In late nineteenth-century England, two stage illusionists are drawn into a match of wits, each desiring to annihilate the reputation of the other. Upper-class Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) enjoys worldwide fame, while cockney Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) is his most ardent rival. Their antagonism is also a mutual fascination, but the competition between them leads to evermore dangerous acts of conjuring. When Angier raises the stakes by consulting scientist Nikola Tesla (David Bowie), the potential for a deadly reckoning draws near. This volume contains an Introduction by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan.

    Many of the important essays and interviews from those pages have been revised and reorganized for The Essential Wrapped In Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks. The Essential Wrapped In Plastic is a work of critical analysis and historical reporting. The core of the book is a detailed episode guide that reviews each chapter of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s landmark series (which originally aired on ABC television in 1990 and 1991). These reviews are supplemented by comments from actors, writers, producers and other creative personnel who provide intimate and first-hand remarks about Twin Peaks. Each critique also includes analysis of scripted scenes that were deleted from the final televised episodes, allowing for a deeper understanding of how Twin Peaks was being crafted as it went along. The last episode of Twin Peaks is examined in detail, with a chapter that focuses on the installment’s final, mesmerizing act—an essay that sheds light on what really happened to the series’ enigmatic protagonist, Dale Cooper. The feature film, Fire Walk With Me, is the subject of two in-depth essays. The first delves into the character of Laura Palmer and shows how David Lynch transformed the idea of Laura (from the series) into a fully realized character (in the film). The second essay radically challenges the design of the Fire Walk With Me prologue, arguing that Dale Cooper is a more prominent and vital presence in the story than might first appear. Vibrant and provocative, Twin Peaks is an enduring masterpiece. The Essential Wrapped In Plastic is a crucial guide to this remarkable work.

    The film follows the story of an ex-marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on a distant planet filled with exotic life forms. As an avatar, a human consciousness in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. The Art of Avatar, the companion book to this epic 3-D action adventure, explores the developmental and conceptual art used by the creative team to create the original world of Avatar. With over 100 exclusive full-color images including sketches, matte paintings, drawings, and film stills, The Art of Avatar reveals the process behind the creation of set designs for the imaginative vistas, unique landscapes, aerial battle scenes, bioluminescent nights, and fantastical creatures. Interviews with art directors, visual effects designers, animators, costume designers, and creature makers bring insight into this creative process. The Art of Avatar brings readers behind the scenes of this unprecedented moviegoing experience.

    Using his experiences from working in the comic book industry, movie studios and teaching, Marcos introduces the reader to a step-by-step system that will create the most successful storyboards and graphics for the best visual communication.After a brief discussion on narrative art, Marcos introduces us to drawing and composing a single image, to composing steady shots to drawing to compose for continuity between all the shots. These lessons are then applied to three diverse story lines – a train accident, a cowboy tale and bikers approaching a mysterious house.In addition to setting up the shots, he also explains and illustrates visual character development, emotive stances and expressions along with development of the environmental setting to fully develop the visual narrative.

    Color illustrations.

    In short, this book indexes virtually every "Doctor Who" event worth noting - starting at the beginning of time and running through to the universe's end. This guide is the vastly updated and revised successor to Parkin's hugely acclaimed "A History of the Universe" (1996), and contains more than double the material of the original. All told, "AHistory" incorporates: More than four decades of the "Doctor Who" TV show, including the 2007 series starring David Tennant; all original "Doctor Who" novels up through "Wooden Heart"; all "Doctor Who" novellas from Telos and all "Doctor Who" audios from Big Finish up through "The Wishing Beast." This Second Edition of "AHistory" also includes all Torchwood episodes and novels, plus the "Doctor Who Magazine" comic strip that's been running since 1979.

    What followed was a cultural sensation that changed the landscape of children's entertainment forever! Join Mattel and Dark Horse in this comprehensive retrospective chronicling He-Man's decades-long epic journey from toy, to television, to film, to a true pop culture phenomenon!

