Biographies and other books

Masters of Make-Up Effects

A Century of Practical Magic (Hollywood Monsters)
By Howard Berger and Marshall Julius

Dive into the fascinating world of movie make-up effects with this stunning illustrated oral history of the art form.

Masters of Make-Up Effects is a celebration of make-up artists and acclaimed make-up effects from the world of film and television. Authors Howard Berger and Marshall Julius have gleaned untold stories from the sets of cult classics (Planet of the Apes, An American Werewolf in London, The Thing), fan-favorite film and TV franchises (Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter and the MCU) and modern blockbusters like Dune to chart the fascinating evolution of an industry.

Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos, many of which have never before been seen in print or on social media, it showcases some of the most iconic make-up effects of all time, while revealing how they came to be in the artists’ own words.

Featuring a foreword by Guillermo del Toro, an afterword by Seth MacFarlane, and contributions from more than 50 make-up effects legends, as well as iconic actors including Doug Jones, Robert Englund, James McAvoy and Doug Bradley, and directors Mick Garris and John Landis, Masters of Make-up Effects is the most complete book on movie make-up history ever assembled, and a must read for cinema fans everywhere.

Making Monsters

Inside Stories from the Creators of Hollywood’s Most Iconic Creatures (Hollywood Monsters)
By Howard Berger and Marshall Julius

“A magnificent piece of work. Making Monsters is a brilliant book on the history of creature FX and cinema.” – John Carpenter

Explore behind the scenes of the greatest monster movies ever made!

What makes a great movie monster? Academy Award-winning make-up effects artist Howard Berger and acclaimed journalist Marshall Julius have spoken to dozens of film industry legends to find out.

A celebration of monsters, monster movies and monster movie makers, Making Monsters delivers an illuminating, entertaining and accessible oral history of the genre, gathering an enviable array of A-list talent from make-up and digital effects legends (Tom Savini, Phil Tippett) to directors (John Carpenter, Ti West), actors (Simon Pegg, Barbara Crampton), composers (Michael Giacchino) and writers (Russell T Davies).

Packed with hundreds of images, from film stills to personal, behind-the-scenes pictures from dozens of interview subjects – many never before published – Making Monsters is a treasure trove of monstrous creations, and the stories behind them, that is sure to make fans jump, scream and howl with delight.

Behind The Mask – The Secrets of Hollywood Monster Makers

The secret of Hollywood’s Monster Makers. Mark Salisbury and Alan Hedgecock look at the master makeup artists who have, in the 20 years since “The Exorcist”, proven themselves to be the leaders in their craft.

This book is filled with behind the scenes shots from well known movies and information abput some of the best makeup fx artists and monster makers in the industry.

Dick Smith: The Godfather of Makeup

Widely regarded as the ‘godfather’ of modern makeup effects, Dick Smith’s extensive career covers such cinematic classics as Little Big Man, The Exorcist, Altered States, Taxi Driver, The Godfather, Midnight Cowboy, Starman, Scanners and Ghost Story. As well as an Emmy, a BAFTA and two Saturn Awards, Smith earned an Oscar in 1985 for his stunning aging makeup on F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus, and an Honorary Oscar in 2012.

Aside from his own long career, Smith devoted a huge part of his life to mentoring and advising young makeup artists. Contrary to the often secretive nature of his trade, Smith shared information willingly, first with his 1965 Dick Smith’s Do-It Yourself Monster Make-Up Handbook, and later, his Basic and Advanced Professional Makeup Course, the recipients of which include numerous Oscar nominees and winners.

Dick Smith: The Godfather of Makeup examines Smith’s life and career, from his early student makeups created as a prankster at Yale, to his tenure as NBC’s first makeup department head during the era of live television, and finally his decades-long freelance career. In addition to extensive first-hand conversations with Smith himself, the book interviews dozens of friends, family, and co-workers, and is accompanied by hundreds of rare images, many from Smith’s own archives. Over a decade in the making, it’s the most comprehensive look at the iconic makeup legend ever published.

Savini

By Tom Savini

What can you say about Tom Savini? 
Well, the facts work just fine for this multi-hit wonder. He created the zombies and all of the iconic special makeup effects for the mother of all zombie movies, DAWN OF THE DEAD. He created Jason, one of the most prolific movie villains of all time, for the movie franchise FRIDAY THE 13^THand for the mega-hit video game.  He created Leatherface in the much-loved fan favorite TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART TWO.  He created the crate creature Fluffy, the grave-rising cadaver Nate, and all of the twisted, cockroach-filled, water-soaked zombies for the five horrific chapters of the movie CREEPSHOW and continued to dazzle audiences with his work on a dozen other horror movies in his career as a special makeup effects magician. He played the crotch rocket-wearing character Sex Machine in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN and mesmerized movie-goers with his many other standout roles as an actor, including those in GRINDHOUSE, MACHETE, and THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. He directed three of the most memorable episodes of the television series TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE and the much loved and respected remake of the movie NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and most recently he was called upon by his pal Greg Nicotero to direct an episode of the new Creepshow television series for AMC’s Shudder.

