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Special Effects Artists
A Worldwide Biographical Dictionary of the Pre-Digital Era with a Filmography
by Rolf Giesen
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Book Presentation:
Throughout the course of film history, artists have used matte painting, stop-motion animation, model photography, process cinematography, in-camera effects, travelling mattes, optical printing, physical and floor effects to entertain audiences. These are the special effects artists in this book. The biographical entries provide career synopses and movie credits, spanning the early years of cinematography through the end of the mechanical age of filmmaking, marked by Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park and its combination of conventional effects and computer-generated images. An extensive filmography is then presented. The book contains numerous stills, a glossary, bibliography and index.
About the Author:
Rolf Giesen is a visiting professor at the Animation School of the Communication University of China in Beijing. He has worked with special effects artists Albert Whitlock and Roland Emmerich, compiled a special effects collection for Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin, and has co-written several animation features.
Press Reviews:
"there is so much information in this book that if you’re into the development and history of special effects films, you’ll positively swoon"—SF Crowsnest; "Giesen has worked with such noted special effects artists as Albert Whitlock and Roland Emmerich, and now offers this biographical dictionary of cinematic pioneers in this field before the advent of computer-generated images…this book features plenty of black-and-white photographs describing the creations of these masters"—Reference & Research Book News.
See the publisher website: McFarland & Co
> From the same author:
The Nosferatu Story (2025)
The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors and Its Enduring Legacy
by Rolf Giesen
The Nosferatu Story (2019)
The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors and Its Enduring Legacy
by Rolf Giesen
Animation Under the Swastika (2012)
A History of Trickfilm in Nazi Germany, 1933–1945
by Rolf Giesen and J.P. Storm
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