social policy.

Customer Reviews (1)

useful
very handy. much of the terms in use -critical theory and technology - are clearly and intensely explained. saves a lot of reference work ... Read more

Product Description

Style matters. Television relies on style—setting, lighting, videography, editing, and so on—to set moods, hail viewers, construct meanings, build narratives, sell products, and shape information. Yet, to date, style has been the most understudied aspect of the medium. In this book, Jeremy G. Butler examines the meanings behind television’s stylstic conventions.

Television Style dissects how style signifies and what significance it has had in specific television contexts. Using hundreds of frame captures from television programs, Television Style dares to look closely at television. Miami Vice, ER, soap operas, sitcoms, and commercials, among other prototypical television texts, are deconstructed in an attempt to understand how style functions in television. Television Style also assays the state of style during an era of media convergence and the ostensible demise of network television.

This book is a much needed introduction to television style, and essential reading at a moment when the medium is undergoing radical transformation, perhaps even a stylistic renaissance.

Discover additional examples and resources on the companion website: www.tvstylebook.com.

Product Description
Now in its fourth edition, Television and Screen Writing: From Concept to Contract is a classic resource for students and professionals in screenwriting and television writing. This book will teach you how to become a creative and marketable writer in every professional arena - including major studios, production companies, networks, cable and pay TV, animation, and interactive programs. Specific techniques and script samples for writing high-quality and producible "spec" scripts for theatrical motion pictures, the sitcom series, one-hour dramatic series, longform television, soaps, talk show, variety, animation, interactive and new media are provided.Television and Screen Writing: From Concept to Contract, Fourth Edition also offers a fully detailed examination of the current marketplace, and distinct strategies for marketing your scripts, from registering and copyrighting the script to signing with an agent.



This new edition has been expanded to include the most up-to-date creative and professional script samples, marketing resources, and practical information possible. The companion website (www.focalpress.com/companions) offers a wide range of contacts and resources for you to explore, and Internet links to professional resources. There is also an Annotated and Selected Bibliography for your reference

Covers all aspects of scriptwriting, from visuilization to marketing
New information on competitions, festivals, and workshops
Now includes internet sources for screenwriters ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Door Opener for the TV Market
This book starts at the beginning and points out the path from the beginning thought concept of a TV Show to the end product. It guides you past the pitfalls of the unique style of writing for Television.

A hand holding guide to overcome the maze and pitfalls of required formats and style that is required to submit a professional work that will help your get reviewed.

Well thought out and a good read.

Horrible
Not good for beginners.Not good for anyone actually.I'm a professor at a college.This is the textbook for the clas.I'm whipping out the Syd ZField book.

If you can learn to write from a book, this is the book.
If it is possible to learn how to write a screenplay from a book, this is that book.Not only is it a good guide to teach writing, but it is also an essential reference.I have it on the lower shelf next to my computer so I can reach it at a moments notice.I am constantly looking things up in it, from formatting to contract minimums to Internet addresses.
The book is well organized, well indexed, and easy to read.Even if you know how to write, this book is essential as a ready reference on almost any topic.
From start to finish, Blum guides you through the process of writing Movie and TV scripts.A++

A Classic Revised
Richard Blum's Television and Screen Writing (4th Edition) is a welcome revision of one of the classic books for writers by a professional from within the industry who also happens to be a topnotch screenwriting teacher.It provides a wealth of information that all aspiring TV and screenwriters need.Dr. Blum leads you through the writing process with numerous examples. However, Dr. Blum goes much deeper by discussing character, dialogue, and how to create stories with scenes that work for the story and not against it.The Fourth Edition also has insights into animation and new media, daytime serials and talk shows, and, most important of all, how to market what you write.Read it thoroughly and then go back and read it again.This book is an invaluable resource.

Highly Recommended!
I first read this book in college, and I've continued to refer back to it since I've been screenwriting professionally.It's loaded with tips to make your work better, AND to make it professional. ... Read more

Product Description
The former television movie and theater critic recounts her year teaching English to Amerasian children in Saigon, describing the plight of these children who were abandoned by G.I. fathers and shunned by Vietnamese. 15,000 first printing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A story rich in detail
I found this book to be very interesting.Kelly includes a rich description of Vietnam and her people.