In this beautiful picture book, Tom, in his own unique writing style, tells his life story, discusses his movies, shares anecdotes, give his opinions, and of course, talks about the movies in a way only Tom can.

The Winston Effect- The Art and History of Stan Winston Studio

For over 30 years, Stan Winston and his team of artists and technicians have been creating characters, creatures and monsters for the silver screen, from The Terminator and the extraterrestrial monstrosities of Aliens and Predator to the amazing dinosaurs of Jurassic Park and the fanciful character of Edward Scissorhands.

Now, at last, he’s opening up the Stan Winston Studio to collaborate on the first-ever book to reveal all the behind-the-scenes secrets of his groundbreaking and hugely influential artistry and effects work.

Featuring an extensive array of sketches, production art, and photographs straight from the studio archives, this is the book his fans have been waiting for!

Rubberhead Volume 1

By Steve Johnson

Dive deep into the mind of award-winning special effects makeup legend Steve Johnson – the Hunter S. Thompson of Horror who’s designed special effects for Ghostbusters, The Abyss, and An American Werewolf in London.

Rubberhead Volume 2

By Steve Johnson

The insane journey of illustrious Special FX artist Steve Johnson continues in Volume II; that’s right, more drugs, more sex and more stories from some of Hollywood’s greatest movies.  This time, Steve’s beautiful and unique writing style takes us on a haunting journey about never being able to get over a friend who took his own life while working on Fright Night.  From his own plastic surgery obsession to working on the ill-fated Nicholas Cage Superman movie to being fired from the set of Predator to being sucked into a graphic novel, Steve’s story is legendary.

Join Steve as he continues traveling through his life as he observes his insane achievements as well as his failures of epic proportion.  Johnson’s uniquely creative writing turns his life story into a wild ride that you just can’t stop.  Thankfully, there is more volumes to come!

Behind the Scenes Photos, Never Seen Before from: Big Trouble in Little China, Fright Night, Poltergeist II, The Cat in the Hat, The Village, Species, Species II, Monkeybone and Bicentennial Man.

In addition, there is the crazy concept art and FX tests from movies that Steve…almost worked on, which includes, The Lost Boys, Super Man Lives, Predator, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Love Guru, The Jetsons, Iron Man, Lost in Oz, Planet of the Apes, Constantine, Alien vs. Predator and War of the Worlds.

Making a Monster

By Al Taylor and Sue Ro

A behind-the-scenes look into the careers and creations of Hollywood’s most talented makeup artists reveals how they have created, through gimmickry and artistry, movie monsters from Frankenstein to Star Wars. With over 400 illustrations.

MAKEUP MAN – Micheal Westmore

By Michael Westmore and Jake Page

A peek behind the Hollywood mask by one of its foremost makeup artists

In Hollywood’s heyday, almost every major studio had a Westmore heading up the makeup department. Since 1917, there has never been a time when Westmores weren’t shaping the visages of stardom. For their century-long dedication to the art of makeup, the Westmores were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008. In this lively memoir, Michael Westmore not only regales us with tales of Hollywood’s golden age, but also from his own career where he notably transformed Sylvester Stallone into Rocky Balboa and Robert DiNiro into Jake LaMotta, among many other makeup miracles.
Westmore’s talent as a makeup artist first became apparent when he created impenetrable disguises for Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, and Frank Sinatra for the 1963 film The List of Adrian Messenger. He later went on to become the preferred makeup man for Bobby Darin and Elizabeth Taylor, and worked on such movies and TV shows as The Munsters, Rosemary’s Baby, Eleanor and Franklin, New York, New York, 2010: A Space Odyssey, and Mask, for which he won an academy award. The next phase of his career was to create hundreds of alien characters for over 600 episodes of Star Trek in all its iterations, from The Next Generation to Enterprise.
Replete with anecdotes about Hollywood and its stars, from Bette Davis’s preference for being made-up in the nude to Shelley Winters’s habit of nipping from a “little bottle” while on the set, Makeup Man will satisfy any Hollywood’s fan’s appetite for gossip or a behind-the-scenes look at how tinsel town’s most iconic film characters were created.

Academy Award-winning Michael Westmore has been making up the stars for over fifty years. He frequently appears on the SyFy channel show Face Off with his daughter McKenzie Westmore.

Heart of Art

A glimpse into the wondrous world of special effects makeup and fine art of Akihito.

