Studios Books

This book is a wonderful resource for both those who are new to the myths of King Arthur and those who are already students of Arthurian lore. I wish I had known about CHRONICLES OF KING ARTHUR when I was struggling through the original Middle English version of Malory's LE MORTE D'ARTHUR. Andrea Hopkins has a scholar's pedigree but writes without the usual scholarly dryness. Gathered from the definitive medieval sources, she presents a cohesive and easy-to-follow retelling of the basic Arthurian legends. Her prose smoothly incorporates the work of several different authors into the individual tales, and the stories are told in refreshingly simple manner that still exudes a sense of wonder while providing the reader with a clear understanding of the events.

The chronicles themselves are divided into three parts: the birth of King Arthur and his rise to power, the golden age of his reign, and his decline and death. The numerous smaller episodes of Arthur and his knights within the cycle are then further separated into helpfully titled mini-chapters. The text is punctuated with a large number of beautiful illustrations taken from illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and earlier printed books, and the sidebars provide insights into various aspects of the stories as well as relevant historical facts. There is also a short list of the principal characters at the end of the book. The binding is excellent -- sewn rather than glued, which is rare nowadays -- and should hold up well. My only complaint is the lack of an index. An index would have made this book more valuable as a reference source. But it is still highly recommended in spite of this.

The more one reads about King Arthur, the more one realizes that there isn't just ONE legend of King Arthur, but probably hundreds. Each one has its own plot twists and heroes. Andrea Hopkins book takes the most prevalent texts and weaves them into a single tapestry, rich in detail. When texts are quoted directly, the original is noted in the margin. Sidebars contain complete treatments of subjects such as the Round Table, Sir Lancelot, Excalibur, etc. and how the legend changed from author to author, country to country. Easy to read with gorgeous illustrations, it's a must read for King Arthur fans, whether it's your first Arthur book or you hundredth

This book performs a service, much needed: it gives a coherent account of the "King Arthur" stories. The author goes through the massive relevant literature-romances and poems in middle and early modern English, and in various vintages of several other languages-to arrive at a reasonably balanced narrative that gathers all the main characters and the principal tales associated with them. Now, there are probably thousands of stories that impinge on this early constellation of narratives, and more that arise every year in tribute to the perennial fascination of those bright initial inventions. But it is these core stories that are the important ones, just as are the core stories of the Bible, and some few of the Greek myths, as basic cultural equipment.

This is a pleasant book to read, by a scholar, but not "scholarly". It is a medium-format glossy with many paintings and drawings by pre-Raphaellites like Beardsley and Burne-Jones that enhance the romance and magic that is so much of the appeal of the stories. There are wide margins to hold the occasional explanatory sidebar, as well as boxes convenient to--but out of the way of--the narrative flow, that discuss the bigger topics . Each of the stories is smoothly presented, with a seamless (but indicated) transition from Andrea Hopkin's connecting narratives to passages using the actual words (rendered into modern English) of the principal teller of the tale at hand, be it Chrétien, or Geoffrey, or some anonymous medieval writer. More than one writer may contribute his bit to a particular story, but the connecting material keeps the telling coherent and compact. This technique gives us a bit of a sense of the corporate authorship of these "legends", and some of the flavor of the individual style-especially Mallory's, whose words can be presented to us almost as they were written.

This book does, I think, succeed admirably, but I object to the lack of index. There is a list of the principal characters, and a glossary, but neither of these is cross-referenced by page number to the text. This book is not, strictly speaking, a work of fiction (tradition frowns upon indexing fiction!), though its "facts" happen to be the fictions of other writers. It deserves and requires an index. If it survives to a subsequent edition that repairs this lack, it will deserve a five-star rating.

Andrea Hopkins combines many of the best arthurian romances into this book, a "must" have for those interested in the legends of the round table. Sidebars tell you facts that you probly didnt know, about the different authers, places, and things in the book, if you are a first time or a veteran reader this is a good choice.