A Decent Human Being
Katie Kelly went back to Vietnam to work with the half American street kids of Saigon. She was a friend to them and tried to teach them English. In her book she chronicles their life histories and what it meant to live in a society where taunting by their fellow students drove most of them out of school after five years or less. Her year in Saigon and her subsequent efforts on behalf of those lost Americans reveals what a decent human being she is. Would that we would have more like her. ... Read more

Product Description
A book for everyone who's ever flipped past the religious channel and thought, "I haven't the faintest clue what's going on there," or "That church doesn't seem like my church at all," or even, "Wow, so that's what happened to Kirk Cameron."With the personalities of Christian broadcasting constantly talking about every major issue from abortion to culture to war, and given the amount of influence they have on the political discourse in this country, the more one understands about religious television, the more one understands America's religious landscape.On an average day, the largest religious broadcast channel in the country reaches millions of viewers,featuring programming from figures such as Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, Pat Robertson, Paul and Jan Crouch, Jesse Duplantis, Joel Osteen, and others. Yet, despite its presence in well over 50 million households, many people have little concept of what kind of faith happens there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

The skills I would expect from a first call pastor....
Nadia approaches this topic with humor and accessiblity. On one hand, the humor that she employs makes the book a delight to read.However, as someone who is beginning a ministry career as well, I find the book disappointing. Its disappointing because the knowledge she displays is more of how any new pastor should start their career: Its apparent that her own research has not gone beyond a masters of divinity, and she is relying very heavily on other people for the holes in her education.Any new pastor SHOULD be able to make connections to their surrounding world this way with what they have learned, and SHOULD be finding ways to be in community with people from all walks of life and SHOULD be finding ways to build collegial relationships with other people. Kudos to Nadia for demonstrating these really important pastoral skills through the unexpected means of Christian television in this book.This is the way pastors need to be, and I know that her ministries in Colorado are amazing!My criticism is that what she is saying is not anything new to me as someone who paid attention in my seminary classes and who wants to bring the church to the realities of the world that we live in, that it leaves me wondering how she was singled out to write this book, which inevitably lead to the popularity that she has received.This sums up my disappointment in the book itself but an admiration for her as a pastor...

Fun read
While the premise lends itself to a superficial treatment (24 straight hours of watching religious programming), the author did a fine job of balancing perspectives.As a Lutheran myself, I particularly enjoyed seeing the programming through her eyes and thinking that our observations probably would have been very similar.I gave it four stars instead of five because I would have liked to have seen a treatment of this subject over a longer period of time, and in a way that didn't carry the risk of a loss of attention after having been up for many hours. (Also, there were some editing errors that bothered me.) Still, I very much enjoyed the book and hope the author turns her attention to another subject soon!

A unique and humorous work that may surprise you
What's Christian about Christian TV? "Salvation on the Small Screen?: 24 Hours of Christian Television" is the results of a social experiment from Nadia Bolz-Weber about her one straight day of being a couch potato, exposing herself to an unhealthy dose of Christian programming. Witty and insightful, Weber draws insights from herself and those who just happen to stop by to endure her torture alongside her. Not to be confused as an indictment of Christianity, but instead Christian Television, "Salvation on the Small Screen?" is a unique and humorous work that may surprise you.

Interestingreview - funny and provocative
The author and many friends spent 24 hours listening and commenting on TBN programs.Many religious statements from a variety of people of faith and of no faith made an interesting commentary.I also liked the fact, that, in spite of her initial cynicism, she developed a better understanding of her relationship, as well as that of others, to God.

By the way, she missed the question: Which book of the bible is the story of Jonah in? Off the top of the head, Do you know?

A fun and surprising read
Nadia Bolz-Weber is a tall, brash, heavily tattooed Lutheran pastor from Denver who speaks with the sarcastic delivery of a stand-up comic. It turns out she used to be a stand-up comic and her blog is entitled The Sarcastic Lutheran.Her writing is in some ways reminiscent of Anne Lamott.I attended a reading from the book by the author and was intrigued enough to purchase a copy. I've just finished it and found it to be a quick and entirely fun read.

The set-up for the book is this: Bolz-Weber, a blogger and essayist on Jim Wallis' God's Politics site, was asked by a publisher to watch TBN (Trinity Broadcast Network) for 24 hours straight and then write about the experience. She asked, "Can I bring my friends?" and when the publisher agreed, she took on the job.