Akihito brings inimitable and interesting characters to life. The Heart of Art welcomes one to look deeper into the creative process and motivation behind the work of Akihito. Whether you are a designer, sculptor, makeup artist, or fine artist, this book will regale, challenge and inspire. The Heart of Art features the extraordinary work of an artist that creates characters that meld a love of Japan, its culture, and its rich history into fantastic works.

Star Trek Beyond

The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow
By Joe Nazzaro

With the release of Star Trek Beyond in 2016, viewers were given a spectacular visual treat as a whole host of new aliens made their appearance for the first time in the rebooted franchise. 

At the heart of the process of bringing these breathtaking intergalactic species to life was Academy Award-winning make-up artist Joel Harlow. Together with his team of amazingly talented creatives, Harlow set to work on creating aliens from over 50 different races for the film and documented the entire creative process for each one in exhaustive detail, from preliminary sketches to final make-up application.

Star Trek Beyond – The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow presents the extraordinary work done by Harlow and his crew. Featuring fascinating pencil sketches, stunning concept art and beautiful photography, this visually arresting book gives fans a unique in-depth look into the remarkable work that went into this immensely popular movie.

Rick Baker – Metamorphosis

The definitive visual history of the thrilling make-up artistry of the legendary Rick Baker, a must-have for collectors and special effects afficionados.

From the gory zombies of Michael Jackson’s Thriller to the staggeringly lifelike results of Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons to the groundbreaking effects in An American Werewolf in London, Baker’s special effects, makeup, and prosthetics are some of Hollywood’s most enduring legacies. This deluxe, two-volume set is replete with more than 1000 four-colour images and original sketches. It covers the makeup artist’s 40-plus-year journey, from his early days as a young “monster maker”, creating body parts in his parents’ kitchen, to his more than 70 film and television credits–that earned seven Academy Awards, one Emmy, and three BAFTAs, among numerous other awards.

Men, makeup, and monsters – Hollywoods Masters of Illusion and FX

By Anthony Timpone

Cinema is illusion, and in this book you’ll find profiles of twelve masters of screen magic, the best you can find in Hollywood, including:

–Dick Smith, a living legend whose work has graced The Godfather, The Hunger, and many other films

–Stan Winston, the man behind Terminator 2, Jurrasic Park and Aliens

–Tom Savini, whose work for George A. Romero’s “Living Dead” movies made him a leader in the milieu of splatter effects

–Rick Baker, whose apes have conquered the screen in Greystoke, Congo, and Gorillas in the Mist

These masters and eight other specialists-including today’s hottest talents, such as Bob (Hellraiser), Keen, Kevin (Child’s Play) Yagher, and Tony (Addams Family Values) Gardner-offer details looks at the art and craft of movie makeup.

From foam latex to complicated puppetry, it’s all here in this essential handbook. With many rare and illuminating photos-including eight pages in color-this book is invaluable for anyone interested in learning the craft of movie makeup and fascinating reading for anyone who ever wondered, How did they do that?

I’m Rubber, You’re Glue

By Shannon Shea

Using his unique and personal narrative, Shannon shares his funny, embarrassing, and brutally honest life story, detailing his journey from a monster obsessed Louisiana kid to co-supervising the creation of the iconic alien hunter from the film Predator along with his countless other iconic film creations. A must for any film fan, Rubber, will give fans a behind the scenes look at such classics as House, Star Trek IV, Evil Dead II and much more

Monsters in the Movies

100 Years of Cinematic Nightmares
By John Landis

Learn everything there is to know about special effects in films and what it goes into designing iconic monsters that still show up in nightmares in Monsters in the Movies. From B-movie bogeymen and outer space oddities to big-budget terrors, legendary filmmaker John Landis showcases the greatest monsters ever to creep, fly, slither, stalk, or rampage through theaters!

Landis provides his own unique and entertaining insights into the world of moviemaking, and hosts in-depth conversations with leading monster makers, including David Cronenberg, Christopher Lee, John Carpenter, and Sam Raimi, to discuss the art of monster making. He also surveys the historical origins of the archetypal monsters, such as vampires, zombies, and werewolves.

Go behind the scenes to discover the secrets of the special-effects wizards who created legendary frighteners like King Kong, Dracula, and Halloween‘s Michael Myers.

With more than 1,000 stunning movie stills and posters, Monsters in the Movies is sure to keep even the most intense fright-seekers at the edge of their seats for hours!