The score features three staves, piano and vocal with an added bonus of crucial instrument parts which are even labelled in separate font to help instrument recognition for the complete music of company down to the scene change and underscore music!
The musical notation and lyrics are clear to read in PC print format, none of that hand printed stuff. The only down side is the score does not have TAB or chord labels above the staves, just pure notation which in some cases not ideal for the modern musician. With the Music being Sondheim orientated most songs could be classed as grade 6 or 7. Very tricky rythms but the best complete Company score book on the market. If you have trouble reading though an easy play version would be advisable.

I own a copy of both the vocal score and the complete libretto and I should say it is worth owning both. The vocal score when played on piano gives lively music to make anyone dance to the beat. It never loses its Broadway touch. The notes when played by a skilled pianist would make it sound more like the orchestra accompaniment. I would highly recommend those of you who love Sondhei'm style to own one of these. This would definitely be a smash hit for your school or community theater.

I love Sondheim, and this show is the best of his works in my opinion. Full of challenging songs, and complex arrangements, it will surely please the pianist or singer who is looking for something a little outside the realm of Roger's and Hammerstein to sing. Go into your nest audition with "another Hundred People", or "Getting Married Today" and blow your director away! This book contains a lot of material that is not readily available in other volumes and it is definately worth the investment. songs of note "Being Alive" "Company", "Barcelona", "the little things you do togrther" and the immortal "Ladies Who Lunch"

When Mr. Sondheim and and Mr. Furth wrote the show they wanted to have something that would make the audience laugh all night and then stay awake the rest of the night thinking about it. And that is EXACTLY what they did! Mr. Furth developes his characters so well as does Sondheim. To fully get the show one might consider getting the cd (original cast album is the best and can be found here on Amazon.com as well) This is seriously the best libretto I own.. and I own MANY.

Kurt Ganzl has written an excellent book about a musical that unfortunately flopped. Complete with background history on David Garnet's novel, pictures of the production, and complete libretto. A must-read for anyone into musical theatre. Sadly, it's out of print.

This book has oodles of photographs and information about the musical. It is very well researched, and includes information about David Garnett, the history of the time period of the musical, and of course Andrew Lloyd Webber's writing the musical.

If you've seen the Webber musical, this book will provide great memories. Rich photos and artwork, premium stock paper, all the lyrics and scenes. Great gift for fans of Webber! Contains pull-out poster.

Why is this book out of print? It's really quite good. It gives a great look at the hard work that is put into a show before, during, and after each performance. I got it after years of searching in a used bookstore. It's really worth the hunt if you want it. It comes complete with a nice poster and there's a picture of a young Michael Ball with a rat tail. How can you lose?

A very nice cookbook,with plenty of color photos & clear concise instructions,covers all the food groups,beautifully done.

A very nice cookbook,with plenty of color photos & clear concise instructions,covers all the food groups,beautifully done.

I have always been fascinated by the homey and satisfying food of traditional Irish cooking. This book is full of information on different traditional Irish dishes. There are no contemporary or imaginative dishes in here, and many don't sound very appetizing.(does oatmeal soup sound good to anyone?) That is not the point of this book though. The point is to preserve the dishes that the earliest settlers in Ireland lived off of, and to preserve the Irish heritage in doing so. Miss Allen puts a large emphasis on using seasonal, organic ingredients that are naturally available to you. If you're interested in traditional Irish cookery, this book is well worth the money.

The best of Irish country cooking all in one volume! Stews,Casseroles, nourishing natural country foods.Excellent!

The real power of Director is in Lingo, Director's programming language. I have more than 10 books covering Macromedia Director; most are designed for the beginner and intermediate level user. Warren's book is by far the best introduction to programming in Director.

I am an instructor at a small college in Colorado and find Mr. Ockrassa's text a pleasant resource for my students and myself. I have been working with Director for 5 years and have learned a great deal from his book. He has great examples of how to write effective and efficient code. This is the best example of a technical text I have ever worked with. We can only hope that he writes an intermediate and advanced text as well.

I am an instructor at a small college in Colorado and find Mr. Ockrassa's text a pleasant resource for my students and myself. I have been working with Director for 5 years and have learned a great deal from this book. This is the only text I have come across as a student or as an instructor that really teaches the fundamentals of programming in a way that can be easily followed and understood. Mr. Ockrassa did an excellent job with his examples and his explanations. I recommend this book to anybody that is new to Director and anybody who has been at it for a while. We can only hope he does an intermediate and advanced text as well.