Nadia begins her journal of TBN watching at 5am and concludes at 5am the next day. Throughout that 24 hour period she is joined by a revolving cast of friends and strangers (ranging from seminary professors to gay community workers to her parents to an ex-boyfriend to a Jewish atheist to a Methodist pastor) who sit on her couch and provide running commentary--ala Mystery Science Theatre 3000--on what unfolds on the screen before them. She admits up front that not only has she never watched TBN (other than occasionally passing it while channel-surfing and thinking, "What the...?"), but that she also harbors deep feelings of derision towards Fundamentalist Evangelical Christianity (originating, no doubt, from her upbringing in a Fundamentalist Evangelical home).

One expects snarkiness and mockery, and one is not disappointed. The surprise, however, is the author's chagrin/discomfort at her own cynicism, her willingness to examine her own attitudes, prejudices and shortcomings and her attempts to find something (anything) of value in the tepid swill served up on TBN.

Rather than walk away from her 24 hour ordeal with a smug sense of superiority, Nadia comes to the realization that her own faith tradition also contains plenty of holes and flaws. She wonders "...what the TBN folks would think of me, a heavily tattooed Christian progressive from a liturgical denomination. How would people in their theological camp respond to my preaching? Would they think, as I do of them, that I misuse scripture? Would they be offended at the aesthetic in the community I serve? Would they dismiss my years of theological education as silly and unnecessary? When it comes right down to it, so many of my criticisms of TBN could go both ways, and if that's true then could it also be true, despite us both, that God is at work in my community and (gulp) TBN?"

Thankfully, she also clarifies that "Allowing for the possibility that God may be at work in both my community and TBN is not the same as conceding that TBN's theology and methods are sound."

Throughout the book a tally is kept of the amount of money one would spend by purchasing the trinkets, teaching tapes, books, DVDs and other products hawked during each ministry's TBN segment. The 24 hour grand total, revealed at the end of the book, is flabbergasting. Bolz-Weber also ponders such inevitable questions as What is really being sold on TBN?; Are preachers like Benny Hinn sincere in their beliefs?; and What is the appeal of these ministries, particulary to the elderly and shut-ins? The answers to these questions are disturbing, not only because of what they say about those ministries on TBN but also about Western Christian culture as a whole (including you and I).

Salvation on the Small Screen? is put out by a small publishing company with limited distribution. You're certainly not going to find it at your local Family Christian Bookstore. I do hope that it catches on though because it conveys some great observations in a thoroughly enjoyable manner. It's gotten me to thinking that it might be really fun to have some friends over for a round of TBN viewing.

Or not. ... Read more

Product Description
This full-color and amply illustrated book is written for film, television, and theatre makeup artists who need to know the basics on how to accomplish flawless makeup applications. It begins with fundamental practices and continues through more complex techniques usually known only by Hollywood makeup artists. Written by two expert authors who have experience doing makeup for television, commmercials, and blockbuster films, readers will learn about beauty, time periods, black and white film, as well as cutting edge techniques such as air brusshing makeup for computer-generated movies, and makeup effects.

High definition (HD) technology has revolutionized the techniques needed by makeup artists--you need to know more, have more talent, and be more detailed than ever before. Because HD emphasizes every detail on screen, it's essential for makeup artists to know how to achieve a desired "look" that fits the director's requirements. This book will help professional and aspiring makeup artists to hone their craft in both conventional and HD techniques.

. Gorgeous full color book shows how makeup artists make Hollywood stars look as good as they do, even in HD!
. Get the inside track about how to work with the pros and all about set etiquette
. Contains tips and techniques from a number of professional Hollywood makeup artists
. Includes a full reference section with useful websites, business listings, and contacts
. Award winning advice from co-author Mindy Hall, Academy Award winner for makeup for her work on Star Trek

Customer Reviews (7)