Monsters, Makeup & Effects 1 – Conversations with Cinema’s Greatest Artists

By Heather Wixson

Pennywise. Xenomorphs. Freddy Krueger. Beetlejuice. Jason Voorhees. Most movie fans immediately recognize these creatures and characters, but hardly know much about the artists behind these iconic designs. In Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 1, journalist Heather Wixson shines the spotlight on twenty special makeup effects artists, creators and technicians whose work has left us captivated and marveling at their innovation, ingenuity and creativity. Featuring behind-the-scenes photos and extensive interviews, MM&E explores the lives, careers and inspirations behind some the greatest artisans to have ever worked in film and television. MM&E is a celebration of the creative spirit and artistic endeavors of those who have worked tirelessly for decades to create the memorable monsters, creatures and onscreen personas that have terrified us, made us laugh and filled us with a sense of wonder. Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 1 features comprehensive discussions with: Howard Berger – Ve Neill – “Screaming” Mad George – Thomas Burman – Alec Gillis – Tom Woodruff Jr. – Joel Harlow -Matt Rose David LeRoy Anderson – Bari Dreiband-Burman – Doug Drexler – Wayne Toth – Lance Anderson – Tony Gardner – Patrick Tatopolous – Jim McPherson – Bart Mixon – Gabe Bartalos – Paul Jones – Everett Burrell.

Monsters, Makeup & Effects 2 – Conversations with Cinema’s Greatest Artists

By Heather Wixson

Gizmo. Michael Myers. Hellboy. Predator. Pinhead. Twisty the Clown. Spielberg’s dinosaurs. Brundlefly. This is just a sampling of the iconic characters that have continued to thrill fans both on the big and small screens for decades now that you’ll read about in Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 2. For this second installment of her ongoing interview series, journalist and FX historian Heather Wixson celebrates the lives and careers of 20 more special effects artists who have left their indelible mark on the world of entertainment, and many are still working hard in the industry today.

Featuring in-depth conversations and hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 2 furthers the exploration of the influence felt by the work of these brilliant artists whose ingenuity and creativity were behind the creation of so many seminal creatures and characters that have captured our imaginations, left us in awe and genuinely excited us as moviegoers. In simpler terms, these are the artists who were able to make the impossible possible, and these interviews are a celebration of all of the incredible contributions that these artists have made throughout their careers and the passion that has fueled their creative endeavors, both inside and outside of the makeup studio.

Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 2 features extensive interviews with: Steve Wang, Chris Walas, Mike Elizalde, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Kazu Hiro, Todd Masters, Phil Tippett, Michèle Burke, Robert Burman, Christopher Nelson, Richard Landon, Guy Himber, Shane Mahan, Stuart Conran, Joey Orosco, Norman Cabrera, John Dods, Bruce Spaulding Fuller and David Grasso.

Monster Squad

Celebrating the Artists Behind Cinemas Most Memorable Creatures
By Heather A. Wixson

Leprechauns, lost boys, and labyrinths—the things of bad dreams from the kings of mad screams. 20 special effects artists that helped shape the landscape of modern horror and sci-fi cinema from the 1970s to today finally pull the cobwebs from their secrets.

Heather A. Wixson from Daily Dead interviews legendary and visionary creators Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff, Jr., Tony Gardner, Jennifer Aspinall, Michele Burke, David Marti, Bart Mixon, John Rosengrant, John Dykstra, Phil Tippett, Brian Wade, Steve Wang, Rick Lazzarini, Gabe Bartalos, Mike Elizalde, Kevin Haney, Todd Masters, Bob Keen, John Goodwin, and Steve Johnson.

Discover how your favorite creatures were brought to life and the inspirations behind their imaginations. Illustrated with over 300 behind-the-scenes photos from over 50different horror and science fiction films.

About the author: Heather A. Wixson, a ten-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment, has written for several notable websites, including Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead.

Films discussed in Monster Squad include An American Werewolf in London (1981), Jurassic Park (1993), The Terminator (1984), the original Star Wars trilogy, The Thing (1982), Ghostbusters (1984), Aliens (1986), Hellraiser (1987), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Evil Dead II (1987), the Basket Case films, Predator (1987), Fright Night (1985), the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, Pan’s Labyrinth (2007), Stephen King’s IT (1990), The Lost Boys (1987), Tremors (1990), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Darkman (1990), The Monster Squad (1987), Army of Darkness (1992), the Leprechaun series, Hocus Pocus (1993), Robocop (1987), Planet of the Apes (2001), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), the Friday the 13th series, The Blob (1988), Species (1995), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), the Chucky films, Alien 3 (1992), The Toxic Avenger (1984), The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998), The Dark Crystal (1982), Pumpkinhead (1988), The Addams Family (1991), House (1985), the Hellboy films, Starship Troopers (1997), Attack the Block (2011), Fright Night Part 2 (1988), Mimic (1997), Spaceballs (1987), Slither (2006), The Return of the Living Dead (1985), Tales from the Crypt Presents: DemonKnight (1995), Saturday Night Live, MADtv, and many more.

