Special Effects: The History and Technique

by Richard Rickitt

Traces the history and evolution of motion picture special effects from silent films' smoke and mirrors to computer-assisted effects, and dissects such components as optical illusions, models, animation, and makeup and sound effects.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Art, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

Reviews

[Lorena Da Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book. I think every person that is interested in film, animation and vfx should read it. The only history book I enjoyed reading :)

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book - for many reasons - but I can say that if you enjoy films and special effects fascinate you then this is well worth the money and time to read. Many books of this type focus on a film or a studio or even a technique. Not this book it has chapters on various aspects of special effects from modelling to make up - it has bios of some of the most influential people and films in the special effect world and it is very modern and up to date. It is easy to follow and yet goes in to surprising details on many aspects from how cameras work and what considerations are needed to details on how simple some special effects are. This is a marvellous book which I suspect i will need to read several times over to totally absorb all it has to impart.

[Hal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely incredible! As an amateur filmmaker, I found it to be a fascinating and engrossing read. I spent hours upon hours poring over each and every page, searching every nook and cranny of the book for some little morsel of information that I may have missed. If you are a filmmaker or simply enjoy going to the movies, this book will be a treat.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very thorough book, sometimes too much so, and got a bit of a plod to be honest, but I still picked out quite a lot from it, and I suppose it was bound to get technical by it's very nature.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A HUGE history book of movie special effects. Not so useful for learning the how too's.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential but doesn't always explain certain techniques adequately.

[D. Carson Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

T's definitely a text book, but pretty much anything you want to know on the history side is covered.