I'm just getting into the world of Director, and this book has been my guide. It is written in an entertaining manner, (thankfully not overly cute,) and is making my learning experience an enjoyable one so far. Each lesson is laid out in an easy to read manner and features quick quizzes through out the text, designed to make sure that the important concepts are driven home. I recommend it for other readers looking to begin their Director education!

I am collecting shells for more than 11 years. At the beginning of this activety I found a lot difficulties in species identification, in determianation of their position in the molluscan systematics. The book of S.Peter Dance was the first guide I had obtained. This book introduced me to the world of "professional" shell-collecting. It showed me the way of collection arrangement, specimen cleaning and labling. I learned a lot of new data on ecology, geographic distribution and systematic of molluscs. Really, it is best book for beginner shell-collector I've ever seen and I greatly suggest it to all beginners and even advanced collectors. The wonderfull photoes of the book makes identification easy, the system of legends and signs (accepted in all other Eyewitness Handbooks) provides brief but very convinient information on geography, ecology, sizes and rarity of the species. Even now (having over 1.500 molluscs species and a lot of identificaton guieds) I oft! en look through this book and gain nesessary information. Unfortunatly, the book deal with marine molluscs only. I am shure, that the books of such quality on land and fresh-water molluscs would be greatly apreciated by collectors.

This has to be one of the most useful books I have bought. The photography is very clear. The colors are also good. Best of all I can see all of this without my bifocals.

However, I was a little annoyed at the scarcity of the other regions in the book,mostly because I was interested in finding out about the shells within the area in which I visit to go shelling. However, I thought it was a wonderful first-field-guide with excellent color pictures, specific descriptions, indication of common\uncommon, and the size of the shells.

I have been collecting shells for around 20 years and never bothered to get a book about them until now. My 4 year old daughter started collecting and I wanted to make sure I had all the answers to her questions about shells. This is definatly the book to have. She is facinated by the great pictures and the cut-aways of the shells. This is a must have for your shelf.

I first discovered The Dreamland Chronicles online, read through the archives, and was captivated. This series has the holy trinity of graphic novels: wonderful art work, engaging characters, and a solid story. The book does a good job of putting pages designed on a computer screen into print. If I have one complaint, it's that I'd like it in a larger size. On the other hand, it's portable and I don't have to wait for pages to download when I read through it.

I haven't run across anything quite like this anywhere else, and I highly recommend it. I only hope Scott Christian Sava can survive the success he so dearly deserves for this effort.

This is more than a comic. The characters are three dimensional; we watch them grow up. The art is astounding, and the plot is rich. This is a comic the whole family will love.

I have never been a huge fan of comics, but this one has changed my mind. Not only are the characters dynamic and fun, but the graphic quality is amazing. This story is good for young and old, and I can't wait to share it in print with friends. If you love epic stories don't miss out on this one!

The Dreamland Chronicles: Book One is a fun and entertaining all-ages tale that posits the existence of a magical world of fantastic creatures, visited by children in their dreams. Alexander Carter used to visit every night as a child, and upon waking, would tell his twin brother, Dan, of his adventures, who would write them down and eventually be inspired to become a writer. Now college roommates, Alexander returns to Dreamland after nearly eight years of not dreaming, only to discover he is destined to play a part in the upcoming war between Dreamland and the Nightmare Realm.

Scott Christian Sava has once again created an excellent cast of characters -- Paddington Rumblebottom III, the adorable dancing rock giant, is my favorite -- and deftly balances the two worlds by crafting a realistic relationship between the two brothers that is equal in dramatic weight to the more fantastic elements of Dreamland. As the story reeled me in, I warmed up to the CGI artwork and was eventually able to appreciate its dexterity, as the impressive team of computer artists Sava assembled not only offer distinctive character designs and settings, but manage to communicate emotion surprisingly well. Sava helps by taking full advantage of his nearly 300 pages, pacing the story in a way that allows it to breathe without feeling decompressed. The extras include a look at some of his original painted pages as well as an assortment of character models and page layouts that give the book the feel of a big-budget CGI movie.