CREATURE PEOPLE

Behind the Scenes with Hollywoods Top Artists in Special Makeup Effects
By Scott Essman

As conceived by author-producer Scott Essman, this 20-page magazine-style special black-and-white publication will be a treasured collectors’ item for movie fans everywhere. Spanning the first 100 years of movies, this first part in a series of Essman’s special publications focuses on the pioneering makeup and creature artists who have created some of cinema’s most memorable characters. Organized as a series of photo-essays profiling each significant “creature person,” readers will learn the secrets of their most beloved screen heroes and villains alike.

Leading Ladies of Makeup Effects

-Showcasing the Award-Winning Women of Makeup Effects for Film and Television
By Patricia L. Terry and Gary Christensen

Written by Patricia L. Terry and Gary Christensen, this is the 1st book to offer portrait biographies about 26 Leading Ladies working in makeup effects for film and television. Featuring their influences, training, projects and careers, these biographies express how and why these Ladies have risen to success. The book features 12 Oscar winners, 9 Emmy winners, and 5 Emerging Artists (the possible award-winners of tomorrow).

Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker

A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist.
By Randy Palmer

Paul Blaisdell was the man behind the monsters in such movies as The She Creature, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Not of This Earth, It! Terror from Beyond Space and many others. Working in primarily low-budget films, Blaisdell was forced to rely on greasepaint, guts and, most importantly, an unbounded imagination for his creations.

From his inauspicious beginning through The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959), the construction of Blaisdell’s monsters and the making of the movies in which they appeared are fully detailed here. Blaisdell’s work in the early monster magazines of the 1960s is also covered.

The Saga of Special Effects

The Complete History of Cinematic Illusion, From Edison’s Kinetoscope to Dynamation, Sensurround…and Beyond
By Ron Fry and Pamela Fourzon

the saga of special effects presents the full story of the largely unkown technicians, artist, and jack-of-all-trades who, ever since pictures first began to move, have been creating the impossible on screen.
Note – Published in 1977.

Cheap Tricks and Class Acts

Special Effects, Makeup and Stunts from the Fantastic Fifties
By Ron Fry and Pamela Fourzon

In the 1950s Hollywood unleashed a wave of monsters; everything from demon aliens and dinosaurs to blobs and bloated bugs infested theaters and drive-ins. Lost worlds were discovered, unnatural terrors shook the screen, gigantism ran rampant. Moviegoers were left with one question: How did they do that?

This work uncovers the cheap and challenging behind-the-scenes production secrets of the fantastic films of the 1950s. Special technical effects, visual effects, menacing makeup, stunts, fantastic sets and film locations are all covered in detail along with the many men and women who shared in these occasionally brilliant and usually outrageous efforts. Also included is a lengthy checklist of the prominent makeup, stunt, prop and effects artists of the era, with a listing of their fantastic film credits.

Designing Movie Creatures and Characters

Behind the scenes with the movie masters by Richard Rickitt
By Richard Rickitt

Behind the scenes on landmark movies such as King Kong; the Star Wars trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men, Predator, and Alien series; Hellboy; and The Chronicles of Narnia, are a host of visionary and often obsessive artists, designers, and technicians whose passion is the movies, and whose role is to create nothing less than cinematic icons.

This unique book interviews and reveals the character designers, painters, illustrators, sculptors, and animatronic engineers who transform a sketch or a few words from a script into convincing characters with a life and personality of their own. Designing Movie Creatures and Characters reveals the inside story of how creatures of the imagination are brought to life onscreen – told by the makers themselves, and illustrated with exclusive, behind-the scenes shots from hundreds of movies.

Learn what inspires and motivates these skilled artists; how Weta Workshop began; how Walt Conti builds swimming robot sharks and whales; how Patrick Tatopoulos creates his stunning designs; how molds, creature suits, eye mechanisms, and masks are constructed – and how dedicated artists bring characters to life in front of the camera, using suits, makeup, animatronics, puppets, masks, and CGI. Whether you are a designer, animator or an aspiring makeup artist, this book will entertain, challenge, inspire, and inform.

JACK PIERCE

Hollywood’s Makeup Master
By Christopher Lock

JACK PIERCE. The name is not familiar to most. But for enthusiasts of movie monsters and the Golden Age of Hollywood, Pierce is a legend. He was the designer and applier of the most famous horror movie makeup of the silver screen. So iconic is his ‘Frankenstein monster’ maquillage of a flat head, neck bolts, and forehead laceration that it was copyrighted by Universal Pictures where he worked for 20 years. This book presents a comprehensive and unique insight into the background, psyche, and motivations of Jack P. Pierce; from his childhood in Greece to his immigration to America, his career rationales, his psychological instincts, his rise to fame and recognition, and his eternal legacy. But more than simply a focus on Pierce himself, this book also provides an inclusive exploration into the Golden Age of Hollywood and theatrical makeup. It presents an insight into the films Pierce worked on, as well as the producers, directors, performers, and technical colleagues who worked alongside him throughout his career. In many ways, Pierce was the real ‘Dr. Frankenstein’, researching the design of his characters, utilizing the materials around him, ‘operating’ on the performers in his makeup chair, and bringing to life the most famous creatures of horror the world has ever known. And while most generations may not recognize the name of Jack Pierce, they most certainly recognize his makeup masterpieces that have endured for nearly 100 years. This book is the only in-depth personal and professional biography of Jack Pierce. Including 350+ photos and graphics.