Another makeup artist's review
I purchased this book because I am a professional makeup artist working mostly in print. While this book does have a lot of useful information, it often lacks clarity.Many many sections of this book are poorly organized, especially in the first 6 chapters or so.You will find places that look like step by step instructions, but are more like a list of tips. Other times, the numbered step by step instructions will break their format and insert a paragraph where you would expect another number. I realize of course that the information is still there, but it was distracting during reading, and can be confusing at times.
As another reviewer mentioned, the section on color theory is also confusing. I feel this is due to the poor wording and order in which the information appears, but not due to incorrect or conflicting information. Sometimes the photos don't match the explanations that are given (for example, figure 6-1 should have red at the top of the color wheel).Oversights like this could be easily corrected and the book would be much better!
Once you get past those several chapters the writing is smoother. Most of the content is general knowledge of a professional artist, and this book would be best for a student or very new makeup artist.
This book could greatly benefit from further editing, but it is still worth the purchase.No book will take the place of practice and training with a well-seasoned artist, but you will find some tips and guidelines to help you on the way.

professionally informative
A book for the experts, not for the novice. Well detailed and current. Covers all aspects of make-up artistry. As a teacher in the industry, I believe it would make a brilliant textbook.

Best Makeup Book I Ever Read
I just finished the whole book! It blew me away because I found out tons of info that I can't wait to use on my next job. It is very thorough and gives you ALL the industry standards, techniques, tips, applications, everything you need to know to do your job and take it up to a more professional level. I could not get enough of it because reading it is like spending time with a top MUA.

I just got my BFA in sculpture and do makeup and prosthetics. I spent a lot of years and money learning the basics in college. I can't emphasize how important those basics are, like shapes, colors, and anatomy. It's a big part of my makeup and designs. I'm just surprised how well it's covered in this book and it's got all the info you need laid out in a way that's easy to take in. I've bought 4-5 books easy just to begin covering all these topics they covered, and even then it would still take more books, magazines, and all my web surfing to add up to this. I wish this book was out when I first started makeup. The authors DO encourage you to go out and build your resources and references, you know, like on the specific areas you like, but this is a strong first book for a beginner as well as something I'm recommending to all my friends who've already got a lot of books and experience. They have the makeup classics, but this one is probably going to be the most useful. I love my book so much, I had it spiral bound so I can open it a majillion times.

It really does a great job of preparing you for the realities and responsibilities of being on set.Some of that info I had to find out on my own, step by step. It would have been great to have a book like this years ago! Great lessons in every chapter and great references and resources throughout the entire book, and in the back. There's a great basis for makeup: starting with art and explaining light, shadow, and how they work. Great tips on the proportions of the face as well as drawing lessons that culminate in a simple yet thorough lesson on more familiar studies of the face, eye, and lid shapes. Then it transitions to makeup and how to mix the art with makeup techniques. I realize I'm writing more than I usually do, but let me add that all the sections on makeups, hair, and especially the "How to Be a Pro" section are really informative and eye-opening.

Overall, the book delivers everything it promises. It does a great job covering color, lighting, HD setups, controlling your image, skin color and skin care, basic/beauty/effects makeups, hair, blood, tattoos, character design, breakdowns. It's all here, plus all the resources.

Now that I'm done, I wish I could find another book this great!

Not a Book for the Beginner
As a professional makeup artist working in film and theater for the last 20 years, I am always looking for good makeup books that teach new techniques and working with new products. This is not that book. As the title suggests, this is only a handbook for those who already know how to apply makeup. It touches on many topics, but does not do much teaching at all. It could be used as a reference to remind a makeup artist what steps are involved in an application technique, but there is very little in depth description of how or why to do each step.

While it does talk about HD, airbrush makeup, Tinsley Transfers, and silicone prosthetics, there is very little useful information for anyone who has not already used these products. Much of the information from these chapters can even be found online (in more detail) through a simple web search (including two articles reprinted directly from the free webzine airbrushtalk.com).

As a reference book, this book deserves 3 stars for compiling a lot of useful information into one place.

As an instruction book, I would give this book 0-1 Stars. If you are looking to learn the techniques of the makeup artist, you best choice is still Richard Corson's Stage Makeup (9th Edition)

The "GO TO" Reference book for the professional makeup artist
This book belongs in every makeup artists' library.Detailed instructions, insights from respected professionals in the field.It's also very good for the beginning makeup artist offering the basic professional product tips and reference materials. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

FUN TO LOOK AT
I bought this book for my husband who likes to watch old westerns on TV. The book is full of pictures of old cowboy actors from the 40s & 50s.

great poster like pictures
i thought that the pictures where quite good but a little more could have been written in the small boxes and it needs to be updated

Excellent Pictures
A good book to go back and look for your favorite western stars from long ago.It has nice full page photographs if you can't remember a name and are looking to find someone.

western lit.
My husband and I both have enjoyed this book. Excellent pictures. I would like to have seen more information about the actors; I do understand that to have done that would probably have cut down on the pictures. If you are a western fan, this book is a must. The list in the back of additional books looks very complete.