Highly recommended for fantasy fans young and old!

I recently purchased Mark Parsons "Drummer's Studio Survival Guide" and I was impressed. I am a drummer and have recorded in various recording studios on multiple occasions. I will certainly be more capable of getting a better sound out of my drums after reading this book.

I have encountered, just as Mr. Parson has, the horror of leaving my drums' sound in the hands of someone who is not a drummer. Thanks to his discussions on everything from room acoustics to microphone selection to processors (such as compressors, noise gates, equalizers, etc.) I can better explain what I am looking for in my drum sound to the engineer.

At the end of most of the chapters is an "Ask A Pro" section were Mr. Parsons asks well-known drummers, including Kenny Aronoff and Rod Morgenstein, and professional studio engineers what their personal preferences are on drum head selection, microphone selection, what equipment they like and don't like to use to process drum tracks.

In conclusion, this is a wonderfully informative book. I would recommend it to any drummer that has recorded or will be recording in a studio. It gives us a leg-up on communicating with engineers and helping our drums to sound great on and off the recording.

I'm a chilean drummer and I'm studying reconding engieering and I hardly recommend this book as a guide to everyone who is involved in the recording busines, especially for drummers.

This book is as good as it gets. If your going to record drums you MUST have this book. It covers everything. Room acoustics, microphone placement, drum prep, EQing and efects, the vibe of the studio and musicians, how to deal with problems of all kinds. I can't say enough about this great book. Buy it.

This is by far the best book I have ever read on recording drums. Never REALLY looked at in other books. I'm a drummer of 14 years and still learned new things not only about my drums, but recording them too. The information from the great drum artists at the end of each chapter was interesting and informative. A must buy!

These authors are among the best at recreating the look of old painted furniture/folk art. Very clear pictures are helpful. Also, they use an easy recipe (basically, vinegar, honey and pigment) which is easy to concoct for new users, unlike mesy oil based potions or those horribly complex formulae or lousy British-based ingredients which noone has ever heard of or found. For as cloise to instant gratification as you can get, this is the book to order for all beginners and intermediate grainers. (Advanced finishers can write heir own book.....) Enjoy!!

An incredible book which quickly became on of my favorite reference materials when studying antique painted furniture and reproducing authentic designs. Contains tips and techniques for your own projects and presents a good array of antique items as well. Very authoritative and offers sound advice on how to pull off complex projects without the complexities involved.

I used to reproduce painted pieces for top name American furniture manufacturers. I worked on projects with the late Dr. Robert Bishop, former curator of the American Museum of Folk Art. We used authentic items in the collection as study guides. He once asked me to come to New York and conduct a workshop. Unfortuately my schedule could not allow it at the time.

This is the workshop book you need. This is outstanding in design and concept. This was not around when I was doing this professionally and had to rely on my own talent, resources, and old texts to be my guide. Now it is all simplified in this one book.

You can buy 100 books on the subject. But this is the only one you will need.

This book does the best job I know of showing wood graining, vinegar paint finishes, and Rufus Porter style landscape painting that I know of, and is also very sound on marbleizing. The illustrations and photo gallery are the best I have seen in any book anywhere. It has a narrow focus on doing Early American style furniture, but if you have any interest in this area you need to have this book. 7 stars!

You've seen those wonderful grained picture frames or pieces offurniture in the shops for thousands, but never went to a classbecause it was too expensive or none was offered in your area. This book is the answer to your prayers! It is filled with loads of photos of antiques and furniture, etc. that have been decorated with vinegar glazes or with handsome primative-style murals. It is also one of the few books that even reveals how to do smoke graining...the whispy finish on many an old rocking horse or on furniture and smalls. Just add this to your shelf which should also include THE ART OF FAUX by Finkelstein, PROFESSIONAL PAINTED FINISHES by Marx, and DECORATIVE FURNITURE FINISHES WITH VINEGAR PAINT by Russell. All are well worth the investment. Happy Painting!

This is a great book for anyone that wants to learn the structure of writing for animated shows. It reveals the formula for creating successful stories, characters, and scripts.