From Star Wars to Superman

Conversations with Makeup Legend Stuart Freeborn 
By Joe Nazzaro

Born in 1914, Stuart Freeborn’s credits include literally hundreds of films over more than 50 years, including Oliver Twist, The Bridge on The River Kwai, 10 Rillington Place, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Omen, Dr. Strangelove, Murder on the Orient Express, Top Secret Haunted Honeymoon, four Superman films and the first three Star Wars movies.

Making Movie Magic

– A lifetime creating special effects for James Bond, Harry Potter, Superman & more
By John Richardson

JOHN RICHARDSON is an Oscar-winning special effects supervisor and designer, who has been involved in over 100 movies, including nine James Bond adventures, all eight Harry Potter films, Aliens, Superman, A Bridge Too Far, Straw Dogs, The Omen, Cliffhanger, Far and Away, Willow . . . and many, many more. In creating the magic that flows through these films – by creating huge explosions, beheading people, producing futuristic gadgets, making a man fly or breathing life into creatures that amaze and haunt us – Richardson has come to hold a unique place in cinema history.

The son of pioneering FX technician Cliff Richardson, he learned his trade at the feet of a master of the craft. With over five decades of adventures under his belt, and a vast photographic collection of unseen pictures, Richardson now lifts the lid on his exciting and fascinating career of making movie magic.

The Creatures of Farscape

Inside Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
By Joe Nazzaro

Farscape, Jim Henson’s hit show, is one of the most exciting science-fiction series ever to be shown on television. This book is a lavish and colorful look inside the make-up studio that created a stunning array of creatures and characters for the acclaimed show. Featuring scores of previously unseen images, exclusive contributions from the show’s stars and make-up artists, and a foreword by executive producer Brian Henson, it is the perfect companion for the show’s many devoted fans as well as people interested in special effects.

Behind the Mask

The Secrets of Hollywood’s Leading Creature Suit Performers
By Joe Nazzaro

Ever since Metropolis performer Brigitte Helm climbed into her art deco robotic armor in 1927, creature suits have been an important, if often overlooked part of the Hollywood filmmaking process. Whether it’s an ape, alien or android, there’s usually a trained performer inside it bringing that suit to life.

Behind the Mask: The Secrets of Hollywood’s Leading Creature Suit Performers is an eye-opening look at the men and women inside the suits, from the early apes of Tarzan to the recent Oscar-winning film The Substance. Along the way, it covers countless creature suit-related projects, including 2001, Star Wars, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Game of Thrones, Nightbreed and Stranger Things, as well as the Alien and Predator films. There’s also a look at how modern technology, such as computer-generated imagery and motion-capture is changing the industry in a big way.

In the 1920s, there was a popular saying: ‘Don’t step on it, it might be Lon Chaney!’ referring of course, to Hollywood’s legendary ‘man of a thousand faces.’ And after reading this book, you will never look at movie monsters the same way again!
Entertainment journalist Joe Nazzaro has been covering film and television makeup/creature FX for nearly four decades. In addition to a 20-year stint on Makeup Artist, he helped launch Prosthetics Magazine in 2015. He’s written countless magazine articles on the subject, as well as numerous makeup-related books, including From Star Wars to Superman: Conversations with Makeup Legend Stuart Freeborn (also published by BearManor) and Dick Smith: The Godfather of Makeup.

Mad Dreams and Monsters

The Art of Phil Tippett and Tippett Studio
By Alexandre Poncet, Gilles Penso and Phil Tippett Studio

From Star Wars to Jurassic Park and RoboCop to Starship Troopers, special effects master Phil Tippett has brought his magic to some of the most iconic films of all time. His unparalleled career in visual effects spans more than 40 years, with two Academy Awards, one BAFTA, and two Emmys. This stunning book, published in a beautiful slipcase, celebrates Tippett’s career, from early Super 8 explorations through his groundbreaking work with Industrial Light & Magic, DreamWorks, and beyond. While Tippett’s first love remains the stop-motion animation that made him a Hollywood legend, he was present at the birth of big-screen digital effects, and his genius has evolved with the times. In 1984, he founded Tippett Studio, which has come to specialize in digital effects.

