BOOKS ON SPFX, PROPS, ETC.
Note: Items I have personally read/viewed will have my comments
listed with them. Clicking on a book's ISBN will take you to
Amazon.com to order that book.
- THE THEATER PROPS HANDBOOK by Thurston James
- ISBN 0932620868
(Excellent manual on props design and construction)
- THE PROP BUILDER'S MOLDING & CASTING HANDBOOK by
Thurston James
- ISBN 1558701281
(covers all aspects of moulding, casting, and materials)
-
- THE PROP BUILDERS MASK-MAKING HANDBOOK by Thurston
James
- ISBN 1558701664
(Very detailed but specialized -- not latex but leather and other
materials)
- THE WHAT, WHERE, WHEN OF THEATER PROPS by Thurston
James
- ISBN 1558702571
(Illustrated chronology of various props; good for research and/or
design)
- THEATRE CRAFTS HOW-TO, VOLUMES 1 AND 2 by Theatre Crafts
Magazine
- Vol. 1 ISBN 0916477010
Vol. 2 ISBN 0916477037
(Vol. 1 covers construction techniques, Vol. 2 covers props, FX,
lighting and other areas)
- TECHNIQUE OF THE PROFESSIONAL MAKE-UP ARTIST by Vincent J-R
Kehoe
- ISBN 0240512448
(Covers _everything_ about makeup but also has a section on FX
makeup and casting that was later published separately, see next
item)
- SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS by Vincent J-R Kehoe
- ISBN 0240800990
(This is the standalone book mentioned above that covers only
makeup FX; if that's all you're interested in then go for this
one)
- TECHNIQUES OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL MAKEUP by Lee
Baygan
- ISBN 0823052605
(THE text to get -- if possible; it was out of print but seems to
have resurfaced...)
- GRANDE ILLUSIONS by Tom Savini
- ISBN 0911137009
(Not a full tech manual but lots of good stuff on "how did they do
that?" )
- GRANDE ILLUSIONS BOOK II by Tom Savini
- ISBN 0911137076
(More of the same as the first book, with a bit more tech
detail...)
- PLASTER MOLD & MODEL MAKING by Chaney &
Skee
- ISBN 0671608967
(Written for ceramics work but excellent for understanding
multiple-piece moulds, determining parting lines, etc.)
- SPECIAL EFFECTS IN TELEVISION, 3RD ED. by Bernard
Wilkie
- ISBN 0240514351
(An excellent book written by a former head of the BBC effects
dept.)
- EFFECTS FOR THE THEATRE by Graham Walne, Joe
Aveline
- ISBN 0896761363
(good overall book on stagecraft)
- MEN, MAKEUP AND MONSTERS: HOLLYWOOD'S MASTERS OF ILLUSION
AND FX by Anthony Timpone
- ISBN 0312146787
- MOVIE MAGIC: MEHIND THE SCENES WITH SPECIAL EFFECTS by
Elaine Scott
- ISBN 0688124771
- INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC: INTO THE DIGITAL REALM by Mark
Cotta Vaz, Patricia Rose Duignan
- ISBN 0345381521
- INDUSTRIAL LIGHT AND MAGIC: THE ART OF SPECIAL EFFECTS by
Thomas G. Smith, George Lucas
- ISBN 0345322630
- NO STRINGS ATTACHED: THE INSIDE STORY OF JIM HENSON'S
CREATURE SHOP by Matt Bacon, Brian Henson, Anthony
Minghella
- ISBN 0028620089
- SECRETS OF HOLLYWOOD SPECIAL EFFECTS by Robert E.
McCarthy
- ISBN
0240801083
- SPECIAL EFFECTS IN FILM AND TELEVISION by Jake
Hamilton
- ISBN 078942813X
- THE GREAT BOOK OF MOVIES F/X by I. Rimner
- ISBN 0865924538
- THE LANGUAGE OF VISUAL EFFECTS by Michael J.
McAlister
- ISBN 0943728479
- PAUL BLAISDELL, MONSTER MAKER : A BIOGRAPHY OF THE B MOVIE
MAKEUP AND SPECIAL EFFECTS ARTIST by Randy Palmer
- ISBN 0786402709
- CHEAP TRICKS AND CLASS ACTS: SPECIAL EFFECTS, MAKEUP AND
STUNTS FROM THE FILMS OF THE FANTASTIC FIFTIES by John J.J
Johnson
- ISBN 0786400935
- A quarterly publication out of California that covers the
FX field very well. Each issue covers one or more films,
commercials, company profiles (a recent issue commemorated 20
years of ILM), and artist tributes (they've covered Dick Smith and
Rick Baker among others). It's not cheap but it's one of the best
resources around, and since they've now started accepting
advertising there are more sources for materials to
investigate.
You can get subscriptions through their website,
or contact them as follows:-
- CINEFEX
- P.O. Box 20027
Riverside, CA 92516
Order by phone:
800-434-3339 (credit card orders only)
Fax orders:
909-788-1793
All other inquiries:
909-781-1917
Brian D. Oberquell/The Wizard's Den SPFX
Studio