"for all the B-Western & "A" Western film-buffs to savor"
Empire Publishing presents "The Round-up: A Pictorial History of Western Movie and Television Stars Through the Years", reporting in one short paragraph the profile on each page with a photograph, synopsis of their films, career, birth dates and date they left us...compiled and edited by Donald R. Key featuring 300 cowboy stars, sidekicks, heroines, villains and character actors.

Tables of Contents with page numbers:
A Word From the Publisher - 8
Acknowledgments - 10
Foreword by Monte Hale - 12
Art Acord - 14 (first actor on the roster)
Tony Young - 312 (last actor on the roster)
Let's Not Forget - 313
Afterword By Neil Summers - 316

Many of the stars within this publication gave us hours of entertainment...their careers of excellence and dedication to the craft of acting...the audiences who were so faithful for several decades...all the cast members took their job very seriously and the audience would not settle for anything less than the best...and it showed up there on the big screen.

Would like to close this review with a thought from Monte Hale, it goes something like this:
Life is Like a Journey,
Taken on a train
With a pair of travelers at each window pane,
I may sit beside you the whole journey through,
Or I may sit elsewhere, never knowing you,
But if fate should mark us to sit here side by side,
Let's be pleasant travelers, because it's such a short ride.

Those are some touching words from Monte Hale, thank you Donald R. Key for printing this verse.

Great reading in the days and weeks to come...I guarantee it!...now appearing on Amazon and Empire Publishing ...many tidbits I never knew...if you're a TV and Movie western fan, this one's for you, don't let it pass you by...so saddle up and let's get started on the drive, move 'em out!

Total Page: 320 pages ~ Empire Publishing 0-944019-12-9 ~ (10/01/1995) ... Read more

Product Description

A study of the worldwide community of fans of Star Trek and other genre television series who create and distribute fiction and art based on their favorite series. This community includes people from all walks of life—housewives, librarians, secretaries, and professors of medieval literature. Ninety percent of its members are women.

Customer Reviews (3)

Fandom's female subculture
Being a woman who is an occasional writer of Klingon fan-novellas, I was interested in this scholarly book on fanfic and its female following.The author does an in-depth study of female fans of not only Star Trek, butBlake's 7 (a British sci-fi series), Starskiy & Hutch, The Man FromUncle, Alien Nation, Doctor Who, and other TV shows.Her conclusions: 98%of fanfic is written by women, who prefer intimacy, character-interaction,and continuity over action and special-effects.(I guess that makes me a"2%er" -- I prefer plot-driven adventure, decriptive carnage, andcharacters of my own creation.)Immersing herself in the subculture,Bacon-Smith delves into the very personal and sometimes secretive world of'zines and fannish writing.With great respect toward the community whichgenerously contributed to her study, she exposes the genres of fictionwhich appeal to most female writers and readers.They are the"MarySue" and "LaySpock" which are basically anextension of the writers' own personnae and fantasies; the"Hurt-Comfort" tender tales of nurturing and caretaking; and"Slash" or erotica featuring explicit sex between establishedcharacters.Bacon-Smith also cautiously explores the underground realm ofhomoerotic "Slash" (sometimes called "K/S" afterKirk/Spock) in which female fans envision intimate relationships betweenthe two male partners of various favorite series.This is an intriguingbook, containing much technical terminology and psych-evaluation.Ithought I might identify with it, but instead I found the subculture whollyalien (no pun intended). At least I know now why my klinzines are not a bighit with the mainstream fandom!

Interesting
I think people could be surprised at how much fanfic, esp on the Internet, can mean to people. Let alone that it was a big enough topic for people to write books and scholarly essays about! Could be something of a surpise,esp if you had no idea so many people enjoyed this hobby.

An intriguing look at fandom on the verge of major change
A fascinating look at fandom, managing to catch the world of zines, video, and small communities just before the 'Net fully hit fandom.Occasionally a bit too filled with academic lingo for the average reader, but an utterlyengrossing read for anyone involved in fandom. ... Read more