Packed with over a thousand behind-the-scenes photographs and housed in a beautifully designed slipcase, Mad Dreams and Monsters includes never-before-published stories from the master himself and a veritable who’s who of visual effects luminaries—a must-have for movie fans, film students, and anyone who’s ever been captivated by movie magic.

The Art of Film Magic: 20 Years of Weta

This deluxe slipcased two-volume set is an insider’s tour of twenty years of film-making magic at Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, the creative companies behind such celebrated films as The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, The Avengers, King Kong, District 9 and The Hobbit.  Brimming with never-before-published content, including concept designs, sketches, making of and behind-the-scenes imagery, along with interview material from cast and crew members, it is a stunning look at how the costumes, creatures and characters, weaponry, and visual effects are created for some of the world’s most iconic films.  A director will have a vision in their head of the kind of movie they want to create but they always need great teams to realise that vision.  This is what Weta Workshop and Weta Digital do.  Based in Wellington, New Zealand, these two companies, founded by Peter Jackson, Jamie Selkirk, Tania Rodger and Richard Taylor have been an integral part of some of the most ground-breaking and acclaimed movies of all time.

Performing Illusions

Cinema, Special Effects, and the Virtual Actor
By Dan North

The camera supposedly never lies, yet film’s ability to frame, cut and reconstruct all that passed before its lens made cinema the pre-eminent medium of visual illusion and revelation from the early twentieth century onwards. This volume examines film’s creative history of special effects and trickery, encompassing everything from George Méliès’ first trick films to the modern CGI era. Evaluating movements towards the use of computer-generated ‘synthespians’ in films such as Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within (2001), this title suggests that cinematic effects should be understood not as attempts to perfectly mimic real life, but as constructions of substitute realities, situating them in the cultural lineage of the stage performers and illusionists and of the nineteenth century. With analyses of films such as Destination Moon (1950), Spider-Man (2002) and the King Kong films (1933 and 2006), this new volume provides an insight into cinema’s capacity to perform illusions.

Making Believe

Screen Performance and Special Effects in Popular Cinema (Techniques of the Moving Image)
By Lisa Bode

In the past twenty years, we have seen the rise of digital effects cinema in which the human performer is entangled with animation, collaged with other performers, or inserted into perilous or fantastic situations and scenery. Making Believe sheds new light on these developments by historicizing screen performance within the context of visual and special effects cinema and technological change in Hollywood filmmaking, through the silent, early sound, and current digital eras.
 
Making Believe incorporates North American film reviews and editorials, actor and crew interviews, trade and fan magazine commentary, actor training manuals, and film production publicity materials to discuss the shifts in screen acting practice and philosophy around transfiguring makeup, doubles, motion capture, and acting to absent places or characters. Along the way it considers how performers and visual and special effects crew work together, and struggle with the industry, critics, and each other to define the aesthetic value of their work, in an industrial system of technological reproduction. Bode opens our eyes to the performing illusions we love and the tensions we experience in wanting to believe in spite of our knowledge that it is all make believe in the end.

Make: Making for the Movies

The Art and Science of Practical Effects in Film
By Jesse Velez

Explore the making part of filmmaking!
Film is the art of suspension of disbelief, but making is the craft behind it all. Special effects guru Jesse Velez shares his expertise in practical effects, teaching the clever techniques and physical artistry used in cinema.

From tricking the eye with miniatures and “forced perspective” to creating the illusion of life through animatronics, puppetry, and costumes, Jesse explains how movie magic is really movie science and engineering.

With curious experiments to demonstrate foundational concepts, Making for the Movies is part how-to book and part reference guide that explain how and why 100-year-old methods still used in film today.

Theatre Artisans and Their Craft

By Rafael Jaen, Holly Poe Durbin and Christin Essin

Theatre Artisans and Their Craft: The Allied Arts Fields profiles fourteen remarkable artists and technicians who elevate theatre production to new dimensions, explore new materials and technologies, and introduce new safety standards and solutions.

This book have profilse with both makeup artists, scenic artists, prop makers and more!

Every Tool’s a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It

By Adam Savage

In this New York Times bestselling “imperative how-to for creativity” (Nick Offerman), Adam Savage—star of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters—shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully making your idea a reality.

Every Tool’s a Hammer is a chronicle of my life as a maker. It’s an exploration of making, but it’s also a permission slip of sorts from me to you. Permission to grab hold of the things you’re interested in, that fascinate you, and to dive deeper into them to see where they lead you.