    Wenders brings to this collection of photographic essays the same literary and cinematic talents, the same command of the art of storytelling that we find in his films. In the tradition of "Paris, Texas" and "Faraway, So Close," the texts and pictures in "Once" weave ambiguous and moving narratives in fits of rhythmic prose and inventive imagery. Prefaced by Wenders' poetic meditations on the metaphysics of photography and film, "Once" consists of short, autobiographical sketches relating Wenders' experiences-both meaningful and apparently trivial-on his trips across the world scouting locations for his films, as well as photographs taken during these excursions. The resulting book is at once travel diary, photo album, and a series of short films or short stories-revealing the views and sentiments of an auteur inspired by the poetry of the eye and the melody of speech. Fascinating and revelatory, "Once" gives us a unique look at the universe Wenders has created out of the hidden pieces of everyday life.

    He seems so real, so alive, that we believe both he and his fantastical worl must somehow exist.But in reality it is not Jack who is the star of the show; it is the over 140 artists and technicians who spent more than two years bringing Jack and all his cohorts to life on the sceen. Every gesture Jack makes was created by a human hand, by an animator who moved the puppet in tiny increments from fram to frame. Every character, every set, every prop - even the candy dances - had to be designed and then actually fabricated by someone. This book tells the true story of the film, highlighting the art and the vision that make the movie so memorable.

    The Plucker is a dark and twisted tale about a Jack-in-the-Box, aptly named Jack, who must fight for the life of his human boy owner against an evil force, called the Plucker (because he plucks your eyeballs out and sucks out your life force).

     While children and adults alike know Shel Silverstein for his classic books The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, and Where the Sidewalk Ends, they may be less aware that Silverstein also created a dazzling series of illustrated comic travelogues published by Hugh M. Hefner in Playboy. Playboy's Silverstein Around the World not only reproduces these fascinating articles in facsimile form, it also provides an introduction with never-before-seen photos and drawings and rare, illuminating biographical detail. Beginning in May 1957 with "Return to Tokyo," the pieces reproduced in this book took Silverstein from Scandinavia to Africa and the Middle East, from Paris and London to Moscow, ending in the summer of 1968 with the two-part epic "Silverstein Among the Hippies." This unique collection is a legacy of the close relationship between Silverstein and Hefner, who saw the great potential of this particular combination of artist and assignment, and the social revolution led by Playboy in the 1950s and 1960s. With its wry, ribald humor and beautifully produced color illustrations, this tableau of the mid-twentieth-century world is sure to please and fascinate Silverstein's millions of fans.

    Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.

    A leading figure in the early twentieth century's Golden Age of Illustration, Rackham interpreted scenes from such diverse material as fairy tales, Wagnerian opera, and Shakespearean comedy. His memorable images, which combine whimsy, romance, and sophistication, continue to enchant children and adults alike.Magnificently reprinted from more than 25 rare early editions, these 86 illustrations were selected from hundreds of possibilities and include many plates that have not been reproduced in decades. They span Rackham's career — from his landmark 1905 edition of Rip Van Winkle to masterworks such as Undine and A Midsummer Night's Dream and his final publication, Wind in the Willows, in 1939. Art lovers, book collectors, and anyone with an appreciation for imaginative visual storytelling will prize this marvelous treasury.

    From the landmark comic book series "The Sandman" to novels such as the "New York Times" bestselling "American Gods" and "Anansi Boys," from children's literature like "Coraline" to screenplays for such films as "Beowulf," Gaiman work has garnered him an enthusiastic and fiercely loyal, global following. To comic book fans, he is Zeus in the pantheon of creative gods, having changed that industry forever. For discerning readers, he bridges the vast gap that traditionally divides lovers of "literary" and "genre" fiction. Gaiman is truly a pop culture phenomenon, an artist with a magic touch whose work has won almost universal acclaim.Now, for the first time ever, "Prince of Stories" chronicles the history and impact of the complete works of Neil Gaiman in film, fiction, music, comic books, and beyond. Containing hours of exclusive interviews with Gaiman and conversations with his collaborators, as well as wonderful nuggets of his work such as the beginning of an unpublished novel, a rare comic and never-before-seen essay, this is a treasure trove of all things Gaiman. In addition to providing in depth information and commentary on Gaiman's myriad works, the book also includes rare photographs, book covers, artwork, and related trivia and minutiae, making it both an insightful introduction to his work, and a true "must-have" for his ever growing legion of fans.