The only drawback was the overuse of the road sign analogies. Don't get me wrong, they work fine to illustrate the points, but I just felt there were too many of them.

In any case, an excellent book if you're starting out your career in animation...like me:)!

Is a shame that a great book like this only have one review until now ( and a wrong one ) hence I'll try to correct this.

NOTE: Be aware that this review is for the GARDNER'S GUIDE TO ANIMATION SCRIPTWRITING ( this review is wrongly appearing TOO in the "Gardner's guide to Multimedia & animation Studios", some kind of problem in Amazon.com I Think, :-( SORRY Chaz )

I bought this book in August 2001, if you are looking for books about scripts there are many ones, some very good, but any is writed exclusively thinking in animation and cartoons. For the animator this is an invaluable reference, here is the summary:

1.- Animation - An Overview
2.- Cartoon Genres
3.- The Moral
4.- Central Idea
5.- Dead End Ahead - The Central question
6.- The Characters and the Character Arc
7.- Introduction to Plot
8.- The Twenty-Two minute Structure
9.- The Eleven Minute Structure
10.- The Seven Minute Structure
11.- Make 'Em Laugh - Levels of Humor
12.- Prose
13.- Dialogue
14.- The Scene
15.- Broadcast Guidelines
16.- The Rewrite
17.- The Writing Process of Animation
Glossary, Cartoonography, Filmography, Road Map Forms, Apendix

The book itself have a good easyreading design, with plenty of quotations and references to well known movies or series, here you have the basics of writing but you can find more profound books about this, the special of the book is that is writed for cartoons specially, have 3 chapters studying the structures of the cartoonscript of 7, 11 and 22 minutes, of course you can apply all the information for an animation of any length, movies or shorts.

Including checklists for Structure, Characters, Scenes, Dialogue, Humor, Prose, 3 Structure guides, 75 Excercises, 37 Rules and an Animated 7 minutes Teleplay in the appendix: You have here a book that will go to occupy an important place near you.

I'm not an acclaimed screenwriter in fact I'm a novice in this area but I'm working with a firm producing some animations and I can asure you that this book can prevent you some rocky mistakes in this special field and even If you are a Pro you'll find some good points here.

I knew that scriptwriting was formulaic, with lots of rules about what should happen at what page and all of the structural details. But this book plots out exactly what a cartoon should do! From the general outline to the set-in-stone types of humor. Who knew that anyone had codified all this stuff! It's all here, from the Flintstones to South Park. This is how it's done.
Far from being confining, I'm finding that reading and re-reading this tome (easy to read tome!) is inspiring beyond belilef. I'm cranking up my DVD player and finding that every detail of every chapter is true down to the last nut and bolt. Professionals have been following these guidelines for decades!
This book must be the textbook for lots of classes about this subject somewhere.
I'm a 3d animator, and it's my goal to make animated shorts a lot more "arty" than Pepper Ann and Rugrats. But this book is such an eye-opener! I've never realized that even the cartoons that I've loved for years - Simpsons, South Park, Ren & Stimpy - all of them! They all follow the same rules.
One funny thing about this book: For a writing manual, it has a phenomenal number of typos. What a hoot. The book is incredibly easy to find your way around. The author is simply a master at her craft, and the insights are invaluable for anyone not employed in Callifornia. Yet you can find 1 or 2 typos or grammatical errors per page. I guess they skimped on the editing.
If you're concerned about developing content for your own animations, or aiming at a job scripting for cartoons, or just want to round out your knowledge about scriptwriting in general, this is an awesome book.

Gardner's Guide To Multimedia & Animation Studies is the complete, definitive, "user friendly", industry directory for anyone seeking jobs, connections, and services information and contacts. In addition to indices listed by state or province, and company name, Gardner's Guide To Multimedia & Animation Studies is carefully organized in four parts: East Coast, Central; West Coast; Canada. Within each regional section the companies are alphabetically listed and include the number of employees, areas of specialization; a brief description, address, phone, fax, and website address. Gardner's Guide To Multimedia & Animation Studies is a very practical and highly recommended addition to industry professional and library reference collections.