Through stories from forty-plus years of making and molding, building and break­ing, along with the lessons I learned along the way, this book is meant to be a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop’s worth of notes on the tools, techniques, and materials that I use most often. Things like: In Every Tool There Is a Hammer—don’t wait until everything is perfect to begin a project, and if you don’t have the exact right tool for a task, just use whatever’s handy; Increase Your Loose Tolerance—making is messy and filled with screwups, but that’s okay, as creativity is a path with twists and turns and not a straight line to be found; Use More Cooling Fluid—it prolongs the life of blades and bits, and it prevents tool failure, but beyond that it’s a reminder to slow down and reduce the fric­tion in your work and relationships; Screw Before You Glue—mechanical fasteners allow you to change and modify a project while glue is forever but sometimes you just need the right glue, so I dig into which ones will do the job with the least harm and best effects.

This toolbox also includes lessons from many other incredible makers and creators, including: Jamie Hyneman, Nick Offerman, Pixar director Andrew Stanton, Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro, artist Tom Sachs, and chef Traci Des Jardins. And if everything goes well, we will hopefully save you a few mistakes (and maybe fingers) as well as help you turn your curiosities into creations.

I hope this book serves as “creative rocket fuel” (Ed Helms) to build, make, invent, explore, and—most of all—enjoy the thrills of being a creator.

Show Case

Developing, Maintaining, and Presenting a Design-Tech Portfolio for Theatre and Allied Fields
By Rafael Jaen

A design tech portfolio showcases a theatre designer/technician’s most prized accomplishments in stage design, lighting, costuming, or makeup. The ability to make a winning portfolio is essential to getting into choice colleges, obtaining scholarships, and getting new jobs in the field. Unfortunately the process can become time consuming and challenging if you don’t know where to start. Show Case offers students, teachers, and aspiring professionals the information they need to know to create, maintain, and show off their portfolio.

This fully revised second edition features new and expanded chapters that explore current and innovative approaches to creating a design-tech portfolio, including branding, social networking, and traditional and interactive e-portfolios. This comprehensive guide also covers planning and developing details such as page layout, content variety, aesthetic sequencing, marketing, personal presentation, and next steps. Each chapter features introductions, samples, and lists of “Do’s and Don’ts” provided by experienced professionals in the different design/tech fields. Portfolios featured are from an incredible cast of contributors at different stages of their careers, including recent graduate students, officers of renowned organizations and international theater artists, and art directors representing narrative artists in the allied fields of film, TV, and other media. This book is designed as a reference guide, workbook, and an inspirational tool, assisting designers/technicians in the process of developing a showcase that can be used to apply for graduate school, to pursue new jobs in the field, and for career marketing purposes.

One Day at Disney

Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the Globe
By Bruce Steele

Bruce C. Steele is a journalist and Disney fan with a long career of profiling the famous and unheralded, from the pastry chef at the Biltmore Estate to the stars of Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns.

Discover what it’s like to report to work every day for The Walt Disney Company. Step behind the scenes to immerse yourself in one “ordinary” day at Disney. On a Thursday in 2019, a small army of photographers and videographers scattered across the globe to capture what goes on beyond those tantalizing “Cast Members Only” doors – whether eavesdropping on historic endeavors or typical tasks. All the photos in this book were taken on that single Thursday, beginning early in Tokyo and following the sun around the world through Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, Madrid, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and dozens of places throughout the United States. More than 40 hours after it began, the day ended as the sunset on the Aulani resort in Hawaii.

On that day, some 80 Cast Members agreed to open up their workshops, dressing rooms, kitchens, cubicles, TV studios, labs, locomotive engines – and some even more surprising and diverse workspaces. They also shared their stories: childhood dreams and chapters, career pivots and triumphs, workaday hurdles and joys. It was just a day in the life, as extraordinary as any other day at Disney. As any Cast Member can tell you, a Disney job is less a destination than a limitless journey. And for just One Day at Disney, we can all tag along for the ride.

Dream It! Do It!

My Half-Century Creating Disneys Magic Kingdoms
By Martin Sklar

Part memoir, part business book, Marty Sklar entertains readers with more than fifty years of tales of creating magic around the world.

Marty Sklar was hired by The Walt Disney Company after his junior year at UCLA, and began his Disney career at Disneyland in July 1955, the month before the park opened. He spent his first decade at Disney as “the kid,” the very youngest of the creative team Walt had assembled at WED Enterprises. But despite his youth, his talents propelled him forward into substantial responsibility: he became Walt’s speech writer, penned Walt’s and Roy’s messages in the company’s annual report, composed most of the publicity and marketing materials for Disneyland, conceived presentations for the U.S. government, devised initiatives to obtain sponsors to enable new Disneyland developments, and wrote a twenty-four-minute film expressing Walt’s philosophy for the Walt Disney World project and Epcot. He was Walt’s literary right-hand man.

Over the next forty years, Marty Sklar rose to become president and principal creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, and he devoted his entire career to creating, enhancing, and expanding Walt’s magical empire.
This beautifully written and enlightening book is Marty’s own retelling of his epic Disney journey, a grand adventure that lasted over half a century.